About 40 years ago I worked for an old time gunsmith. Old time meaning he didn't buy parts to fix rifles, pistols and shotguns. He made each part no matter what it was for. Didn't matter if it was a presentation grade Parker or a J. C. Higgins single barrel 16 ga. shot gun. Spring, screw, firing pin, stock or what ever else you could find broken on a weapon.
At any rate he specialized in muzzle loading rifles since they were the gun of choice in his youth. He was in excess of 80 years old in the 1960's.
There was a technique for making a 48" long ramrod for a muzzle loader that had a twisted stripe pattern in it, used hickory for the light color and walnut or cherry for the dark color. And on top of that the twist could be made so it accelerated towards one end. The technique had been around for about 150 years and was originally done with hand tools. A ramrod is usually something between 5/16" and 3/8" in diameter. They were a work of art and usually only put on the rifle or shotgun for display, not for everyday use in loading the weapon. This kind of work, as has been said, has been around for a looooonnngggg time.