Hunting ram rod

[homebrew .357]

Hi, Have dress rod for my Hawken plains rifle, wood. Range rod is from a old fishing rod, fiberglass, works good now has anyone used aluminium for a hunting ram rod?, or is it to soft and will bend Easley . Just that I have a length of it and could turn it down to fit rifle, :hmm: but is it a no no. :nono: Thanks, Homebrew.357.

 

[Tom Compton]

Wood. I do have brass on a little .32 and a Baretta 12 ga OU as the factory stuff was flimsy.
TC

 

[Jim C]

Care to elaborate on that a little bit? Will aluminum and or brass wear on the rifling? I just bought solid brass ramrods from the Log Cabin Shop for both of my rifles. I'm tired of breaking wood and paying $20 or more a piece to replace them. Seems like no one in the biz knows how to put a decent wood rod together any more. My first ML was a CVA Kentucky rifle kit I bought and assembled back in '74. I used the same rod that came with it for over thirty yrs w/o breaking it until some a-hole stole the rifle out of my truck a few yrs back. Now THAT was a good hickory rod.

 

[tenngun]

Good hicory will do the job and you already got a place to carry it. In the old days a larger 'wipping' stick was often carried in the bore of the gun, closer to bore size. If you go that route be sure its removed if your in an area you expect to make a snap shot in.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, aluminum or brass ramrods won't harm the steel barrel on a muzzleloader.

In theory, aluminum being a vary active metal will form an aluminum oxide coating on its surface when exposed to the oxygen in the air.

Aluminum oxide is an extremely hard material so it is theoretically possible that it could cause wear on the bore. Aluminum oxide is used as the abrasive on some lower cost sandpaper.

In reality the aluminum oxide coating is smooth so it does not cause any wear. It is also so thin it is easily broken and scraped away by any sharp steel surface it rubs against.

Brass and bronze do not develop hard surface coatings like aluminum does.
Both materials have a tendency to slide freely against steel surfaces almost like they are lubricated. As a side note, brass and bronze are often used as sleeve bearings or bushings for rotating steel parts to run in.

As for wood, if it doesn't have any grain runout and it has a lot of strength like hickory there is no reason it should break if it is used correctly.

Using it correctly as a ramrod means the projectile is rammed down the bore in a series of short movements.
A sure fire way to break a wooden ramrod is to try to ram the load in one or two large pushes (like you see the hero do on old movies).

Keep each push to 12 inches or less, straight down the bore and it is nearly impossible to break a wooden ramrod.

 

[Jim C]

Well, like I said, I never in over thirty yrs broke that original 70's CVA Kentucky rifle rod,and I loaded and shot that rifle thousands of times before it was stolen, but I've already broke the one that came with my GPR and replaced it AND the original one that came with the CVA MR I just bought....broke it last weekend on about the 8th or tenth time I used it. But I knew right away that there was no way that rod was hickory, it was way too lite and flimsy, the wood is way too soft. The brass rods I have now add extra weight, but I can handle that just knowing that I have an indestructible rod and will never be "stranded" again because of a broken rod. I plan to make crown guides for them out of 45-70 cartridge cases just to make sure I don't damage the crowns.

 

[mooman76]

If you don't go with a good hickory rod I would go with a synthetic rod for hunting to keep the weight down. I have synthetic rods for mine for range rods and like them fine.

 

[house]

I have been using brass ramrods for sometime now and love it. Adds a little more weight but it's worth it. Should last you a lifetime.

 

[Billnpatti]

Synthetic rods are fine just so long as it is stiff and not some whippy piece of junk such as one of the Delrin rods. Loading a regular patch/ball combination is a real chore with a Delrin rod let alone a tight patch/ ball combination. I have one of those Delrin rods around here somewhere but if I never find it again, that's okay with me. Talk about trying to stuff a wet noodle into a Bob cat's neather regions......

 

[Billnpatti]

Brass, or any metal rod for that matter, absolutely must be held tightly under your rifle by a retention spring or, if you tip the muzzle down when carrying it, the weight of the rod will cause it to slide out. When you have everything adjusted to properly retain a metal rod, it really can be a good thing.

 

[Jim C]

Synthetic rods are fine just so long as it is stiff and not some whippy piece of junk such as one of the Delrin rods. Loading a regular patch/ball combination is a real chore with a Delrin rod let alone a tight patch/ ball combination. I have one of those Delrin rods around here somewhere but if I never find it again, that's okay with me. Talk about trying to stuff a wet noodle into a Bob cat's neather regions......

LOL! On the wet noodle! I have a delrin rod. After loading the first ball with it I tossed it in the "backup" pile!
The extra weight of the brass rod doesn't bother me a bit. As a matter of fact I find that it's added muzzle weight helps immensely with giving me a more rock solid steady off hand hold. Squirrel heads are small targets. I rarely ever miss.
As far as the weight of the rod causing slippage, the first thing I did was to give it the friction test by holding the rifle muzzle down and trying to shake it loose. After bending the retaining rod spring out a little more I had to shake it really hard two or three times before it would completely dislodge from it's resting place. Mission accomplished.

 

[Jim C]

I have been using brass ramrods for sometime now and love it. Adds a little more weight but it's worth it. Should last you a lifetime.

Ditto! Best thirty bucks I ever spent.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Synthetic rods are fine just so long as it is stiff and not some whippy piece of junk such as one of the Delrin rods.

Hey! :shocked2: I resemble that remark. :slap:
I highly RECCOMEND the use of Delrin as a hunting rod. Whippy doesn't come into play if you are loading correctly. Delrin will not break. If a wood rod breaks and goes through your hand or arm and you are alone in the woods it could just ruin yer whole days hunt. Delrin is light weight. Using brass will add weight you have to carry around all day. Delrin is the perfect ram rod material. That is why it was all the original mountain men would use. :wink:
:v

 

[azmntman]

as tated before I had a derlin for 20+ yrs and it was great? 2@his own

 

[mooman76]

I agree. I don't like the wimpiness of the Delin rod but it does the job. You just have to hold it lower like you would a wooden rod to prevent ( wooden rod)breakage. If it's not your thing then fine, get what makes you most comfortable to use that works.

 

[RonRC]

I use a sectional brass rod for field and range use.
Recently, I cut the wood end off an old golf club and put a loading jag on the end. The opposite end retains the cushioned wrapping from when it was used for golfing. The shaft is reinforced fiberglass (?) or similar material.
The problem? It isn't long enough for Kentucky rifles but works with Hawkin, plains type rifles. Because it tapers from the grip area to the club tip, it doesn't fit on the rifle very well.
Ron

 

[Robert Egler]

I would think that aluminum would be ok, but it would stand out a bit as unusual I think. I use a hollow brass ramrod with end fittings I made from scrap brass and copper so its my cleaning rod too. Wipe it a few times with black powder residue, handle it as usual, and it takes on a good color that doesn't stand out. Here's the best picture I could find that shows the brass ramrod.

 

[ZUG]

Aluminum is light, is shiny, will work OK, will make weak threads and tend to strip if not Heli-Coiled, will tend to leave your hands "dirty" if not anodized or a chromate conversion coating applied (Alodine). You could also apply "heat shrink sleeving" to the aluminum rod this will eliminate the "shiny" part & keep your hands "less dirty" :grin: . I'm not a fan of it as a ram rod but that's just me :v .

 

[hanshi]

I always use the wood under barrel rod for hunting and about 25% of the time at the range. The wood rod also suffices in trail walks, plinking sessions and woods rambling. The remaining 75% of range time is with a ss cleaning rod. I do intend to get a couple of brass rods when I can.

Most of my rods are good hickory and none has broken. The wood rods normally accompanying new guns are always suspect, IMO. I've broken three of those over the past 50 years. Never had a hickory rod break but I do take care of them. They've all been "kerosened"; but I can't swear it really makes a difference.

I owned a Crockett .32 for a dozen years and it came with a thin wood rod. I used that rod a lot and it was still good when I sold the gun. My current Tn flint .32 has a wood rod and it works just fine....so far. I tend to load a rifle carefully and it pays off.

 

[Billnpatti]

After my disappointing experience with Delrin, I just stuck it away somewhere. Later, I ran across a different synthetic rod. It was light but not too flexible. I am not sure exactly what it was made of. It was a nice brown color but obviously not wood. I liked it all the way up to the point that I left it at a public range. I never did find it. Now, I just use the wood rods when I am hunting and brass range rods when I am at the range. My brass range rods have nice brass door knobs on the end making them unusable in the woods but really dandy on the range.