Rammer

or Ramrod of a gun, the ramrod or gunstick; a rod used in charging a gun, to drive home the powder and shot, as also the wad, which keeps the shot from rolling out. The rammer of a piece of artillery, is a cylinder of wood, whose diameter and length are each equal to the diameter of the shot, with a handle fixed to it, at the end of which is another cylinder, covered with lamb-skin, so as to fit the gun exactly, and called a sponge: it is used to clean the piece before and after it is fired. The ramrod of a musquet is one entire piece of iron. Return RAMROD . See Platoon Exercise , under Manual .