Ramrod repair

In the field, a ramrod may be broken, or you may want to make a wiping stick or  and extra ramrod. This will walk you through the steps involved.  Hopefully you have some ramrods you have already ordered and had soaking in kerosene. this will make them more flexible and less likely to break. First prepare the tips from the old ramrod, or buy new ones at your sporting goods store. they are sized by ramrod diameter and by the thread in the end of the tip. I use 10x32 and 8x32 threads, as these are the most common for jags and worms.

1. cut off the excess wood and drill out the wood from the tips and remove old pins if present.

2. Choose a size ramrod you want, then mark the rod for fit. You may want to extend it a bit past the barrell to have something extra to hang onto. Mark the rod and cut to length.

3. taper one or both ends for the ramrod tips, or taper one end for a worm.

4. drill a hole for pinning the rod. if you just use glue and get a patch stuck, you can pull the tip of the rod off. so pin it and avoid this hassle.

5.attach the tip with your glue of choice, then drill the rod, pin it, and peen the pin.

6. dress the tips smooth with sandpaper and stain the rod to match the wood of the gun. as I said you may want a flush fit, or a little bit extended to aid in grasping the ramrod in use.

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