I’ve taken my time before writing this long form review because I wanted to present the reader with something interesting; a certain flare or excitement. Let’s face it there’s just nothing really exciting about cleaning. If something is exciting about cleaning a gun it usually means something has gone horribly wrong, like 911 wrong.
So let’s be practical. The truth is the practical is what’s exciting about RamRodz, or at least helpful. RamRodz are 8 inch long, caliber specific, tightly wound cotton swabs with bamboo handles. They’re made of all natural materials, making them fully biodegradable and renewable (for the hoards of trigger happy greenies out there). The bamboo lends flexibility that allows a thorough scrub while the cotton allows a certain flexibility of its own. While RamRodz currently come only in breech cleaning size and calibers 22, 9, 40, 45 and 50, each swab can be used adequately on a small range of calibers. As tested the 45 caliber swab (with a little squeeze between the fingers) cleans 44 magnum quite well. I’ve been told the same is true when using the 50 caliber swab on 460 and 480. Similarly the 40 caliber swab should clean the 41 magnum.
In using the swabs I find they clean very well and quickly. While I tend to be meticulous about gun cleaning I feel one can get away without a brush with RamRodz as they do the job of a patch while cleaning every surface, negating the need for a brush to clean grooves every time. I have found myself getting a RamRodz swab wet with solvent and using it exclusively before putting a gun away. No digging out a cleaning kit, covering the work surface and switching between screwing on spear points and wire brushes. It’s one of those work smarter not harder moments.
This is when that practicality comes in. A bag of RamRodz will cost you $10, yes that’s more than patches cost. But most of us have a feeling patches are dirt cheap when in fact they’ve gone up in price like everything else. Do yourself a favor and shop the internet for patches for 5 minutes you may be surprised by what you see. The difference in cost to you isn’t all that much. Especially when you think how you use patches. How many do you go through wiping out the insides of your pistol? How many times do you double up a patch to try to get it tighter in the barrel? How many tips have you snapped off because you made it too tight? So it looks like a small amount to pay for less time spent and less frustration. Ask yourself what is your time worth? If you don’t live with your parents, and you have any disposable income at all you, probably make at least $40k per year. That means someone is willing to pay you $20 or more for an hour of your effort. In that light, how much are patches really costing you?
The fact is the RamRodz work, they’re faster, easier and live up to the claims of the manufacturer. What more do you want? It may be worth a $10 pack to try them out.