Check your ramrods!

[redneck]

Went out to shoot the GPR this afternoon. Was a little rusty(me not the gun), but the first two shots were about a half inch apart shooting offhand at 30 yards. Hit a little high on the third shot but felt like I was settling in.
Ran a patch down the barrel and started to pull the ramrod back out, it came halfway and then sprung free, if I wasn't so obsessive about where the muzzle points I'd have stuck it in my forehead!

The tip that you screw the cleaning jag onto had stripped out, and now the jag, tip, and patch were stuck halfway down the barrel. The other end had come loose before and I was able to epoxy it back on, I never thought to check this end.
The patch wasn't dry either it pushed in and out easily.

So I poured some Butch's Bore Cleaner down the bore and then jammed the rod back in, hoping it hit the hole in the tip. Amazingly it did, and after sitting submerged for a few minutes it had swollen enough to stick and I pulled the mess back out.

Now that its dry I whittled it down so that it would screw all the way into the tip instead of just halfway and its got a healthy dose of gorrilla glue in there too

I'm going to keep a closer eye on them from now on though. Wasn't sure what I would do there for a minute :banghead:

 

[4v50 Gary]

Very good point.

As a preventative measure, one could drill and pin their ramrod. This would preclude it from happening.

 

[Gatofeo]

Sheesh ... first it was "Watch yer topknot" ... then it was, "Keep your powder dry" ... now it's "check yer ramrod."
How in the neck did the old-timers remember all this without T-shirts bearing slogans?

 

[Jim K]

FWIW, I usually use an M10 rod (carefully checked to prevent sharp joints) for cleaning my muzzle loaders (and about everything else). I can add or subtract sections as required and I can get slot tips and even ball screws with the right threads or make them.

And the rod doesn't break.

Jim

 

[Ed]

I drill and pin the tips on mine.

 

[Gewehr98]

Whew! The thread topic made me think of something different!

As I've witnessed several ramrods being launched downrange over the years...

 

[redneck]

Yes....but that is due to curiosity
I haven't tried that one yet, but it is an interesting prospect, maybe if I ever buy a different barrel and have an extra ramrod....would that count for bow season

I'm still thinking about pinning my ramrod together too. That gorilla glue is some tough stuff though, stronger than the wood.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Gewehr98 - I've read about ramrods being shot in battle. Were the ramrods that were fired wood or metal and did they make a funny sound?

 

[Gewehr98]

Gary, I've seen all kinds.

Even the newer fiberglass/zytel ones. They all make a funny whipping sound as they head downrange towards the 100 yard berm. The only thing more funny than the sound is the look on the shooter's face when he realizes what he did wrong before capping his blackpowder charge.

 

[redneck]

I'm guessing that the ramrod kind of cartwheels its way along then? Seems like the rifling wouldn't really get a hold of it to put any spin on it, and it wouldn't be fast enough to stabilize something that long anyhow.

I'm not volunteering to stand in front of one though

 

[Gewehr98]

No, they really don't cartwheel.

I figured they would, too. They do whip and flex in flight, and describe a shallow arc on their way to impact. It reminds me of an arrow that's missing it's fletching, as it shimmies and shakes towards it's target.

Which reminds me where I saw that effect before. Young boy, about age 12, taking the fletching off an aluminum arrow and sending it into a smallish maple tree in Wisconsin, boosted by a bolt-action Stevens .410 shotgun, and a blank made from a shotshell with the shot poured out...