Range/wiping rod

[Maven]

All, If you've been following the "Maven's Day at the Range...." thread, you know I've been trying to find a strong, preferably metal, range/wiping rod. I followed up on 2 of the leads mentioned in that thread, but one no longer carries what I'm looking for and the other's postage is prohibitive ($16 shipping + $25 for the rod + jag & handle). TOW & Dixie Arms didn't have quite what I was seeking either: I was beginning to think I was asking for something from the far side of our galaxy! Today I returned to our formerly independent, but presently True Value hardware store and found a 3/8" x 72" zinc plated steel rod that was actually straight, purchased it for ~$6.00 and cut it (at home) to 44". All I need now is a 3/8" brass or iron tip and brass muzzle protector (TOW probably) as I already have the turned wooden doll's head/handle that I've drilled, stained and coated with polyurethane previously. I don't think this one will break!

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Good deal! Thread it for female 8-32 and you can use it for all brush & jag toys too. A "hanger screw" from the hardware store is a great ball puller. BvT

[Maven]

BvT, I got the ramrod tips (bought 3/8" & 7/16", iron) and muzzle protectors from TOW the other day and added the ball handle (doll's head at Michael's Craft Stores) as well as one the tips. Actually, as the internal dia. of the 3/8" tip was much too small for the rod (would require cutting on a lathe), I used the larger one, which naturally was slightly too big. One wrap of blue [painter's] masking tape solved that problem. I then added the muzzle guard, epoxied the ball handle to one end and J-B welded the 7/16" tip to the other and set it aside to dry & cure. It's certainly heavy enough for serious work, but I probably won't get to test it until next week.

[northmn]

Maven. What you have done will work fine, but I recommend that you pin the tip on as they can come off about at the breech if you depend up glue alone if you happen to run in a tight cleaning patch. Fit a nail close to a drill size and glue it in and file it off smooth. Should you ever want to make a poor mans lathe for little projects like this one, take an electric drill and fashion a stand out of scrap lumber and attach it with a hose clamp. Make another little stand to support the longer work stock to place close to the end and use a file to turn down the end. You could have easily fitted the 3/8 tip in this manner. Works for all kinds of little projects like this one. Good shooting ahve fun.

Northmn

[gregg]

Use to make a rod out of what you talk of. I would turn the rod down to about 1/4 for a inch or so and take a 38 brass rod and drill a 1/4 hole and shrink fit it on the rod and turn a brass to a tip and drill a 10 x 20 hole in the steel rod where it came thru the brass tip. turn my own muzzle protector. works very well.

[Maven]

northmnn, The 3/8" (iron) tip is the outside diameter; inside diameter is considerably less. The "lathe" you wrote of is OK for short items, but a 44" length of rod spinning away requires a bit more support (and working area) on the far end than I have available. I'll try drilling & pinning one of the 3/8" tips and a scrap pc. of rod just to see if it's feasible, but without a drill press, it will be a bit dicey.

[northmn]

You can turn longer pieces with the drill, you just need to make a couple of supports as in V blocks up to the end. Some of the little projects I do require a good set of files. I could probably take a hack saw and "ring" the rod from the end the depth of the tip and free hand file a tip with little trouble. The method to install a tip with the drill I mentioned should include a hacksaw ring on the end and spinning the rod and holding the file till the tip fits. Room is another matter. A #6 nail is about 3/32 diameter. Whatever you do I recommend cross pinning the tip as I have yet to find a glue I trust completely. If you can find gas welding rod you can use a drill to match it in size. I have used a lot of 1/16 inch welding rod pieces for pinning various projects.

Northmn