Philip said:
Regarding the technical aspect of fitting a ramrod in a stock, I've disassembled a lot of Oriental guns and have found that since the overwhelming majority have barrels attached with bands and not mortises, there was no need to drill a long hole for the entire rod. The drilled hole only extends a few inches at the end, and this to keep the end of the rod separate from the bottom of the barrel. The rest is a carefully chiseled trough at the bottom of the barrel channel, just wide enough for the rod. Under the breech, the trough is cut so that the end of the rod nests tightly against the bottom of the barrel so it doesn't slide out. Easy! I've also noticed this construction on a fair number of earlier European long guns as well. This groove approach doesn't require the equipment that deep bore drilling does. A small saw with a radiused blade, and a very narrow chisel, are all you need.
Philip: Interesting you mention this. I too have found the same grooved channels in the long guns. While crude looking, the method does in fact work with everything being compressed with the bands.
Rick
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