[Adam Helmer]

quigley,

Thanks for posting your mishap as a safety reminder to all Longhunters. I suppose it was your stong hand that got the splinter. Do you have a drain in place since the rod had to have been pretty dirty for such a deep puncture wound?

Back in 1973 I built my first Pennsylvania Rifle from a kit. There was no ramrod in the kit, so I went to the local building supply store and got a piece of about three-eights wooden dowel rod that fit the thimbles snugly. During my first range session all went well until the 4th shot, when the bore was fouled. I was too high up on the ramrod as MaIIIa mentions and it broke about midway above the muzzle. My strong hand missed the pointed splinter by millimeters as my hand swept down past the muzzle. I use fiberglass rods now.

Adam