✅ SOLVED Ramrod

[Spats]

I dug this ramrod on a Civil War battlefield in Mississippi. It is 37 inches long and is threaded on the back end. After a couple of weeks of soaking in apple cider vinegar, enough rust was removed from the business end to reveal a thin brass ring around it. The brass appears to be original, but could have been added after manufacture. I can't find a match anywhere. Are there any experts out there than can help me with this? Thanks.

 

[outlaws15]

I thought I was going to c a young rowdy yates

 

[Retired Sarge]

Could be a Jag or other accessory tip on the rod. These are reproductions below, but it gives you an ideal. Remember Muzzleloaders were used for many years after they became outdated, and are still made today for black powder hunters.

On some muzzleloaders, the ramrod was modified into a cleaning rod when the weapon itself was updated/upgraded. An example of this is the Snider-Enfield, went from muzzleloader to breech loader, so from ramrod to cleaning rod.

https://possibleshop.com/s-s-ramrod-acc.html

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your find is a civil war era muzzleloader rifle-musket ramrod, and specifically, a .54/.55 Austrian Lorenz ramrod. The armies of both sides in the war used them, especially in the "Western Campaigns." So unless you can pin down whose troops occupied the site where you dug it, attributing yours to US or CS usage is problematic. That being said, more Austrian rifles were used by the Confederates than the yankees.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Here's one example of an Austrian Lorenz ramrod tip.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Very cool and interesting find! Congratulations! Good luck on identifying which side was using it. Thanks for posting.

 

[Spats]

Your find is a civil war era muzzleloader rifle-musket ramrod, and specifically, a .54/.55 Austrian Lorenz ramrod. The armies of both sides in the war used them, especially in the "Western Campaigns." So unless you can pin down whose troops occupied the site where you dug it, attributing yours to US or CS usage is problematic. That being said, more Austrian rifles were used by the Confederates than the yankees.

Thanks CBG. As usual, you nailed it. I have done some research since I read your reply and I am 99% sure that this was lost by a Yankee. I found a site online where someone had a partial list of units that used Austrian rifles. He admittedly had an incomplete list of Confederate units, but there were five Federal regiments on this field that were using Austrian rifles. One of them chased the retreating rebels right through the spot where I found the ramrod. I can't find any reference to any of the Confederates in the vicinity having these weapons.

The tip was about four inches deep and I got a signal on it. I was surprised to have gotten the signal because I was using discrimination and looking for non-ferrous signals. I think that brass band got my detector's attention. The bend in the ramrod is where it angled down right through the taproot of a tree and the other end angled back up and was also only 4 inches deep. It took an hour to recover as more roots were involved.

It's great to know more about this relic. This is the best place to get answers and the CBG's vast knowledge always amazes me.