Ram′mer.
1. (Fire-arms.) a. The rod by which the charge is forced home. See ramrod. b. A staff having a cylindrical or conoidal head attached, used in cannon for the same purpose. The rammer-head is made of beech, maple, or other hard wood not easily split, and is bored for about two thirds of its length to receive a tenon on the staff. For rifled guns or for hollow projectiles, its face is countersunk. Rammers for large guns are technically termed rammers and staves. For field artillery, a sponge is attached to the other end of the staff, and the combined implement is called a sponge and rammer. The sponge is made of coarse, well-twisted woolen yarn, woven into a warp of strong hemp or flax thread, after the manner of Brussels carpet. They are woven in threads with selvages between them, which, being cut, the sponges are sewed to fit formers of the same diameter as the sponge-heads. Hair sponges, frequently called brush-wipers, are sometimes employed, and are very useful, for cleaning the grooves of riffed guns.
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| Flexible rammer for turret-guns. |
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| Rammers. |
3. (Founding.) A tool for ramming the sand into the flasks. They are of two kinds; square and round. The former is thin and calculated to affect the bottom of the soft sand, compressing and driving it into the interstices of the pattern. The round or flat rammer (b, Fig. 4160) hardens the upper surface only; it is always used last. Rammers are sometimes entirely of iron; they are best made with ash or hickory handles, about four feet long, shod with a cast-iron end of suitable size and weight. Bench-rammers have short handles.
