New ramrod for Lyman GPR

[Winter Hawk]

While cleaning the house I pulled the GPR out from behind the door where it resides.  That brandly-new RR stands out like a sore thumb, all white and virginal looking.  I guess i should get out the stain and darken it up some.... 

~Kees~

[BEAVERMAN]

I went to a rendezvous one time in Washington and they had a sponsor who donated a bundle of 3/8" dowel.  They put on a ram rod shoot.  One shot, highest score ring cut won the prize.  I think it was 5 silver dollars or some such thing.  Kind of novel, I thought.  Seemed to really make the flinters spurt out the flash hole, IIRC.  Good times.  But progress came to the rendezvous and they lost the site.  Bummer, it was a nice setting.  What was it called?  Seems like it might have been Camus Prairie or some such thing.  I think I won two of the events and I still have the silver dollars (2 each) wrapped up in nice little beaded brain tanned pouches.  They were Ike dollars.

Camus Meadows? aka soggy moccasin?

[Bigsmoke]

I went to a rendezvous one time in Washington and they had a sponsor who donated a bundle of 3/8" dowel.  They put on a ram rod shoot.  One shot, highest score ring cut won the prize.  I think it was 5 silver dollars or some such thing.  Kind of novel, I thought.  Seemed to really make the flinters spurt out the flash hole, IIRC.  Good times.  But progress came to the rendezvous and they lost the site.  Bummer, it was a nice setting.  What was it called?  Seems like it might have been Camus Prairie or some such thing.  I think I won two of the events and I still have the silver dollars (2 each) wrapped up in nice little beaded brain tanned pouches.  They were Ike dollars.

Camus Meadows? aka soggy moccasin?

Yeah, Jim, I think that's the ticket.  Had not known the nickname of soggy mocs.  Probably about right.  Seems like the time I went over there was the last time it happened.

[Winter Hawk]

An update on the new ramrod.  I used it to clean out the bore (again) on the T-C Hawkin as the ramrod for that had a boogered up thread on the tip, so I couldn't screw the jag in (it's fixed now, chased the threads with a 10-32 tap).  When I got the patched jag all the way down the bore it stuck; wouldn't pull back up.  I tried turning it to loosen the bore's grip on it and, dang it, the rod sheared off right at the edge of the brass tip.  I wasn't putting very much torque on it at all!   

So what happened?  I think the fact that the rod had been soaking up kerosene for a year or more probably softened the fibers.  Then I used the tubing cutter to scribe a line around it, compressing the fibers and further weakening them (the rod separated at the scribed line).  Then when I torqued it the fibers came apart.  I have made several other dowel ramrods which had not soaked for long in kerosene and they have functioned very well even when being twisted, so the idea of leaving them to soak for a long time is probably NOT a good thing. 

I got the severed piece out of the barrel by using the ramrod from the Hodgepodge Rifle with a bullet puller.  It screwed into the end of the tip and pulled it out easy as you please. 

I'll be ordering some hickory ramrods from Dixie Gunworks for this project and to have a spare or two on hand! 

~Kees~

[BEAVERMAN]

An update on the new ramrod.  I used it to clean out the bore (again) on the T-C Hawkin as the ramrod for that had a boogered up thread on the tip, so I couldn't screw the jag in (it's fixed now, chased the threads with a 10-32 tap).  When I got the patched jag all the way down the bore it stuck; wouldn't pull back up.  I tried turning it to loosen the bore's grip on it and, dang it, the rod sheared off right at the edge of the brass tip.  I wasn't putting very much torque on it at all!   

So what happened?  I think the fact that the rod had been soaking up kerosene for a year or more probably softened the fibers.  Then I used the tubing cutter to scribe a line around it, compressing the fibers and further weakening them (the rod separated at the scribed line).  Then when I torqued it the fibers came apart.  I have made several other dowel ramrods which had not soaked for long in kerosene and they have functioned very well even when being twisted, so the idea of leaving them to soak for a long time is probably NOT a good thing. 

I got the severed piece out of the barrel by using the ramrod from the Hodgepodge Rifle with a bullet puller.  It screwed into the end of the tip and pulled it out easy as you please. 

I'll be ordering some hickory ramrods from Dixie Gunworks for this project and to have a spare or two on hand! 

~Kees~

Kees, this is one of the reasons that I never use a wood rod, even in my hunting gun I have a brass ended plastic flex rod in the pipes!

[Bigsmoke]

I'm with you on that, Jim.
But for appearance sake, I do keep a wood rod in place under the barrel.  I don't soak it in kerosene, just have a little stain on it and have it well waxed.  If for any reason I have to use it out in the field, like to reload or something, I know enough not to grip the rod more than 6 or 8" above the barrel.  Everything else is done with a brass range rod - range loading, cleaning, ball pulling, breech plug face cleaning, etc.

I am kind of thinking about getting back into brass rod making here in a couple of months.  Will make range rods and under gun rods.  Probably will be selling all the good Treso rod hardware as well.  I just need to get some ducks into a row first, then buy some tooling and some brass rod.  But at this point, it's just thinking.

John (Bigsmoke)

[BEAVERMAN]

I'm with you on that, Jim.
But for appearance sake, I do keep a wood rod in place under the barrel.  I don't soak it in kerosene, just have a little stain on it and have it well waxed.  If for any reason I have to use it out in the field, like to reload or something, I know enough not to grip the rod more than 6 or 8" above the barrel.  Everything else is done with a brass range rod - range loading, cleaning, ball pulling, breech plug face cleaning, etc.

I am kind of thinking about getting back into brass rod making here in a couple of months.  Will make range rods and under gun rods.  Probably will be selling all the good Treso rod hardware as well.  I just need to get some ducks into a row first, then buy some tooling and some brass rod.  But at this point, it's just thinking.

John (Bigsmoke)

  sounds like your getting bored without all that horn dust floating around!

[RobD]

I have a big ol' Heavy brass cleaning rod that I use as a ball puller, pre-fitted with a fine screw worm.  The weight of the rod whence dropped down the tube is enuf to well pierce the lead ball and a few rod twists later it's firmly attached.  The handle of the rod is drilled out with two holes - one is for a lanyard loop to fasten over anything handy 'n' stout (tree limb) and t'other hole that's drilled nearer the handle end is for slipping in a 6" x 1/4" steel rod to act as a step-on foot stirrup.  One or the other - lanyard or stirrup - will retrieve the errant ball, for sure.   

[Cottonwood]

I never use my RR under the barrel except maybe when cleaning.... but my RR which is a nice hard RR with a brass end with 10/32nd threads works the best.