Tow Worms

[tenngun]

I've got sevral in my cleaning kit. The v shaped ones that can screw on to the bottom of a ram rod and used to clean with. I like tow. I start fires with it or use it for wading. I can clean the lock or outside of the barrel with it. However I cant get it to work in the bore for cleaning. Mostly I show hem off and every now and then use it to fetch a cleaning patch that slipped off the jag.Do you use them and how?

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I didn't even know what a tow worm was until I read this post and looked it up online. turns out it is that thing I always see at the ml supply shop and never asked about, then I went and checked out my rod end accessories, turns out I own a spring worm that I didn't know about. Don't know why I bought it because I don't even know what to do with that. So I guess, typing in this post is the first thing I have ever used it for.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

come to think of it, I don't even know why I would want to have a spring worm since the spring is steel, and I swab with either a brass jag or a brass 12 gauge shotgun loop. PT me if you want me to just send you the spring worm for nothing if you are into them.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I remember why I bought it now...it is a patch pulling worm, had to look it up. either way, can't think of a patch so tenacious that I would stick that horror show into my barrel. offer still stands.

 

[George]

I'm not sure what gadget you are referring to, but I use two which might qualify. One is for ramrods with a tip to screw things into, one for plain wood. This album shows how I use them for cleaning with tow, works well
http://s881.photobucket.com/user/Spence_2010/slideshow/Tow Cleaning

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

I don't even know why I would want to have a spring worm since the spring is steel,

In the 18th century people didn't have Walmarts to buy patches from......Flax was a popular crop of the time...so tow was abundant....plus suitable replacement for tow can be fashioned from nature, tree inner bark, nettles, etc....even a chunk of your horse's mane would probably suffice....

Put your mind in the 18th century, and it all starts to make sense..... :grin:

 

[Artificer]

Good point on the nettles. Some early Kentucky settlers used nettles to make cloth clothing their first year, until they could grow flax the following year. If it will make cloth, it can be used in place of Tow in a pinch.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

It was the first one shown in the video, lose v shaped cool spring.
Yes I know they used tow and other such, but have you tried it with these worms. They were a one size fits all device. I haven't got one to work well and wondered if any one had, I know we read about rusty guns in storage, but we know people spent a lot of time cleaning and tie worms were common. I just have had poor success with it and was looking to find people who did do it and get some tips

 

[coloradoclyde]

I've done it using a regular jag in calibers .45 and larger.....Simply take some tow, flatten, folding from the outside in...turning folding and flattening until you have a flat disc of appropriate size and thickness....use it like a cloth patch....

The tow ball and string method works too......
Roll a appropriately sized tow ball, tie a string around the middle like a small sausage link. then ram it down the barrel like a projectile....(don't forget the water) remove your ramrod pull out the tow using the string....and repeat as necessary....
Slower but effective.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have several. Only time I can think of when I used one was to pull wads from a smoothbore.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

The only thing I buy from Walmart is frozen pizzas. That being said, it was stupid o' clock for me when I posted and did not realize that this topic was dealing with tow worms only in relationship to historical reenacting. Thank you for the correction. Please delete. Also, the free spring worm offer still stands if I get a PT.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I suggest you hang on to that worm......you never know what might happen.....or what you might need to fix it....

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I suggest you hang on to that worm......you never know what might happen.....or what you might need to fix it....

sounds like good advice. the free spring worm offer will only be open for the next five minutes from the time stamp (to compensate for anybody who may be composing a PT right now).

 

[George]

It was the first one shown in the video, lose v shaped cool spring.
Yes I know they used tow and other such, but have you tried it with these worms.

I'm confused... which video? Is the coil worm in my link what you are talking about?

Spence

 

[tenngun]

Well a run of photos instead of a true vid, but it was the first one shon not the military worms.

 

[George]

Well a run of photos instead of a true vid, but it was the first one shon not the military worms.

Gotcha. Follow the sequence and it shows how I use tow with that type of worm. I roll some into a short rope, stick the worm through the center of the rope, then twist it to wrap the tow onto it in a ball. I find that it scours very well, you can run it in and out repeatedly, and, more importantly, you can rotate the rod and scrub the face of the breech plug, including that nasty corner where the wall of the bore and the face of the plug meet.

I always use nothing but the rough tow, the part that is separated from the flax in making fibers for spinning. Those long fibers are known as line fibers, and are not what I want for any of my tow uses. It's the rough, broken and short fibers and the bits of outer shell of the stalk which I want.

This,


not this:


Spence

 

[Crewdawg445]

At events I use a coiled tow worm along with rough tow for cleaning. Gets the job done and makes great tinder once soiled beyond use.

 

[tenngun]

And to crewdawg also will have to give it some more tries. I start getting ants down my back when I think of a dirty gun. Sold a Zouave some years ago. The buyer looked at it and saw a spot he thought was rust. Turned out it was a small flake of tobacco thet I must have droped when loading my pipe that got stuck on the barrel near the lock. For a second I felt like going in to my tent and hiding in shame. When it turned out I could brush it off I heard the angles sing

 

[wattlebuster]

I clean my barrels with tow an worms made by Rich Mcdonald. I have had them for yrs an serve the purpose well

 

[tenngun]

How do you do it?