Making a new ramrod for an old shotgun is an interesting project, let me show you how we do
this. This is a matched pair of Leslie Richards percussion shotguns, they were made about 1835
for Prince Albert of England and are in very nice original condition. At some point, one of
the ramrods was replaced and it doesn't match the other very well. The original ramrod is tapered,
looks like it's made from ebony, and has brass fittings at each end. The larger fitting is shaped
to seat the wads when loading the shotgun. The smaller end is made of two pieces. When assembled
these grooves hold a patch and the ramrod can be used to clean the gun removing this cap exposes
a screw that is used to pull the wads back out of the barrel if the gun would misfire or was to
be unloaded rather than fired. It's not a big project to make a new ramrod it just requires
a few materials and a couple of special tools. A stick of Ebony and some brass round stock are all
the materials required. I've cut a 1/2 inch square full-length peg from the ebony. Then I turn the
square peg into a round peg using a dowel maker. It's a simple tool which works just like a big
pencil sharpener. A simple square drive socket in an electric drill is used to turn the peg.
As the ebony has turned in the tool a cutting blade set at an angle cuts the
edges off the square peg. It comes out the backside round about 7/16 inch in diameter.
So now that I have a round peg, how in the world do I taper it? Not a problem,
we build a simple tapering fixture right here in the shop. It's just a couple of 2x2's with coarse
sandpaper stapled to them. They're fastened to a baseboard at the correct angle to taper the round
peg precisely. With the fixture secured in the vise, I'll chuck the peg in the drill and slowly
feed it in. The sandpaper makes quick work of it tapering the round peg just like the original.
Now that I've got a tapered rod, the next step is to build the tips. I'll do the smaller end first.
A piece of 3/8 inch brass rod is chucked into the lathe and
the threads are cut. the rod is turned to 5/16 inch and the threads are 24 per inch.
This is a pretty close match to the original. Once the threads are
complete I'll drill and tap the end for the screw.
The original part is about 1 1/4" so I'll part the rod off at that length.
The tip is reversed in the chuck and bored out for the ramrod with another piece of 3/8 inch brass,
I'll start to work on the cap. One end is bored out and tapered again
at 5/16 x24 then the grooves are cut closely matching the original.
It's parted off and check to make sure it fits together with the other piece.
Looks great.
Now I can round over the end and cut the slot for a screwdriver or as the Brits would call
it a turn screw. I'm using a screw slot file to duplicate the groove. Next is
the large end. A piece of brass was turned which closely duplicates the shape of the
original tip. It's been bored through with a 5/16" bit and then a counterbore was cut.
This counterbore will hold a tiny lock ring that's just barely visible on the original rod
Now that both tips are completed, I'll install them on the ramrod smaller in
first. The end of the ramrod is marked to the correct length then a pocketknife is used to
score the ramrod to ensure a clean cut. A small sharp chisel is used to reduce the diameter to
fit the tip. It's checked frequently to make sure it's going on straight.
Once the tip is fully seated,
I'll use some epoxy to make sure it stays tight with a bit of black dye for color.
The original ramrod used a small brass pin to permanently secure the tip. To match it I'll
drill a 1/8" hole through both the tip and the rod then slide in a short piece of 1/8" brass rod.
Both ends are peened over and file flush.
Now I can cut the new ramrod to the same length as the original.
The larger end is installed in the same fashion. I've turned a small ring of Ebony
to fill the counterbore. The ring locks the tip onto the ramrod and
combined with epoxy and another pin means this tip will never come off.
The ramrod still needs a bit of sanding to remove the marks left by the tapering process
before any finish is applied. I'm using a small concave sanding block and some 120 grit paper to
sand lengthwise. Masking tape will protect the brass tip. I'll finish with 220 grit paper. The
wad puller is made from a #8 screw. It's simply screwed in place using a bit of green 90 Loctite
for a permanent installation. The tips on the new ramrod are a little bright when compared
with the original. I've got some old black powder fouling, a little of this is wiped on
the brass and it tarnishes almost immediately. The last step is to put a coat of finish on
the rod. Black shoe polish will color the rod and provide a sheen that very closely matches
the original. Now I've got a ramrod that's almost a perfect duplicate of the original.
It should be good enough for Prince Albert.