Making a new ramrod - questions

[Mr. Flintlock]

Always been curious as to how old-timers whittled down a 42" hickory stick to make a ramrod.

They split it and the shaved them from the splits.

 

[Mr. Flintlock]

Yeah, there are a few things you can do:

1. Never use it to clean the bore.
2. Never use it to pull a stuck bullet/ball.
3. Never pound on it with anything. If the ball is that hard to ram, you need to get a small ball or a thinner patch.
4. Never use it on rainy days.
5. Maybe get an aluminum ramrod and/or range rod and never use the wooden rod for anything but looks or maybe an occasional load in good weather.
6. I have heard of people using Johnson's Paste Wax on wooden ramrods. I've used it on stocks, but never tried it on a ramrod.
7. Wooden ramrods pick up grit that can damage the muzzle crown. No real way to fix that other than to use a bore guide.

Your mileage may vary/

I've had the same ramrod in some of my rifles for 10 plus years and used then for everything on your list with no I'll effects. I wipe them down with wd40 after every cleaning session. Hickory is tough stuff.

 

[dr.s.goerisch]

Yeah, there are a few things you can do:

1. Never use it to clean the bore.
2. Never use it to pull a stuck bullet/ball.
3. Never pound on it with anything. If the ball is that hard to ram, you need to get a small ball or a thinner patch.
4. Never use it on rainy days.
5. Maybe get an aluminum ramrod and/or range rod and never use the wooden rod for anything but looks or maybe an occasional load in good weather.
6. I have heard of people using Johnson's Paste Wax on wooden ramrods. I've used it on stocks, but never tried it on a ramrod.
7. Wooden ramrods pick up grit that can damage the muzzle crown. No real way to fix that other than to use a bore guide.

Your mileage may vary/

I agree to nearly all, except # 5, if you really care about the muzzle crown, avoid aluminum.

Many people are mistaken about aluminum. It may feel a lot softer than steel, when you cut it with a metal saw, but the (anodized) outer of your standard aluminum rod is in fact a lot harder than steel. Remember, aluminum oxide is used as an industrial sanding agent.
My choice for the range rod is brass. In target shooting, adding a little weight never hurts in balancing my rifle.
Brass will soon get an aged look, just in case you don't like it's golden sheen when new (or freshly polished).

If you do insist on using aluminum for ramrod material (maybe so for lighter weight, compared to brass),
you could get or make a protective collar, or guiding piece (bushing with a rim or flange, outer diameter to fit your bore, inner diameter to fit your ramrod).
Easy to make from brass, or even from tough plastic material like Delrin, if you own a lathe.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Thanks. This replacement is mainly for show. I have brass range rods I use for all of my regular shooting. This would only be used if needed for a secondary shot if I'm hunting with this rifle.

I think you have answered your own question. Get a (better several) hickory rods from one of the well known vendors. Don't fret that hollowed out screw, common practice. All that soaking business is pointless. Waxing might be nice but otherwise, jest use it.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Never understood this subject. It gets pulled up several times a year.
I don't start my lead with a hammer. I don't get stuck halfway down the barrel. I have a half dozen long guns and use a hickory rod on each one. Never broke one and sent it through my palm. You shouldn't be using that much force. Get a smaller ball or a thinner patch. Hold the rod from the side and ease it down 6 inches at a time.
The few times I decided to pull a ball I did it with the gun's hickory rod. No problems. No grease gun. No co2. No special treatment or soaking of the ramrod.
Geeze, what did they do 200 years ago???? I bet it wasn't all these special treatments. I think they just used it. Or used the one off the dead solder next to them.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled whatever this was.

200 years ago, if they broke a rammer, they made a new one out of a tree limb. Semper Fi.

 

[FlinterNick]

To increase a wooden ramrod’s strength make sure it has less taper to it, a straight 3/8 rod is pretty heavy and strong.

When you taper a wooden rod it does weaken its strength.

Soaking rods in oils, resins etc does not make them indestructible.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I've had the same ramrod in some of my rifles for 10 plus years and used then for everything on your list will no I'll effects. I wipe them down with wd40 after every cleaning session. Hickory is tough stuff.

I have no doubt of this. Hickory is a pretty good material. That said, I have seen ramrods broken, warped and cracked. I've also seen the ends pulled off with brushes, worms and ball pullers still attached. I didn't know the WD-40 trick. I suppose that the Water Displacement component works well enough, and if you do it every time you clean, then you don't get sticky gummy deposits that gunsmiths get paid so much to clean out of Remington 742 rifles.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I agree to nearly all, except # 5, if you really care about the muzzle crown, avoid aluminum.

Many people are mistaken about aluminum. It may feel a lot softer than steel, when you cut it with a metal saw, but the (anodized) outer of your standard aluminum rod is in fact a lot harder than steel. Remember, aluminum oxide is used as an industrial sanding agent.
My choice for the range rod is brass. In target shooting, adding a little weight never hurts in balancing my rifle.
Brass will soon get an aged look, just in case you don't like it's golden sheen when new (or freshly polished).

If you do insist on using aluminum for ramrod material (maybe so for lighter weight, compared to brass),
you could get or make a protective collar, or guiding piece (bushing with a rim or flange, outer diameter to fit your bore, inner diameter to fit your ramrod).
Easy to make from brass, or even from tough plastic material like Delrin, if you own a lathe.

Bore guides are a good idea. I keep one on my range rod, but not on the ramrod. I figure that when I am hunting.... actually in the woods looking for something to shoot and eat... I won't be loading too many shots before taking the gun home for a good cleaning. Brass is what, about twice the weight of aluminum? My guns are heavy enough. If I am going to be shooting more than ten shots at the backyard range, then I'll be using the range rod.

 

[oldwood]

A few folks that have brought broken ramrods for me to replace , and needed to be told how to use a short starter , before using their ram rods. These genius', were teenagers , and once instructed , added the short starter info to their vast store house of knowledge . The dead giveaway to non-use of a short starter ,is the r/r broken about 6" from the tip.
Shooting in competition,using a 44" Getz barrel long rifle ,I ruined about two ramrods in five years. We shot a lot. .............oldwood

 

[Jedidiah]

My rifles have Hickory rods. They get used in the field. So, they actually do not get used very much because how many times do you actually shoot when hunting etc. I use Delrin range rods when on the range. They are tougher, stronger and wont hurt the bore etc. I can soo no reason to use a hickory rod when on the range.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

The strength difference between a rod that is split and planed following the grain as opposed to a machined dowel that has grain run out is extremely important. A straight grained rod will not suddenly break leaving a sharp point.

 

[Scota@4570]

Put adhesive shrink tubing over your metal range rods if it concerns you.

 

[Col. Batguano]

I drilled increasingly smaller holes in 1/8" plate steel to make my rods. 9/16", 1/2", 7/16", 3/8", and finally 5/16". Just clamp the steel in the vice and go to it. Use the burred edge to shave them after they are "out of the square". When they slide through the whole length, they're sized correctly.

I use the dismounted barrel pipes to check as well during the last part of the process. Drill them out to the right size, and spin a bunch of 4-O steel wool on a slightly smaller drill bit to polish the insides. I really didn't care what actual size the RR was, only that it fits through the pipes. You may want to chamfer and polish the inside edge of the ends of the pipes just a little bit too so they don't scrape your finish off the RR.

When you're getting close to a good final fit, that's when you can go to the sand paper.

Once the pipes are mounted you'll probably have to go through this exercise again to fine tune it and make sure it works on the gun.

And, finish and seasonal swelling and shrinking of the wooden RR can swell it some too, so, as others have said, burnishing it can help once the finish is on there.

 

[flntlokr]

AS RKG1 mentioned, I always 'temper' my wooden rods by storing my next blank in a pipe filled with kerosene. I buy dowelling at HD, and select the sticks with little or no 'run out' in the grain. I use them exclusively for loading, and have done so for about 35 years. Never broke one except for a tip breaking off (just clean it up and put it on the slightly shorter rod) If I retire one, it is usually because wear from rubbing on the muzzle eventually thins them down.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

AS RKG1 mentioned, I always 'temper' my wooden rods by storing my next blank in a pipe filled with kerosene. I buy dowelling at HD, and select the sticks with little or no 'run out' in the grain. I use them exclusively for loading, and have done so for about 35 years. Never broke one except for a tip breaking off (just clean it up and put it on the slightly shorter rod) If I retire one, it is usually because wear from rubbing on the muzzle eventually thins them down.

You must do a great deal of shooting if you can wear one out!

 

[flashpoint]

I'm going to add one more thing. When I know, a customer is going to use the wooden rammer, I never use a dowl. I go into the mountains behind my house and get a long thin/small diameter tree or bush branch. Any type of straight growing will work. There's a bush that grown around here called an 'Arrow Bush'. It's called that because the branches are straight as an arrow. Ledged says Native Americans used the branches for arrows. I wouldn't be surprised, however I wasn't there, so I don't know. I personally have made arrows from this bush, and they are fantastic. I've also used them for rammers. As a tree trunk, the branches grow out in rings, so the grain is not a factor, and the branch is flexible. Other trees that have long straight branches are Burch, Beech, Popular, Wild Cherry. Just to name a few. Ya' need to think outside the box.

The pic is Arrowwood.
View attachment 185234

I'm going to add one more thing. When I know, a customer is going to use the wooden rammer, I never use a dowl. I go into the mountains behind my house and get a long thin/small diameter tree or bush branch. Any type of straight growing will work. There's a bush that grown around here called an 'Arrow Bush'. It's called that because the branches are straight as an arrow. Ledged says Native Americans used the branches for arrows. I wouldn't be surprised, however I wasn't there, so I don't know. I personally have made arrows from this bush, and they are fantastic. I've also used them for rammers. As a tree trunk, the branches grow out in rings, so the grain is not a factor, and the branch is flexible. Other trees that have long straight branches are Burch, Beech, Popular, Wild Cherry. Just to name a few. Ya' need to think outside the box.

The pic is Arrowwood.
View attachment 185234

 

[FlinterNick]

AS RKG1 mentioned, I always 'temper' my wooden rods by storing my next blank in a pipe filled with kerosene. I buy dowelling at HD, and select the sticks with little or no 'run out' in the grain. I use them exclusively for loading, and have done so for about 35 years. Never broke one except for a tip breaking off (just clean it up and put it on the slightly shorter rod) If I retire one, it is usually because wear from rubbing on the muzzle eventually thins them down.

Soaking a rod in kerosene does absolutely nothing but keep bugs away.

The quality of the wood is what makes a better rod.

 

[Anvilboy]

I have posted this before, but it is an easy way to make a ramrod - not to get into whether you should use it or not!

 

[deerstalkert]

a warped or bent rod is easily straightened. heat the rod in the center of the bend for about 8 inches. straighten the rod and hold it straight until cooled. repeat as needed.
doesn't work on steel, aluminum,

 

[Jedidiah]

Soaking a rod in kerosene does absolutely nothing but keep bugs away.

The quality of the wood is what makes a better rod.

Soaking the rod in Kerosene means you have a good source of kindling if you need it. Not sure it does anything else?!