In my 4H muzzleloader group our fiberglass range ramrods are starting to wear and put out small slivers. We can't really afford to replace all the rods with Delrin so I covered them with heat shrink to protect hands as well as the barrels. Has anyone tried this before and if so did it work? I know the colors are not really traditional but it gives a little colorful kick to our group and allows quick recognition for the kids. What do you think?
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I think that's a great idea, thanks for sharing that with us.
Ramrod,
I don't believe in fiberglass ram rods in the first place because of their abrasiveness but my concern in this case would be that if the rods are starting to come apart, are they becoming weak. I would bet that being for the local 4H kids one of the larger hardware stores would donate a few lengths of stainless rod and a local machine shop would drill and tap them for you. You already have the handles, take them off the fiberglass rods.
Mark
I love the stiffness of the fiberglass rods and had them before I found out how abrasive they are. These rods are very sound it's just that the shiny outer coating is wearing off. I tried wrapping them with black tape but the moose milk slowly dissolves the tape and makes it sticky. As we replace the rods in the future I'm torn between the Delrin or stainless, I would have to do all the threading myself because we have no machine shop close around, I mean the nearest stop light to my little town is 85 miles away and the nearest Walmart is 110 mi and that, I would not trade for anything.
ramrod that is an awesome Idea! thmbsup
And just to let you know we have some Colman tents that my Scout Troop uses and the fiberglass poles split off fiberglass splinters also, so I can use your idea to fix them.
Thanks for the Idea! thmbsup
Great idea and I like the bright colors that are obviously a "little" non PC, but ON THE CHEAP way to keep them working until better replacements can be gotten.
When you do replace them you want at least one in stainless in case it is needed to finish seating a really tight load in a fouled bore. That is the one downside of the delrin rods. They bend a little too easily. How would I know? &) experience!
This is one area where we can bend the PC rules, we are TMOC not thart 100% PC group.... pnic besides it is for a 4h group and anytime we can teach a kid something I love it!
I like the idea of the heat shrink tubing - now if you color corinate - red for .32 cal, blue for .40 cal etc... that would be a great way to keep everything handy.... I hate grabbing the .40 cal rod when trying to clean the wifes .32 pnic
32 and 40. those ones I can keep straight, but the darned 45 jag just wont go down the throat of my 40.
Doug
I would give Muzzleloader Builder Supply a call and order a half dozen hickory rod blanks and tips, get them separately, a rod blank is $2.50 and a Tip is around $3.00. So one ram rod is 5 bucks or so. If you buy the completed ramrod they are $12.00 so you save $7.00 a ramrod. Its also a whole lot cheaper than buying 6 stainless steel ones.