Ballistic Coeffecient of a ramrod?

[hornady308]

Anyone know how to figure the ballistic coeffecient of a wooden ramrod? I reckon if I knew the BC, I might be able to determine where the ramrod went after I forgot to remove it from my TC Hawken. Looked all over and never found it, but I DID manage to find half of another ramrod (made of fiberglass), so at least I know I am not the only moron to make this mistake. I don't mind having to make a new ramrod, but I sure wish I could find the fittings. At least the gun shot well.

[Hanshi]

Don't know but it must be high considering the range you can get from one.:???:

[wiljen]

heres a thought, paint one bright pink and fire it. You should be able to find it pretty easily :)

[x101airborne]

It is probably like an arrow. Lying flat just under the grass but not really in the dirt. Take a shovel or an edging spade and walk a straight line between your firing point and the target SOFTLY probing the area. If you hit something hard, bend down and check it by hand. That is how I found a lot of my arrows when I started shooting recurve.

[wgr]

hope it didnt hit a tree. if it did look for piecies

[Crawdaddy]

If you figure it out let me know. I can use your information to find my laser bore sighter.

I also found bits and pieces of another bore sighter. Couldnt be mine because it was in perfect shape before i launched it! :)

[waksupi]

Yeah, but how did it group?

[gnoahhh]

I witnessed a steel rammer discharged from a musket once. It made a peculiar 'twanging' noise as it flew through the air!

[izzyjoe]

i seen a gentleman shoot his ramrod out of a optima one time, it was something that he, nor i will ever forget. but before i had seen that, i'd heard of stories about stuff like that, but did'nt think that i was true. but he was using pellet's, and never moved the rifle from it's rested position. so things do happen.

[altheating]

I know of a guy who shot a Polar Bear with a muzzle loader a few years back. His second finishing shot included the ramrod. He was so nervous he forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel after a quick reload. The bear was real close by the time he reloaded. I think his boots were full of brown stuff as well!

[John Taylor]

Saw one go down range once, it hit the 50 yard target and had the score keepers busy. It hit the 5,6,7,8,9,10,10X,10,9,8,7,6,5, from 12 o-clock to 6 o-clock. I think distance would be determined by the twist rate of the barrel and velocity, if the twist is not enough to stabilize it then it won't go to far.

[Potsy]

I think I'll ask my game warden bro-in-law if I screw a 100 grain thunderhead on the end of a ramrod and shoot it out of a muzzleloader, is it legal for archery season?
Handier than a crossbow and doesn't take much longer to re-load. Assuming you pack spare ramrods (shafts?)
Never shot a ramrod, but me and my Dad have both figured out not to hit a set trigger until the gun is in the general direction it needs to go boom in.
I also learned the hard way not to grab a wood ramrod way up high. They will break. At the worst possible times.

[Boerrancher]

First off I want to thank all of you for thoroughly drowning my key board in my favorite beverage. I have never had the misfortune of being absent minded enough to leave my ramrod in the bore, but I did see a fella shoot one out of a 45 cal with a PRB. It ended up about 100 yards down range. I am sure that some day, sooner or later I will end up having a brain fart and doing it. I hope it is not with my 32cal because it has a metal rod.

Best wishes, and thanks for the laugh,

Joe

[JeffinNZ]

Welcome to the flying ramrod club.

[BE Wild Willy]

I too must admit to being a member of the club. I was schooling my younger brother and his friend, which was a distraction. I've fired a lot of heavy recoiling guns, but nothing has matched the kick of a 100 grs powder, 385 gr. conical, and a solid aluminum ramrod.

[DIRT Farmer]

There are two kinds of pilots on retratcable gear planes, those who have landed with the landing gear up and those who will. Guess what follows about ram rods. Be advised the spline on most ram rods is not up to the required strength to keep them from bending and they may fly in strange directions.
A pair of officers I formerly worked with decided that shooting arrows out of .410 shotguns was a better way to archery hunt, telling me how easy it was to hit with than using a bow. After one pratice session there was no more talk about it. I saw one of their wives in the store one day and she told me the story of how they were standing by the garage shooting at a target. One arrow some how turned and hit the wall between them burying the broad head in the side of her car inside.

[kenyerian]

My grandfather's grandfather marched with Sherman during the Cival War. His name was Fred Yerian and he was a gun smith. One of his jobs after a battle was to search the battlefield for Ramrods that had been fired in the heat of battle. Also it was common for misfires to be reloaded on top of the unfired one he would have to pull the unfired loades from the guns to get them in working order. Sometimes the barrels would have several loads in them. The noise of the cannons and muskets made it hard to hear your own gun going off.

[Boerrancher]

I guess all these stories just go to prove what my father told me when I was a small boy first starting out with a gun. "Never put anything in front of the muzzle or in the muzzle of a firearm that you are not willing to loose." Until reading all of these posts I always thought he was talking about ones appendages, but now I am not so sure.

Best wishes,

Joe

[runnin lead]

A few years ago I loaded my ML then bs wiith a guy .
When I went back to shooting the rifle kicked extra hard & twisted kinda strange.
I looked at the target with my spoting scope,was about 6" low at 100 yds.
That was strange. I went to reload & couldn't find my ramrod.
I took a walk & found it ,or what was left of it on the 100 yd berm.
The next week I found my RR tip imbedded in a connical.
Sorry no pictures , camera broke, send me a camera & I will post pictures

[runnin lead]

I think to figure BC you need to shoot over 2 crono's at once. one with the stop screen at about 10 yds & the other with the stop screen exactly 100 yds & sharing the same start screen.
I will pass on this test .it would be a good way of destroing screens.

[troy_mclure]

I've never done it, but a hunting buddy of my dads did. It spun thru the air sideways making a "wik wik wik" noise. The deer that the ramrod flew over was not too happy with the sound either. Lol

[Rick Hodges]

My hunting partner sent the aluminum Omega rod downrange. He had no idea what happened. He was firing from the bench, the gun went off and reared back and broke his nose. He had no idea what had happened or why it kicked so damn hard. He couldn't see where the bullet hit through the scope but the target was leaning to the left. He went to reload and couldn't find his ramrod.

We never did find the darn thing, it had cut one leg of the target stand in two on its way to oblivion.

[phonejack]

Yeah, I have done that too!

[Taylor]

I use a metal detector to find my arrows.I have seen sections of cleaning rods and blanks fired from an M16 to kill coons.So it could have flown a pretty good distance.

[MBTcustom]

The title said it all! I was already laughing when I clicked on the thread!
Don't sweat it buddy, stuff happens. The good thing is that you can still buy the fittings and the rod from many different sources. I'm glad your OK and the gun survived.

[KCSO]

We had an old guy in our club one time (yea about my age) who would always get to talking and would shoot his ramrod form his 1 1/8 Hawken about once a month or so. Old Dryball use to carry spare ramrods to each shoot. I know that in the three years he shot with us he launched at least 6 ramrods into the backstop. Mostly they broke when they hit, but once he went down pulled the rod from the backstop and went back to the firing line and reloaded his gun. He was also a good one for short starting a ball and then firing it from his gun.

[59sharps]

With a 25 yrd zero you can plan on 200 - 250 yrds appox 25 ft up the berm

[Lonegun1894]

The only time I did it, it was intentional. My ramrod broke very close to the jag, and I was unable to remove my jag after trying several fixes, so removed my nipple, put in a little powder, seated the jag fully against breech, or until it was sitting on powder ( I could have done it with a bit less powder, but that's another story), and sent it down range. I know I heard an impact on the 100 yd berm, but never found my jag, so it must have had a bit of energy left when it got there. I wish I could say I have never come close to doing it on accident though. Distractions and all....

[boltons75]

I launched one out of my inline 50 cal, I was talking with friends while shooting and became distracted. I shot, and wow did that kick hard and it was very loud, but wait I'm seeing black spots and there's blood running down my eye? I looked through my scope, which had just kissed my face, and there was nothing on the target.

I walked down range, and about 50 yards down saw what looked like a section of coax cable sticking out of the ground, hmm strange I thought. Well I went back to the bench, cleaned my face off and went to reload, wait where's my ramrod? And the duh moment hits, looking downrange, there is my solid aluminum ramrod, in an s shape sticking out of the ground. I went and retrieved it, removed my Barnes loading tip, which now has the rifling marked gouged into it. I tried to reuse the tip, but it wouldn't fit down the barrel, since the Barnes mz 250 grain hollow point must have expanded it a bit.

Lesson learned, while chatting at the range, I leave the guns sitting. And before I left the rangmaster asked if he could hang my rod on their wall of shame. The only plus to that is, there are so many there now that I can't tell which is mine anymore.

Always carry, never tell.

[waksupi]

You know, we laugh about people doing this, but take into consideration. If the rod has slid away from the projectile, you have a hell of a barrel obstruction that can well burst a barrel. Be careful!

[Boerrancher]

The closest I came was shooting a cleaning jag out of one. It was a plastic jag and got stuck, so I pulled the nipple dumped about 20grs of 3FG in the breech through the nipple, and seated the patched jag against the charge, capped it and shot it across the front yard. I found the patch but not the jag. It wouldn't have mattered anyway as the threads were broken off of it. I just thought it would be cool to have it to add to my box of screw ups. Yes I have a box of shame, or lessons learned how ever you want to look at it.

Best wishes,

Joe

[TXGunNut]

I'm sorry, Hornady308, none of our learned friends seem to have an answer for you. I've often wondered what the optimal twist rate would be and if placing one or more driving bands along the shaft would help with stabilizing these unintentional projectiles. After seeing how little help you got I'm not even going to ask.

;-)

[mooman76]

You know, we laugh about people doing this, but take into consideration. If the rod has slid away from the projectile, you have a hell of a barrel obstruction that can well burst a barrel. Be careful!

That kind of reminds me, not trying to hyjack this thread but I was watching TOP Shot this week and they were loading flintlock pistols for the day, peaked my interest abit more. They had a expert as usual showing them how to load and he showed them how to load with no patch so they had to be careful as the ball could roll forward and drop out(and it did a couple times). I figure they probably did it for a speed factor as they were mimicing pirates on a ship battling, but wouldn't that be abit unsafe or am I missing something? I know probably unlikely but they still could have for the show used patches for safety.

Back to the thread. I have never launched a rod or at least yet but I have forgot the powder a couple times. I have to watch what I do when I get talking especially now adays I seem to loose track of things easier.

[Dframe]

Stuff happens. The club on which I once served as a director used to have a traveling trophy. It was a beautifully polished and lacquered piece of wood with a target skillfully painted on it and (you probably knew this was coming) it had a a hole drilled dead center and a Dowel rod glued in place. Whoever fired a ramrod during a club shoot was awarded this trophy and was required to keep it UNTIL the next person did it. It was then ceremonially awarded to that person who had to keep it until the next one. It made for some great laughter at the club and everyone had fun with it.

[waksupi]

We have a traveling trophy somewhat like that. Ours is for dry balling. It is a necklace made of empty CO2 cylinders.

I have never been the possessor of it since it has started it's rounds!

[DIRT Farmer]

We have a traveling trophy somewhat like that. Ours is for dry balling. It is a necklace made of empty CO2 cylinders.

I have never been the possessor of it since it has started it's rounds!

Nowyou have jinx your self.

[waksupi]

We have a traveling trophy somewhat like that. Ours is for dry balling. It is a necklace made of empty CO2 cylinders.

I have never been the possessor of it since it has started it's rounds!

Nowyou have jinx your self.

I would have to work hard to gain possession. Current "owner" dry balled five times in one match!

[DIRT Farmer]

Been there, don't need the tee shirt. It was my first shootoff with pistol in national compition. I lost.

[Boerrancher]

I have been really lucky over the years and have not fired a ramrod or dry balled it, YET. Notice the "yet". I am sure as I get older and my mind gets feebler, it is going to happen. I will be sure to let all of you know when it does, so each and everyone of you can make fun of me for doing it. I annoy my buddy Dave when we are shooting, because I won't talk or look away from the task of loading the gun until I am ready to prime it, be it with a cap or 4FG.

Best wishes,

Joe

[dfreeman]

I can assure you it has nothing to do with age. When I was 15 (1965) I shot my ramrod out of my .44 cal. Hopkins and Allen underhammer Coach gun. Never did find that ramrod. Still have that little rifle and it still sports the dowel ramrod that i bought to replace the original. It sure is accurate! Wish I had been able to afford some more of those H&A underhammers.

[John Taylor]

I can assure you it has nothing to do with age. When I was 15 (1965) I shot my ramrod out of my .44 cal. Hopkins and Allen underhammer Coach gun. Never did find that ramrod. Still have that little rifle and it still sports the dowel ramrod that i bought to replace the original. It sure is accurate! Wish I had been able to afford some more of those H&A underhammers.

Deer Creak has the under hammer kits. I make a few actions when I have time but I don't do wood.

[dmize]

From what I have "heard"............................most wooden ramrods can splinter upon launch and the best way to find aluminum ones is to follow the 'whaannnnaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnngggg" sound ......=)

[Bullet Caster]

Hornady308,
In answer to the second part of your question, check out Dixie Gun Works. They carry ramrods as well as ramrod furniture. I broke my original ramrod on trying to load a second shot in my .50 muzzleloader without cleaning first. I ordered a fiberglass replacement and just used the ends from my old ramrod; however, they used to carry the parts to rebuild a ramrod but I haven't checked with them in a while.
I was re-enacting the Civil War at Tunnel Hill, GA, and saw a guy launch a rammer (steel) across the battlefield. Of course everyone burst out laughing. Am glad that I haven't done it, yet! BC

[waksupi]

Those fiberglass ramrods will ruin a barrel. Take your rifle apart, and rub that ramrod back and forth about twenty times. You will see you can cut a barrel in half with one in a short amount of time. Really wrecks the rifling and crown at a muzzle.

[bob208]

the flying ramrod is not uncommon at a nssa shoot. in fact i know of a few teams that carry a spare rod or two.

[Boerrancher]

Those fiberglass ramrods will ruin a barrel. Take your rifle apart, and rub that ramrod back and forth about twenty times. You will see you can cut a barrel in half with one in a short amount of time. Really wrecks the rifling and crown at a muzzle.

I have a buddy of mine who swears by a glass ramrod, and he wonders why his rifle doesn't shoot as well as it did a couple years ago. I tried to tell him to get rid of that ram rod it was ruining his barrel, but he doesn't believe me. I should have him saw across his barrel a few times with it and then maybe he will believe me.

Best wishes,

Joe

[mooman76]

Just attach a bore guide to it so it doesn't touch the barrel. I have fiberglass one with my first MLs I bought. It's an old cheap CVA and I don't shoot it much any more so I don't worry about it. Plus I coated it with laquer so it is smooth. I wouldn't buy one on purpose and I have bought quite a few but they are all plastic.

[Boerrancher]

I was honestly surprised that my Crockett came with a metal rod. I was expecting a wooded dowel rod. The solid aluminum rod will last forever as long as I don't do anything stupid like leave it in the bore and shoot it. That is my biggest fear, launching the ram rod at a squirrel perched in the top of a hickory tree. I have honestly had nightmares about doing that.

Best wishes,

Joe