Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Ram rod for a TC Hawkin..

I want an extra ram rod for my TC Hawkins.. Had a fiberglass extra and it broke.. The barrel is about 30" long so most of the ones I have seen in local shops are too short.. Looked at the TC site, they were out of stock.. Where can I order a ram rod for this rifle.. it is 50 cal.. Thanks..

Try Track of the Wolf

I bought one of these for each of my muzzle loaders.

http://rmcoxyoke.com/inc/sdetail/black_anodized_aluminum_ramrods/6546/148

Andy3

The Mountain Man in Colorado Springs( Manitou Springs) carries them . You buy one,cut it it to the length and then put the one end on.It will already have one end on.I prefer the Polymer ones instead of the fiberglass.

TC makes an aluminum one that is easily cut to length. I bought two, off Amazon as I recall. The Renegade I picked up last year had an aftermarket brass rod, and it's just too heavy. The aluminum one weighs next to nothing.

Thanks guys... Just what I need..

My Hawken Silver Elite came with some black synth rod.
I liked it just fine.
No probs with the old woods ones on my prev TC stuff...........but have heard of some breakage.

I bought a solid wood over-length "bench rod" for my .54 CVA Hawkins. It works so much better than the rod that came with the gun, I carry it while hunting. It won't fit in the rod holders on the gun, so I just carry it in my off hand. Makes a suitable rest in a pinch too.

Here’s somthing I do and I throw this out for the sake of conversation. I wouldnt expect the occassional shooter to go to these lengths but if you shoot a variety of muzzleloaders it can come in handy.

I generally order wiping sticks by the dozen. Full 48" hickory rods from one of the ML suppliy houses. Doesn’t really matter which one. I generally will order an assortment of tips and steel shank jags at same time. 8/32 or 10/32 thread. Dont matter as long as you stay uniform. Ball buller is handy to have too. They are all pretty darn cheap. I made a jig that will handle all popular wooden ramrod diameters. 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2 inch that will accept a fitted tip end while on the wooden rod that I can put on my drill press (guide hole in jig) so I can drill a hole thru tip and rod for a steel retainer pin. Im lucky enough to have a little and ancient Atlas lathe that I can turn down the wooden ends to accept the tip. But it can be done with simple hand tools as well and a little time. Usually I use a piece of coathanger wire for the pin. I epoxy on the end and then peen the pin thru the tip!

I generally have. Several range rods already made up for a shooting session or as gifts to new shooters. If needed And if my rifle rod breaks i can use a cut down range rod as handy replacement. Packing an extra rod along can save a lot of heartache in the longrun. Even if youbjust leave it back at camp it can still save a hunt!

This method isnt going to break the bank as its all pretty inexpensive. Just throwing this out for those with time on their hands. And might consider another project!

KW

More information... Great .. Thanks for all the help!! I think I need a new muzzleloader to go with all of this!

Been using hickory rods since the early 70's. Years ago I ordered a bundle of 3/8 in. X 48 in. rods and with a little time and a piece of broken glass scrape them down to whatever size I need for my rifles of 36 to 54 cal. I don't recall breaking one of them and most of mine are long rifles. My experience appears to indicate most rods that come with factory rifles are pretty much a piece of junk. The rods for my custom rifles have almost always been excellent.....almost.

“My experience appears to indicate most rods that come with factory rifles are pretty much a piece of junk."

Bingo!!!

I had some bad muzzy luck last season. I had 3, sold one, and another decided to not group. I ordered another expensive one a Pedersoli Jaeger and it would not spark reliably at all.
So I was down to my "target" Pedersoli Mortimer. Great rifle except is is near 11 pounds and about a mile long. Not a great carry rifle for driving deer in the snow in the thick laurel. Anyway I break to rod to the Mortimer on Christmas eve. Muzzy season starts here the day after Christmas. Local shop did not have any long enough. So I went to Lowes and bought a fiberglass snow marker rod. I cut it to length, installed the brass end from my broken wood rod and used it all season. The rod is yellow but I don't care. It was a little loose in the pipe on the end so I put a piece of shrink tube on it. I think the rod was 1.50.

I’ve always found fiber glass rods to be pretty abrasive to the muzzle area of rifles. Much more so than wood. Just my personal experience. I suspect with a muzzle protector, things would be better protected.

Just throwing it out. Back in the day saw many old T/C and other button rifled firearms brought into the shop with muzzles that look almost as bad as a blunderbus from glass rod use. ( Naturally the complaint was rifle didn’t shoot /group as well as it did!). Dunno what else could have caused that type of wear at that particular spot other than the type of rod they were using. Common denominator with all these rifles was a fiberglass rod. Im sure its not that big of a concern for the occasional shooter/hunter who loads only a few rounds a year with such rod, or uses it while hunting.

I certainly agree that a fiberglass rod is not a good choice because it is abrasive. A range rod of another material like derlin, wood or aluminum is better.
But for hunting an unbreakable fiberglass rod is OK. In my mind it is a bit safer than having a broken wood rod up your wrist out in the woods.
In my Pedersoli, the diameter is metric I guess, and aluminum rods are too thick. I tried sanding one down and I did not get much whittled off before I ran out of 80 grit paper. So I got comfortable with the fiberglass rod.
CVA make a universal derlin one I think. I use that as a range rod, but again it is too thick for the pipes on the Mortimer. In fact I use 2 range rods. One I use with a worm/mop set up to damp wipe between shots, and the second rod for loading. I keep the fiberglass for hunting.

The link below is interesting. I guess they make a rod like a pencil, but instead of graphite, they insert a steel rod. So it has both wood and metal attributes.

http://www.periodramrod.com/

About 30-35 years ago there was a company in WV. Mountains State Muszleloading that offered up their version of a derlin (I think) rod advertised as the Wonder Rod. I knew a lot of fellas that used em. And liked em. . Suppose they are out of business now. I don’t keep up with a lot of the new stuff these days. Or who’s selling what.

Hickory soaked in coal oil was best. Yet old guns have wallowed out muzzles from wood picking up dirt, same with aluminum rods. Aluminum oxide makes grinding wheels. Anodized is better. Derlon seems good but is very flexible. Fiberglass will never get near my barrels. I load with Hickory but clean with hard steel and a muzzle protector and a handle bearing so the jag spins in the rifling. My jag also spins by itself.
All my cleaning rods are one piece hard steel with muzzle protectors.

“Hickory soaked in coal oil was best.”

Oh, after believing the same for over 45 years, I was informed it does no good!

But then again I have also been informed one cannot apply a polymer finish to carbon steel.

The oil soak makes the wood flex without breaking is all. It will not save a barrel if it is rubbed.

Oh I know and have done it for years! I was using a bit of non-directional sarcasm ! ( Having myself suggested the same treatment in the past elsewhere.)