Ram Rod Head, 32-Pounder
Description
32-pounder gun ram rod head. Turned wooden object – circular hollow centre – shaped towards one end with gouged end rounded moulding. Flat ends. ‘32’ carved onto flat end of shaped end. Two ‘I’ carved onto flat end – (opposite end to ‘32’ inscription). Brown coloured.
The rammer was a wooden cylinder about the same diameter and length as the shot (cannonball). It pushed home the powder charge, the wad, and the shot. As a precaution against faulty or double loading, marks on the rammer handle showed the loaders when the different parts of the charge were properly seated. Some rammers with wooden handles had a sponge on the other end to neutralise burning powder that might be left from the previous firing. In battle, a member of the gun crew often had to sit on the sill of the gun port to access the gun’s muzzle where he was at risk from the enemy’s small arms fire.
Insc. II to base
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Object Detail
Diameter: 152mm (6")
Weight: (1.1kg)