Ranmrod for .32 caliber percussion

roseau river rat

roseau river rat

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what would you guys recommend as an appropriate size ramrod for a .32 cal percussion riffle ?
5/16 barely fits , 1/4 inch is pretty flimsy, ramrod thimbles in 1/4 are scarce, I was thinking maybe 1/4 inch solid brass but that could be quite heavy, suggestions ?
 
There are synthetic ones out there but that might not be the the look you are wanting.

Hand split oak or ash, some resilient straight grained hardwood would be great but could be hard to get too.
 
I have never dealt with them, but found this business when I was looking for a source of rosewood/ebony to make ramrods for a couple of quality English shotguns.
w ww.dowelsondemand.com.

Hickory was the North American standard. As mentioned, oak or ash would be fine.
Straight grained is important, to minimize breakage.
Be careful with hardware store dowels. Might be mystery wood, with cross grain.
 
If you want a wooden one then scrape a 5/16 hickory dowel to fit by drilling 11/32", 5/16" and 9/32" holes through a piece of 1/8" thick steel plate and draw the dowel through the holes until you scrape off as much as needed to fit your purpose. If a fiberglass rod will work and color is no issue then get a yellow or orange rod at Can Tire: the ones with a reflector attached for marking driveway entrances, etc as they are just slightly more than 1/4" as I recall. Then cut to desired length..
 
I use one of those flexible black plastic ram rods. 32 cal can foul easily and I don't want to break a wooden rod trying to force a ball to the bottom. One interesting thing about breaking wooden rods is that they can break above your hand when ramming a tight ball. I had a video taken of me loading and shooting, several years ago and what was striking was how much the couple of feet or rod above my hand was whipping back and forth

cheers mooncoon
 
Thanks for all the replies, I was thinking I might go with wood for appearance but may ram with a brass rod while at the range or during an event , the best of both worlds :)
 
roseau river rat said:
what would you guys recommend as an appropriate size ramrod for a .32 cal percussion riffle ?
5/16 barely fits , 1/4 inch is pretty flimsy, ramrod thimbles in 1/4 are scarce, I was thinking maybe 1/4 inch solid brass but that could be quite heavy, suggestions ?
Click to expand...

I buy the derlin "unbreakable" rods from TOTW and use them as the 'working' rod - i keep the wooden one mostly for looks and wiping between shots. Can't recommend them enough. (you may also benefit from a short starter)

You don't need anything as heavy or expensive as a solid brass rod - it will just get bent at some point (in the trunk, sat on it, stepped o nit whoops) and be useless.
 
tiriaq said:
I have never dealt with them, but found this business when I was looking for a source of rosewood/ebony to make ramrods for a couple of quality English shotguns.
w ww.dowelsondemand.com.

Hickory was the North American standard. As mentioned, oak or ash would be fine.
Straight grained is important, to minimize breakage.
Be careful with hardware store dowels. Might be mystery wood, with cross grain.
Click to expand...

Rosewood may be interesting (but expensive), all the stuff I have here is pretty open grained though - ebony, I hope you mean as tips or decoration to the rosewood? that stuff is brittle as hell!!

Hardware stores are all poplar - stay away!! I don't even use them for woodworking anymore. Track sells hickory rods, some lumber yards will carry all sorts of dowels too. (usually maple)
 
sean69 said:
I buy the derlin "unbreakable" rods from TOTW and use them as the 'working' rod - i keep the wooden one mostly for looks and wiping between shots. Can't recommend them enough. (you may also benefit from a short starter)

You don't need anything as heavy or expensive as a solid brass rod - it will just get bent at some point (in the trunk, sat on it, stepped o nit whoops) and be useless.
Click to expand...

^^^This^^^ Just order several Delrin unbreakables from Track. I consider the wooden ones that come with the rifles (all of them, including my Fraser River Hawken guns) as pure decoration. Leave them in situ, until time to deep clean. And yes, ball starters! And a patched ball pre loading board if you want to get fancy.
 
Carbine said:
^^^This^^^ Just order several Delrin unbreakables from Track. I consider the wooden ones that come with the rifles (all of them, including my Fraser River Hawken guns) as pure decoration. Leave them in situ, until time to deep clean. And yes, ball starters! And a patched ball pre loading board if you want to get fancy.
Click to expand...

That's the way I run as well with front stuffers.
 
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