New Hickory Ramrod

[smiley1954]

Seems to me I read somewhere that it is good practice to soak a new ramrod in kerosene or heating oil prior to using it. Goofy idea or not?
Is there anything other than staining it (and I will probably stripe it with a torch for effect)?
Thanks again,
Smiley

 

[Zonie]

Some believe in it and some don't.

I think it makes for a really stinky smelling ramrod.

A good wooden ramrod without grain runout is inherently strong without soaking it with coal oil or kerosene and because either one of these is an oil it will prevent any stains that one might want to use from being absorbed by the wood.

Even a good piece of wood without grain runout and soaked in kerosene for a year will still break if it is not used correctly.

If someone takes such a rod and grabs it way up at the top and tries to ram a ball down a long barrel in one great shove they will still end up breaking the rod and probably running the sharp, broken end thru their arm.

If it were mine, I would skip the oil soaking altogether.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Turner Kirkwood, used to recommend it. I tried it once and it really did stink up your hands every time you used it. I tried linseed oil and liked the smell much better. :hmm: :hmm:

 

[Birddog6]

Turner Kirkland started that manure back in the 60's. IMHO it is total hogwash, but cheap to try if you want to waste some PVC pipe & kerosene or lamp oil. He is long gone but I'll bet he is still laughin' his butt off over it ! :rotf: :rotf: Course, if ya meet some lil munchkins in the woods & have a drink of ale with them & wake up 40 years later, it could keep yer RR from being ate by the mice.. :hmm: :idunno:

Keith Lisle

 

[smiley1954]

Thanks guys,
I think I will bag the kero....don't need whitetails to have anymore advantage of smell.
Smiley

 

[LRB]

Maybe soak it in doe urine?

 

[J.D.]

:rotf:

 

[Supercracker]

Maybe soak it in doe urine?

better be careful about smelling TOO much like a doe in heat in the woods.

lol

 

[paulvallandigham]

Goofy idea, IMHO. A man in my gun club used a piece of iron pipe with end caps filled with kerosene to "soak" several ramrods he had purchased at Friendship. He left the rods in the pipe for more than 6 months.

All he got- we kept some bare hickory rods purchased at the same time OUT of the soak to test for comparison, was he got a rod that smelled of kerosene for months afterwards!

Both the soaked rods, and the NON-soaked rods bent into full circles equally as easy. He decided the issue for all of us members of the club, and I believe that even now, some 30 years later, club members are still discouraging new guys from wasting their time soaking rods in kerosene. :surrender: :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[mazo kid]

Yeah, I read that in DGWs "Bible" way back in the '70s. I made a 1" copper pipe with soldered on end cap and a removable end cap for the top. I've still got it in the joists downstairs....never did use it for reasons explained above.

 

[D Sanders]

I tried linseed oil and liked the smell much better.




I agree, I used linseed oil on my ram rod also. I did not notice any odor. As for breakage, I am careful not to grasp the ramrod too high on tight loads. I don't think I want to test it that way. I think the oil makes it less sensitive to moisture and does not swell up in the ramrod channel too badly. :thumbsup:

 

[rafterob]

I'd hate to have a buck sneak up behind me with my rifle pointed the wrong direction. :shocked2:

 

[Bill Hall]

Yep, don't drop your powder measure!

 

[rabjr]

I actually bought several from a past member here years ago that went through this proccess. They are nice Hickery rods but probably would be without this treatment as well. I have one left that has a very faint kerosine smell. :idunno:

I'd much prefer one of Roy's. :thumbsup:

 

[Bill Hall]

Zonie mentioned "grain runout" earlier, and I wanted to expand on that a little more. I think straight, consistant grain, far outweighs any kind of treatment that can be done to improve the performance of ramrods. I would rather buy a crooked stick with good grain, than a straight one with runout. You can usually straighten a crooked ramrod with heat, so a little bend won't hurt anything.

Years ago when I first started hunting with a muzzleloader, I walked into a small herd of elk and found a legal raghorn standing broadside to me at about 15 yards. My brain went "AAAAAHHH!' and my heart went "BOOM BOOM!" I threw the rifle up and shot right over his back. The herd trotted off a short distance and I tried to get my shaking hands to reload. When I was trying to ram the ball home, I grabbed the ramrod up high and started jackhammering the ball and the rod split and went right into my hand. The wood entered my palm and travelled to the base of my thumb. I had to open up the split to pull it out of my hand, and I remember the pain went all the way up to my elbow. I had some electical tape in my bag, so I taped up the rod and got it reloaded, but by then the elk were gone.

As I was doing some first aid on myself back at camp, I studied the wood and realized the split was caused by faulty grain (I didn't even know the word runout existed then). I figured sooner or later, the rod was going to fail in that spot.

Now, I realize a good piece of straight grained hickory would not have stopped my buck fever, but it would have saved me from some pain and blood. So, check that grain folks. Bill

 

[Roy]

split ramrods are the way to go.. I decided to use one ramrod that wasn't from a split, and it broke. Not sure how many I have made from split, not too sure how many guns I have built, but never had any complaints about my split ramrods... well except for one sort of... wondered why it was sort of crooked :haha:

 

[Birddog6]

. The wood entered my palm and travelled to the base of my thumb. I had to open up the split to pull it out of my hand, and I remember the pain went all the way up to my elbow. I had some electical tape in my bag, so I taped up the rod and got it reloaded, but by then the elk were gone. Bill

Dang..... :idunno: I use that same story, only I am deer hunting & I lace my RR up with wet rawhide I keep in my bag, just in case I break a RR.

:thumbsup:

 

[Bill Hall]

And I'll bet it's happened to alot of other guys besides you and me. When one minute you're walking through the woods and thinking about food, or beer, or women, and you forgot that you're hunting, then the next you're in the middle of a bunch of confused 400 to 700 pound animals jumping in all directions, and their hooves are making loud tha-thump sounds all around you :shocked2: , it can make the even most seasoned hunter forget how to hold a ramrod. Ah, fun times. Bill

 

[brubincam]

-----broke one stabbed my hand and shot one away once------ :idunno:

 

[paulvallandigham]

WADR, if that hunter has had GOOD Safety habits in how he handles a Ramrod, he is going to revert to those habits under any stress, and still be safe. Its how we train people( including LEOs) to react to sudden attacks when teaching self defense skills. :thumbsup: