Need tiger striped ramrod

[blueridger]

I broke my ramrod today hunting. Can anyone recommend where I can buy a hickory tiger striped ramrod? Thanks in advance.
Mark

 

[necchi]

Well, there is no such thing.
A good hickory rod is available from several places,, but the "tiger stripe" is or has been added to it by a previous owner.
There's several ways to do that,, but best asked in the Gun Builders section, :wink:

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

October Country sells straight grain hickory replacement rods,

As for adding the stripe, that’s done by the user and theres lots of ways.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hello Mark,
Tiger stripping a ramrod is easy.
Soak a long cotton string , at least 3 times as long as your ramrod, in a dark walnut stain. Grasp the ramrod and the end of soaked string with a clamp at one end of the ramrod, then slowly wrap your ramrod with the stain soaked string , pinch the opposite end with a clamp. Let it dry, then apply a light coat of oil to the ramrod. There you have it.
Fred

 

[Larry Akers]

Spiral masking or painter's tape the length of the rod leaving a gap between spirals equal to the width of the stripe you want. Apply a dark stain to the exposed area of the rod, remove the tape, allow to dry and apply a finish.

 

[Nativearizonan]

I've done the spiral ramrod with a flame. A plumbers small acetylene torch works. Set it on a solid work area and hold the ramrod in two hands, slowly turning it in the flame and progressively moving it at the same time. Don't try to turn it to charcoal, just singe it enough to color the wood. It can actually be sanded back off and redone, if you are unhappy with the result. I would try it on a cheap dowel first, anyway, just to get the technique down.

Then there is the method of cutting your own hickory switch the right size for you gun, and cutting a spiral of bark off of it, leaving the alternate spiral to act as the masking tape listed above. Once the switch has dried, you stain or burn the exposed part and then peel the rest of the bark off. I have not done this.

 

[tenngun]

I don’t know when it was first done but I love it and have it on several of my guns.

 

[robinsroost]

Here's how I striped mine. I soaked a piece of butcher's string, about three times the length of your rod, and soaked it in a potassium nitrate solution, as much as will dissolve in water. Wrap it around your rod and let dry. When dry, light one end of the string. The char pattern, (it doesn't burn with an open flame), leaves a nice stripe on the rod. Finish with the oil of your choice, I used linseed. Keep yer powder dry...”¦...robin :hmm:

 

[ZUG]

I do some of mine using a hardware propane torch which I hold in my right hand and the ram rod in my left - I start at one end and "play" the flame around the rod while I twist the rod between my fingers & thumb of my left hand. I keep doing this in a "candy cane" fashion until I get to the other end. I then use either 4/0 steel wool or gray Scotch-Brite to knock off any heavily charred spots. I finish off the rod with three or four coats of paste wax. :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Back in the olden days (for me :wink: ) when I thought such a thing looked neat I would stripe using a candle flame and just eyeball the spiral.