Stuck ramrod

[nvbirdman]

Got to the range today and the first thing I did was run a dry patch down the bore. Yes, down not back up.
I capped the nipple and fired the cap. Still stuck.
I pulled the nipple, dribbled a little powder in there, replaced the nipple and tried again. Cap fired, powder didn't ignite.
After a few more tries I started poking at the powder with the nipple pick to get it to go in the barrel. When I had about three or four grains in there I replaced the nipple, capped it, pulled the trigger and watched my ramrod bounce about fifty yards downrange.
The rest of my range session was a lot more enjoyable.
I'm just glad I was the only one at the range.

 

[jtmattison]

Oops!

I'm glad you got it out.

I can't let you of the hook without just one of these... :rotf:

:hatsoff:

HD

 

[Birddog6]

If this is gonna ba a habbit, I suggest ya have a pinned RR tip on both ends of the RR & carry a T handle that will screw into the end of the RR, or use a range rod with a T handle. :thumbsup:
If ya don't have a T handle, seems like I saw them at a venders site, but ya can easily make one. Take a 3" brass RR extension & cut it in half, take the cutoff half & braze it crossways making a T to the other piece. Now drill the end of the cutoff piece & insert a dif size allenhead set screw & have a 8-32 on one end & 10-32 on the other end & you are good to go with either size.
:wink:

 

[Trench]

Try what Birddog said or get yourself a stout brass or other metal rangerod. I think I got my ramrod stuck 4 times before I got myself one. Now I only use the ramrod when I'm in the field.
By the way, how did your ramrod fare?

 

[jtmattison]

An alternative to the T-handle is to keep a stout leather thong handy. Half hitch it to the rod and tie it off to a tree or something. Then you can just firmly hold the rifle and pull back. The rod should come out easy, unless the tip comes off.

HD

 

[Mountainman56]

You could take three or four ramrods and see what kind of a group you get. :haha:

sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Trench]

My method consisted of having my wife hang on to the ramrod while I drug her around the house from the rifle-end until it came out. I wish I knew about the tree method, or at least my wife would. :grin:

 

[Little Wattsy]

You could take three or four ramrods and see what kind of a group you get. :haha:

sorry, couldn't resist

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Jerry Coffee]

Got to the range today and the first thing I did was run a dry patch down the bore. Yes, down not back up.
I capped the nipple and fired the cap. Still stuck.
I pulled the nipple, dribbled a little powder in there, replaced the nipple and tried again. Cap fired, powder didn't ignite.
After a few more tries I started poking at the powder with the nipple pick to get it to go in the barrel. When I had about three or four grains in there I replaced the nipple, capped it, pulled the trigger and watched my ramrod bounce about fifty yards downrange.
The rest of my range session was a lot more enjoyable.
I'm just glad I was the only one at the range.

A stuck ramrod can be because you used a patch that was not 100% cotton. Never use a polyester-cotton patch. Polyester will stretch and wad up behind your ramrod tip and lock the ramrod in the bore when you try to extract it. A T-handle may work but if it doesn't, you must put the stuck ramrod in a vise and pull the rifle off the ramrod. A handy tool to have in your range box is a ramrod puller. Track of The Wolf has a nice one for $20 (RAMROD-PULL) . They are handy gadgets to use in the field to retrieve a stuck ramrod. They operate similar to a wine bottle cork puller. They have leather jaw pads to grip the ramrod.

If you have an Enfield rifle musket, never use an Enfield ramrod to wipe the bore. A P53 Enfield ramrod is made in two pieces (although you cannot tell it) and can come apart. Then you must remove barrel and the breech plug to remove the stuck part of the ramrod and patch.

 

[boar]

I got one stuck hunting groundhogs, I was reloading after a shot and I always clean after each shot and didn't wet the dry patch enought, had to do a lot of spitting down the barrel as no water handy, finaly got it wet enought to get it out. Another time there was a water tank handy, no problem. You got to wet them patches a little. Dilly

 

[smo]

Put some 5 inch fletching on to help stabalize them and they will group alot better. :rotf: :rotf:

You could take three or four ramrods and see what kind of a group you get. :haha:

sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Jerry Coffee]

I got my Enfield ramrod stuck fast and poured the barrel full of Ballistol and it still don't budge. I had to pull the ramrod out with a vise. That is when I learned that only 100% cotton patches are the ones to use.

Polyester-cotton patches are fine to use in BP revolvers where you can push the patch through the bore and do not have to reverse it.

 

[mazo kid]

Cotton patches can get stuck too. I have taken to advancing the ramrod 3-4" at a time, backing it out, going a bit further each time. If the patch seems to be getting sticky, I pull it out and start a new one with lots of juice on it.

 

[jbwilliams3]

My ramrod got stubborn because of an all cotton patch, as well. Patch was a bit too large and I forgot to spit on the doggone thing.

 

[pepperbelly]

I can't figure out how he managed to do that while alone. Whenever I do something similar I have plenty of witnesses. :grin:

BTW,don't run a dry patch down the bore. That is asking for it to become stuck.

Jim

 

[rafterob]

I think when we hit panic mode it is easy to forget about something like putting some liquid down the barrel to lube up the patch.It happened to me a couple weeks back and after wrestling with it for awhile one of my range buddies asked "did you put some lube down there?" I now have a screw-in T handle and am having a range rod made and carry a bottle of water with me.

 

[John Taylor]

I remember seeing a ram rod go down range at a shoot once. It was not because it was stuck but the shooter got to talking and forgot to pull it out. It did a great job on the target hitting the 5,6,7,8,9,10,9,8,7,6,5 rings all at one time splitting the target from top to bottom.
Anyone who has been shooting for a while will have stuck a ram rod at least once if not more. I use a screw in cleaning jag so if it does happen I can save the ram rod by unscrewing it and shooting the cleaning jag into a bunch of rags with a few grains of powder.

 

[nvbirdman]

Thank you everyone for your responses.
The patch was from an old t-shirt. I was thinking today that it was a TC cotton patch, but I realized just now that I would have used the t-shirt to wipe the bore.
The ramrod was synthetic so it survived in good
condition.

 

nvbirdman,
I always put pinned tips on both ends of my ram rods, one threaded for 8X32 and the other threaded for 10X32. I also make up a 3/8" steel rod about 4" long with a flat spot filed into the middle and a hole drilled through the flat. I drill and tap each end, one for 8X32 and one for 10X32 and screw an appropriate screw into each end. If a rod sticks you just take the proper screw out, drop it through the hole in the 3/8" rod and screw it onto your ram rod. All of a sudden you have a "T" handle to pull with. It doesn't take up any space in your bag or box but has come in handy a few times.
Mark

 

[Jerry Coffee]

Thank you everyone for your responses.
The patch was from an old t-shirt. I was thinking today that it was a TC cotton patch, but I realized just now that I would have used the t-shirt to wipe the bore.
The ramrod was synthetic so it survived in good
condition.

All gun shops sell 100% cotton patches that is the correct size. The gun shop I buy a few thing from does not even sell patches of polyester-cotton blends. The only bag of patches made of polyester-cotton blend I have seen lately are in the Dixie Gun Works website. I have had a bag of those for ten years that I use to clean my BP revolvers. I thought they would be OK for my Enfield rifle musket but the poly-cotton patch wadded up behind the jag when I tried to reverse the ramrod in the bore. And the harder I pulled on the ramrod, the more stuck it became. I finally put the ramrod in a vise and pulled the rifle off the ramrod with full body force. I was lucky the Enfield ramrod did not part and leave the jag and patch in the bore.

I also did not use dry patches, I used plenty of Ballistol and the poly-cotton patch still stuck in the bore.

Maybe I should have used spit or even better yet...snot. It is a lot slicker than spit.