We all know why the big rig trucks have so many wheels. You don’t? It is to spread their great weight on to so many pressure points that none of them would be destructive to either the road surface or the truck itself.
Folks walking by my shooting bench might wonder why I have a somewhat large white glass door knob on my short starter or ram rod.
If you give either one a lot of whacks to extrude the patched lead ball into the rifling of your barrel, you will remember the wear and tear on what I called my rifleman’s elbow..The wide knob makes it easier on the palm of your hand and the weight is a plus when it comes to forcing that resistant patched ball into the bore.
A side advantage is that if you forget and leave the ram rod in the barrel, you cannot aim the rifle without seeing that large knob in the middle of your sight picture.
The ones I used were recovered from the wreckage of an old river steamboat that was revealed by a low water level during a drought. Actually my main ramrod had a solid brass knob recovered from a former elegant building that was being destroyed.
I doubt if many will adopt this practice because it looks a little “DUMB” if you don’t think about it.
On another related topic, it seems you spend a lot of time carrying stuff to the range, to your hunting grounds, and a sling for your rifle is a good idea. I see a lot of them, narrow straps cutting into a shoulder. I suggest making one with a nice maybe 4 inch wide section that lies on your shoulder, Spreads the weight, makes a heavier load feel much lighter.
For hunting in the field you probably just carry your rifle and at most a sling that supports your shooting bag, but if possible, avoid anything that gets in the way of your smooth aiming movement.