Howdy, Foax. Can anyone suggest a "traditional" method of preventing wooden underbarrel ramrods from absorbing moisture and swelling to the point that they cannot be easily removed from their thimbles?

Thanx, SS

The oldtimers soaked their ramrods in kerosene to improve flexibility. It should help keep the moisture out too. Then there's linseed oil which has been around for centuries.

Bye
Jack

Not trying to be funny, but I replaced all my traditional wooden rods with synthetic ones. Keep the wooden ones to put back when considering trading the whole rifle.

The oldtimers soaked their ramrods in kerosene to improve flexibility. It should help keep the moisture out too. Then there's linseed oil which has been around for centuries.

Bye
Jack
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Many thanks, Jack. In fact, I've got a passel of hickory rods capped and lightly pressurized in a sealed PVC tube filled w. "coal oil" in my garage. But it'll be another 7 months or so before they're ready! I'll let y'all know how they turn out.

Best regards, SS

Not trying to be funny, but I replaced all my traditional wooden rods with synthetic ones. Keep the wooden ones to put back when considering trading the whole rifle.
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Thanx, Kdub, I understand. In fact I did replace my woodie w. synthetic, but (punning aside) recently discovered the original shaft had swollen so much I couldn't get it back in!

Best to you in the state I love most!

Rig a Schrade fitting on a 2" sch 40 pipe cap, put your rods in a piece of pipe. glue a cap on one end, fill with kerosene and glue on the cap with the fitting. Let the glue dry, and pump in 100psi of air. It doesn't take more than a couple of days to permeate them. You can keep your extra rod blanks stored in it.

http://groups.msn.com/Riflephotos

Used to use a piece of 4" well pipe and the linseed oil, capped both ends and put it behind the wood stove for two days. Mind you don't get it too close as linseed oil is flammable, you don't want the temp to blow the lids off. Use good judgment and just keep it far enough away not to get it too hot, but allow for some pressure cooking. I was 24" away from the stove. Take care and have fun. Swany

Itain't, rocket science, folks, it's mountain Granny voodoo. Jussdoit. Now, I done learnt ya several new words, free of charge. :D

The oldtimers soaked their ramrods in kerosene to improve flexibility. It should help keep the moisture out too. Then there's linseed oil which has been around for centuries.

Bye
Jack

G'day Jack, Kinda..sorta...not quite right.
The oldies used lamp oil just a little thicker than kero, now we use BOILED linseed and turpentine mixed 50/50.
ask any carpenter (old time) a new hammer is always soaked in this mix.
Sorry don't mean to be a smart a...
Paladin

G'Day Paladin:
I'm afraid I never heard of soaking a hammer handle in anything. I haven't tried treating my own ramrod with anything, and I first learned about kerosining ramrods from the Dixie Gunworks catalogue, something every traditional smokepoler should have. It's 2 parts catalogue, 1 part history book and 1 part how-to manual. All the lamp oil came out of the kerosene barrel before we got rural electricity, although the old-timers called it coal oil. I have a couple of old lamps fueled up, in case the lines go down, but the kerosene's $8.00/gallon in little cans now.

It's good to hear from another part of the Commonwealth. Our politicians and press are too busy turning this country into a socialist french republic to pay attention to anywhere but the evil USA. I'd like to ship the lot to Karjackistan or Bongo-Bongo.

Bye
Jack

G'day Jack, My old dad was a carpenter born in Ireland 1892, That is where I got the hammer treatment from, as soon as he put a new handle (Hickory) on he would soak it for a week in that mix, using it every day it would last a couple of years, unless me or one of my six brothers got hold of it.

Do you want to sell you lamps? I collect them as well as antique arms.....got about forty of them now.........Padadin

Those old lamps get plenty of use here...many of them are pasted down through the family...they don't wear out. Hurricans are our reason, but any place with a faulty power grid would still value them for their use rather than their age.

Can tell you...it's a "friendly" glow...light up the house with them, and the neighbors (esp. those with all electric homes) come over (at least after the storm passed) looking for a pot of coffee...any one who has oil lamps, just has to have a set-on-the-fire coffee pot.

Don't remember what the old man across the street used when I was a kid.. carpenter...but do remember him soaking new handles on his tools. Would guess he wasn't particular and would use coal oil, linseed oil, or whatever he had at hand.

Got to admit, the modern synethetic non-breakable ram rod is hard to fault, other than it looks "funny"...the one under the barrel was treated and sees mostly field use...when at the range, it's no trouble to take along a modern one.

Hi, Paladin:
We get a blackout once or twice a year that's long enough to be inconvenient. Cooked a meal on the old wood stove by lamp light more than once. I loaned my prettiest one, yellow china, not glass, to a friend and he had a house fire. (It was the furnance, not the lamp.) Luckily he got out, as he's about 80 and doesn't move too fast.

Bye
Jack

G'Day All, Just goes to show we my be on either side of this pretty little world but have the same problems with our power companys, same solution too :mad:
On the ram rod issue: some years ago I was given about 15 ft of half inch "Yellow Yew" to make r/rods with, said to be the best wood for that purpose, while working on the rods I started getting nose bleeds, odd because I don't ever get them, I since found the dust from this wood is what caused it, now that's wierd :confused:
Yeah I never use the wood r/rods from the rifle, always use brass or steel with a brass guide, had a rod break and stab my hand some time ago, never again...........see ya Paladin

For some reason, Palidan - that reminded me of the old fella that showed up at the local gunrange last year with a rifled double barrel muzzleloader. Had a nice seasoned wood ramrod which he was very proud of. After some shooting, he came to the Rangemaster's booth and inquired if anyone had turned in his ramrod, as he couldn't find it anywhere. No one had and he left the range in a very bad mood after we kiddingly asked him if he might have shot it downrange accidently.

Later in the month when we had range clean-up day, found the broken pieces at the 100 yd berm where he had evidently shot it with the load and it penetrated the dirt berm a few inches.

Must'a been one tough wooden rod! :D

I'm just re-reading Foxfire 5 and it seems the most common treatment for the rods (and axe and hammer handles) was the soaking in kerosene - or diesel - for 9 mos or linseed for 12 mos methods mentioned above (Hacker Martin). This was mostly to 'temper' the rod, though.

I'm sure that there are 1000's of ways to achieve such a simple task. It's one of those, "how do you open walnuts?" type questions...

Aside from tempering, one of the gunmakers, Herschel House, mentions that he works the rod down to 3/8" on one end and tapers it down to 1/4" on the other so it won't stick in the pipes in wet weather.