Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
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- Nov 14, 2007
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Of course, from the the 16th century (or whenever they were invented) all the way to modern times, muzzleloading muskets and rifles have a ramrod/cleaning rod attached under the barrel, for good reason.
But when we switched from black powder loaded through the muzzle, to breech-loading black powder cartridge rifles, in the late 19th century, the rods largely disappeared, did they not? Take the trapdoor springfield rifle for example, or a Sharps type rifle. Yet, the NEED for immediately cleaning the barrel remained, since it was still corrosive black powder being shot. So you'd *think* that even though the rod isn't needed for ramming the bullet down, it's still indispensible for cleaning to keep the barrel from corroding, so the attached rod seems like it should have remained an integral feature, as a handy place to store it. And back then, a man's rifle is what kept him alive, so avoiding corrosion was a matter of life & death. Why do you suppose the rods didn't stay on the guns? Is it just a matter of handling qualities & reducing weight trumping the handiness of storing the rod there? Or some other reason?
But when we switched from black powder loaded through the muzzle, to breech-loading black powder cartridge rifles, in the late 19th century, the rods largely disappeared, did they not? Take the trapdoor springfield rifle for example, or a Sharps type rifle. Yet, the NEED for immediately cleaning the barrel remained, since it was still corrosive black powder being shot. So you'd *think* that even though the rod isn't needed for ramming the bullet down, it's still indispensible for cleaning to keep the barrel from corroding, so the attached rod seems like it should have remained an integral feature, as a handy place to store it. And back then, a man's rifle is what kept him alive, so avoiding corrosion was a matter of life & death. Why do you suppose the rods didn't stay on the guns? Is it just a matter of handling qualities & reducing weight trumping the handiness of storing the rod there? Or some other reason?