I've been doing this for years. Usually, I'll put the shell casing on a "sacrificial" part of the dowel and put that in a vise. Then I take the ball part of a ball-peen hammer and put it right in the center of where the primar was. I hit that with something hard (usually another hammer -- but you're not supposed to strike two hardened faces together) and I have a nice, rounded indentation that fits the ball more snugly. The "new" twist you showed me in your video was tapping the primer hole to take screw-in brushes, swabs, etc.! Damned good idea. I'm doin' that one next time. The reason I don't like the ramrods that come with most muzzle loaders is that they're usually too short and too fragile. They're easily broken and that can end a hunt mighty fast. So, I usually don't use them at all but keep them on the gun "for looks." Now, someone with a bit of sand paper could thin down an oak dowel to fit his gun, and that would probably be stronger than the wood they're usually made of. I like the extra length, though, because it still gives me something to hang onto when the ball's just about to the end of the barrel.
I've been doing this for years. Usually, I'll put the shell casing on a "sacrificial" part of the dowel and put that in a vise. Then I take the ball part of a ball-peen hammer and put it right in the center of where the primar was. I hit that with something hard (usually another hammer -- but you're not supposed to strike two hardened faces together) and I have a nice, rounded indentation that fits the ball more snugly. The "new" twist you showed me in your video was tapping the primer hole to take screw-in brushes, swabs, etc.! Damned good idea. I'm doin' that one next time. The reason I don't like the ramrods that come with most muzzle loaders is that they're usually too short and too fragile. They're easily broken and that can end a hunt mighty fast. So, I usually don't use them at all but keep them on the gun "for looks." Now, someone with a bit of sand paper could thin down an oak dowel to fit his gun, and that would probably be stronger than the wood they're usually made of. I like the extra length, though, because it still gives me something to hang onto when the ball's just about to the end of the barrel.
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That’s a great idea using a shell casing
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