Fiberglass rod

[William Yanda]

Various posters have made objections to fiberglass rods as a source of wear on rifling-no argument. It makes sense to me. Recently I saw a fiberglass rod advertised for the best part of $50. A short time later I saw some fiberglass rods used as driveway markers in a big box store. Hmmmm, why couldn't I coat one of those with the stuff they use to coat tool handles to make a non abrasive rod? Comments?
Thanks
Bill

[flintshooter]

I suppose you could but, ya still have to keep an eye on it as the muzzle will cause your coating to wear off. You would then be back where you started. Are you looking for a range rod or a replacement for your wooden one for hunting. You can buy range rods that have a bore guide that keeps the rod from touching the bore. They also make decent flexible plastic rods to replace you wooden one for hunting that wouldn't be so hard on the rifling.

[725]

The flexible, cut to length types are great. So is a wooden dowel with a .38 case stuck on the end.

[Mk42gunner]

The bad part is finding a wooden dowel that the grain does not run out the side, so you have a chance of it lasting for a while.

Robert

[nhrifle]

Stay away from off the shelf wooden dowels. Period. The grain is cut through in many places on those and that is a recipe for a quick trip to the hospital. If it breaks while you are seating a ball, you will most likely spear your hand. No, I did not spear my own hand. However, I got to remove the broken piece of ramrod from my buddy's hand and take him to get it stitched up. Bad scene all around. Don't go there.

[twotoescharlie]

m,ake you a bore guide from an old brass shell that will fit in the muzzle, bore out old primer and open up the bottom of theshell case to fit your rod. or if you have a lathe turn one down out of brass. been using fiberglass rods for years no problem.

TTC

[7of7]

What I have done, and works well.. is a 3/8 delrin rod.. mortise style door knob for an end. you can leave the end alone, or shape it to match the ball. Works great for the range.
To replace the rifle ramrod, I took an epoxy fiber tube, a 1/4 inch fiberglass rod, and epoxied the rod inside the tube... put the ends on, and it flexes some, but not enough to break. I also use a short starter... like this one.. that I made..
ATTACH=CONFIG]64232[/ATTACH]
Since I have a 45 cal, and a 54 cal, I made it so I can screw on the appropriate adapter for the ball being used. In the background is a ramrod extension, the black piece.. and a bore guide that fits inside the bore, not one of those cones..
My delrin range rod, I just threaded the end so I can screw in the appropriate adapter for the ball...

[Hanshi]

I have several fiberglass rods that I use occasionally. I also have one set up specifically for my .32 Crockett as an under barrel ramrod for hunting use. I cobbled up muzzle protectors for the rods. The rods are coated and I do keep an eye out for any abrasions of the coating material but have had good luck for quite a few years.

[pietro]

I've had excellent luck, too - using the 40" long fiberglas driveway markers ($2 each), cut-to-length, with boughten brass RR ends epoxied on & pinned, for about 10 years.

No rifling wear, no broken RR's - careful loading, though, with frequent RR inspection for frays, cracks, etc.



.

[Tom Ruley]

I had a friend who made brass end adapters for fiberglass electric fence posts and then we pinned them in place, we then epoxied a wooden ball on the other end, these are strong enough to pull stuck balls from barrels.
A few years ago the "Bevel Brothers" reported in muzzle blasts about their research on barrel wear with different types of cleaning rods, you may want to try and find that article.

[William Yanda]

Stay away from off the shelf wooden dowels. Period. The grain is cut through in many places on those and that is a recipe for a quick trip to the hospital. If it breaks while you are seating a ball, you will most likely spear your hand. No, I did not spear my own hand. However, I got to remove the broken piece of ramrod from my buddy's hand and take him to get it stitched up. Bad scene all around. Don't go there.

Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket last week. At the orange big box store I had a choice between oak and "hardwood" 1/2 inch dowels. I think the "hardwood" was poplar. I opted for the oak, and the first one I picked up had a straight grain with no runout. The warning is valid though. I believe the old timers used rived wood for that reason. I learned about the difference at about 12, from my Grand-daddy who explained why his tobacco sticks weren't smooth sawn. Ever fill a barn, one wagon load at a time with tobacco plants on sticks? Or see a stripping floor in operation?

[SamTexas49]

You can also make a bore guide from a tapered brass plumbing fitting just larger then the diameter of the ramod.

[KCSO]

If you must use fibreglass use a muzzle guide and never let the glass touch the bore. You should use a muzzleguide with any rod anyway.

[Alan]

I would not risk using a round file for a rod, even with a bore guide. Some of those fiberglass rods will cut hard steel as fast a good file.

Regarding wooden dowels, the previous posters summed it up pretty well. However, I guess there are exceptions to everything. I went to the bin at Lowes, and searched through piles of oak dowels to find 3 good straight-grained 5/8" and 3/4" dowels to use for a couple of guns, and they work well. The 5/8" set gets used w/ my .72 Pedersoli Gibbs, and the 3/4" I use with my 8-bore trap gun. I wouldn't THINK of using less that a 1/2" one for a rammer, though.

[gnoahhh]

During 40+ years of mucking about with muzzle loaders, I have never once used a non-wooden rammer for either hunting or target shooting, and have never broken one or worn out a bore after god-knows how many tens of thousands of shots. Every gun I have built has included a straight grained hickory rod, and every gun I bought that didn't already have one got fitted out with the same. The only exceptions are military muskets which retain their steel ones. There are plenty of purveyors of hickory rods, so their is no reason not to take advantage of their flexibility, strength, and stability. Using man-made materials for ram rods just seems counter-intuitive, but then again I wouldn't let an inline ML within a hundred feet of my front door!

[Whiterabbit]

50 dollars for a rod?

I paid slightly less to make FOUR rods out of solid brass. And I used prime metal and paid retail

And its BRASS. No controversy over brass.

For a range rod? It's a no brainer. Now every rifle has a custom cleaning rod tailored for length and diameter. My flinter gets two customs. It's relatively cheap and fun to make.

And if you ever have to, God forbid, extract a ball, you gonna do that with a fiberglass rod? wood? Doubt it. You'll leave the brass end on the ball. Solid brass? That'll keep the bullet. :)

[waksupi]

Poke around on American Long Rifles site, and find Dennis Glasner. He's on staff there. Order a dozen hickory ramrods, He sells good ones, not the **** most vendors handle. And you sure won't be spending $50 for a dozen ramrods.
If you aren't pinning the ramrod ends on the rods, you deserve to have one stuck in the bore.

[winelover]

Since we're on the subject of ramrods, what are the ramrods that TC supplied with their Renegade's made of? Seems to me, mine is something other than real wood. More like a resin impregnated composite, but I could be I'm wrong.

Winelover

[357maximum]

A brass range rod or a rived hickory dowel are all that I will allow in my fronstuffers. I make my own hickory selfbows and quality ramrods for my muzzleloaders are a pleasant "byproduct" :lol: All you need to make a good ramrod is a sharp drawknife and some ambition.

Take one of them fiberglass rods and "saw" it back and forth across a scrap piece of steel and then decide what YOU want in YOUR barrel....they are not allowed in MY bores.

[Black Powder Bill]

A fiber glass rod will splinter off in your hand. IMO: fiberglass ram rods are at the top of junk pile in muzzle loading.