My longrifle, which is a reworked Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle, came with the original ramrod. It was made of some mystery wood by Miroku and was 9mm in diameter (a standard metric dowel size). I've managed to damage a ramin wood replacement that I bought several years ago and then this happened yesterday at the range with the original rod:
(Several years ago there was a shortage of hickory ramrods so ramin was offered as a replacement. IMHO, it is inferior to hickory.)
Thankfully, I didn't get stuck. Last night I ordered a couple hickory replacements from Track but I later also found a Delrin 9mm rod that I'd bought from them but never fit to my rifle, and forgot about. I fixed that this morning.
It needed some tapering down towards the bottom so it'll fit inside the stock. Some 60 grit sandpaper worked for that. After I was finished fitting it I sanded it to 220 grit which gives it some faux grain so that it doesn't look too plasticky.
The brass tip was not pinned to the rod which is a recipe for losing it down the bore. The tip has a snug fit on the rod but I drilled a hole and pinned it with a piece of .098" diameter brass rod, peened over on both ends.
Thin Delrin ramrods tend to be whippy but won't break. They are less abrasive to the bore than fiberglass or aluminum. I'll be more comfortable taking the rifle into the woods with this ramrod in place.
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2 comments:
I picked up a similar rod for my Jukar Kentucky rifle years back. Just use it as a range rod (ie: not fit to the rifle) since the rifle's a range rifle anyway due to lack of hunting opportunities here. Whippy, but not likely to break at least. Have you tried seasoning your ramrods? I like to put the dowel in a 1/2" PVC pipe and pour a boiled linseed oil/turpentine mix in to more than cover it, the cap and let is sit for a few weeks/months. The dowel soaks up the oil/turpentine and that seems to really help toughen it up.
I've read of soaking ramrods but have not tried it myself. I've had good luck with proper hickory ramrods with a coat or two of BLO or Watco Danish Oil, topped with Sno Seal for extra waterproofing.
The rod that broke the other day was made of some unknown wood. Whatever Dixie shipped the Tennessee Mountain Rifles with.
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