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Wiping sticks…a plains and mountain thing?

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My take is that the wiping stick was basicly a back up ramrod that was used as a primary ramrod and as a cleaning rod.

This preserved the primary ramrod and was adopted due to the lack of hickory once onto the plains and further west.

Were wiping sticks ever carried as such in the East? I would assume the easy availability of suitable woods made the concern a non issue?

I use a wiping stick for all of my furtrade era guns. But was there any such thing in the 1700’s prior to crossing the plains?
 
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Good question.
I've been known to cut a hazel wand when I've forgotten a rammer for a gun without its own or broken a rammer.
Never thought about using it for wiping with but guess one could with a split and patch added.
 
It has long been my understanding the term 'wiping stick' is synonymous with 'ram rod'. From what I have seen in museums I believe wiping stick was what they were called back in the day. I think I have a book that refers to them that way as late as the 1940's. Will try to look it up if I still have the book.
 
It’s an extra ramrod. Often transported in the bore of the gun.

It’s a relatively new concept in the research of the plains. But there are period drawings showing them in use and documentation of their use. Also documentation of parties stopping g on the way out from SL in stands of hickory to cut extra rods.
 
I will freely admit that when I read the title of this thread, my mind went to another thread discussion on field expedient sanitation and where a wiping stick was a communal sponge on a stick used by the Romans.

I would much rather discuss the use of a wiping stick on a muzzleloader. It is the first time I had ever heard the use of the word in relation to ML.
 
I will freely admit that when I read the title of this thread, my mind went to another thread discussion on field expedient sanitation and where a wiping stick was a communal sponge on a stick used by the Romans.

I would much rather discuss the use of a wiping stick on a muzzleloader. It is the first time I had ever heard the use of the word in relation to ML.
You beat me to it, my Granddaddy, a Baptist preacher born in 1911, always called corncobs a "Wiping Stick". Always carry two red cobs and one one white cob to the outhouse/privy. First wipe was with a red cob, second was a wipe with the white cob in order to see if you needed to use the other red cob.
 
You beat me to it, my Granddaddy, a Baptist preacher born in 1911, always called corncobs a "Wiping Stick". Always carry two red cobs and one one white cob to the outhouse/privy. First wipe was with a red cob, second was a wipe with the white cob in order to see if you needed to use the other red cob.
I'll bet you a dollar he got "skid marks" in his underwear!
 
You beat me to it, my Granddaddy, a Baptist preacher born in 1911, always called corncobs a "Wiping Stick". Always carry two red cobs and one one white cob to the outhouse/privy. First wipe was with a red cob, second was a wipe with the white cob in order to see if you needed to use the other red cob.
Guess you ate a fair amount of corn.
 
Guess you ate a fair amount of corn.
He generated a lot of cobs since they had an old cast iron hand crank corn sheller, which stripped the dried kernels off and spit out the cob. They had an old crank grinder to grind the corn into chicken feed. Always had a bunch of hogs, cows, and two mules, which liked corn on the cob.
 

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