ramrod plastic? or what?

[dakota]

Well, I will be ordering a hicory stick. ASAP Thanks.

[klsm54]

Had a friend make one out of brass rod. He went to the local welding supply and got a 5/16" (I believe) bronze brazing rod. Took it to a local machine shop and had it cut to length, machined a nice recess on one end and theaded the other end for his jag.

It looked nice, and seemed to work well, but you are right Jim, it was a heavy thing and made the gun real muzzle heavy. He ordered a new T/C rod and kept the brass one for range use.

[bounce]

I think klsm54 hates to see a hickory tree die and used for ramrods. Huggggggers LTD. smiles

[donnie]

Just get the Hickory rod. If anything a RB is as hard to load as a sabot if not consideraby harder. But, if you use the rod correctly you need never fear breaking it off.

Hang in there Bounce you're still fighting the good fight!

[klsm54]

I'm not against killing a hickory tree bounce, I'd just rather use it in a smoker than make ramrods out of it.... ;D

[Purebred Redneck]

Yeah, brass and alumminum aren't good flavors

[twomoons]

Technicaly anythihng will work for a ram rod as long as it doesn't touch the bore. For a range rod this is no problem and I use either steel or brass there. When you start talking about hanging it under a gun you might want something lighter than steel. So you can use wood, fiberglass or aluminum. Fiberglass is an abrasive, wood and aluminum will embed with abrasives. This means that fiberglass is out unless u use a bore guide each and every shot. Wood will embed, but the abrasive will sink into the wood. Aluminum will embed and the abrasive will stay on the top. This is why wood is my number one choice. As to fiberglass in a demonstration I take a fiberglass rod and rub it down the end of a barrel section. 25 rubs and the bore is ruined for life. This is why they recut the rifling of the old guns the patched ball didn't wear the rifling it was the ramrods. This is also why a ram rod should fit the bore as cloase a possible, less flex no wear in the middle of the bore. I have seen target guns from the 1860's that were still in fine shooting shape after 100 years of use, but they shot Patched r/b, not pp bullets, and they were always loaded and cleaned with a center guide.

[Bill]

One of the long range Black Powder Cartridge sites had a guy on there that built a new rifle. He shot paper patched bullets the first 1000 rounds and then switched over to lead bullets.
His comment was that the paper patched bullet being shot thru it the first 1000 would pollish up that barrel so nicely that it never had a problem with leading up or powder build up and he very seldom had to push a patch thru between shots He says its the best way to break in a new barrel he has seen. ;D He also said any more than that and he was replacing the barrel though
If that will wear out a barrel then just think how little it would take for an aluminum or fiberglass rod to wear it out.

[deputydon]

Very true......

[jimiowa]

bill said:

One of the long range Black Powder Cartridge sites had a guy on there that built a new rifle. He shot paper patched bullets the first 1000 rounds and then switched over to lead bullets.
His comment was that the paper patched bullet being shot thru it the first 1000 would pollish up that barrel so nicely that it never had a problem with leading up or powder build up and he very seldom had to push a patch thru between shots He says its the best way to break in a new barrel he has seen. ;D He also said any more than that and he was replacing the barrel though
If that will wear out a barrel then just think how little it would take for an aluminum or fiberglass rod to wear it out.

I have little doubt that paper would tend to lap the bore.
Many of the better woodcarvers use a power strop which is a grinder motor with paper wheels( yes they imbed them with lapping compound like jewelers rouge). I was looking at them at the Woodsmith Store last Thursday night.
I always wondered about aluminum rods when they loose their gloss the graying is aluminum oxide. Funny that we use aluminum oxide in grinding and sanding tools?
Would'nt that do the same to a bore.
I have several coated cleaning rods, but I think hard Stainless steel stiff enough to not bend in the bore might be the best choice, since grit and carbon would not imbed in the rod.
I'm also fanatical about wiping down the rod so I'm not pushing the grit back and forth.

[bounce]

I have the impression anyway that the old buffalo hunters would order new barrels every year or some times more often, thinking they used mostly all paper patch this makes a lot of sence. I realy dought that their are hardly any Sharps with origanal barrels that got used in this trade to any extent. more like on their 3rd to 5th barrel. But then who cares.

[klsm54]

As far as cleaning rods, Jim, I agree with your theory of wiping them down. I have always done that, no matter the material. I wipe them every time I change the patch, or re-soak a brush, or change the tip.

As far as material for cleaning rods, the consensus now seems to be the coated rods such as Dewey or Bore-Tech. Before that Stainless Steel rods were in vogue. I think the biggest drawback to stainless is that, if the rod is not stiff enough, it can harm the rifling by "peening" action when the rod flexes.

Funny how favored cleaning rod materials have changed over time. There was a day when a Marbles brass cleaning rod was the cats meow, then aluminum rods seemed to be the rage. More recently stainless, and now coated rods are what the experts tell us is best.

Just like Bill said about the ramrods, if you use a rod properly, and don't let it contact the bore or get crudded up with dirt and grit, most materials will probably suffice. On the other hand, improper use of the cleaning rod, or the ramrod with muzzleloaders, has probably ruined more bores than shooting. Then again, the biggest culprit for ruining barrels is probably neglect.

[dakota]

Well it was a long time since this ML came into being. At that time people were complaining about cheap wood rods breaking. The rod that came in this kit looks at least as good as a pine dowel you can buy at the lumber yard. i.e. I would want to wear kevlar sleeves if I were to try to push a ball into a ML with it. A Hickory stick will look fine under the barrel. The coated fiberglass unit I have ordered - well I will look at it.
I am pretty careful about the cleaning rods I put into my centerfire barrels. I remember when a person might go down to Coast to Coast and pick up a multi piece soft aluminum rod that screwed together. The contact points between the pieces could work nicely for removeing steel from the barrel.

[twomoons]

The very best ram rods were made of hickory, split along the grain and NOT dowel cut. To do this you take a 4' long section of fresh cut hickory and let it dry for 4 years. Then you take a froe and split it along the grain into 1/2" square billets and let the billets dry for 6 month. Then you plane and scrape the billets round or run them through your dowel scraper. The attach the ends and put the rod in a barrel of turpentine and linseed oil or tractor fuel if you are cheap. Take tham out afet 3 months and the rod will last for a life time and will bend in a circle. Or buy a rod from TOTW and when it breaks, and it will eventually, make a new one.

Boy howdy somebody is sure proud of that Winchy!

[dakota]

that link didn't work how about Dixie's
www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1324&osCsid=450b4426d64e13078c208fa1a6509bbe

or

www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1309&osCsid=450b4426d64e13078c208fa1a6509bbe

or perhaps

www.norwestcompany.com/rods.htm

I see that Cabelas also has them

www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=FW0YEPWWX3H5KCWQNWSCCOAK0BW0KIWE?id=0006506210302a&type=product&cmCat=static_product&_requestid=44971