Scots type powder horn

[Mark E.]

Hello all, me again.

Ok. Probably as has been figured by now, I am fairly deep into the whole living history scene. Being rather close to the Scots side of things, much of my immediate equippage bears close resemblence to that of the immigrant of the middle 18th century. While there were many common items that had no cultural ideitifiers, the Scots have a few items that were definately theirs-for one, pistols. Two, knives. Three, powder horns. I hunt, shoot, trek and do all sorts of stuff that requires blackpowder, so I decided to make myself a horn to carry it in the style of my former countrymen.














It took me forever to find a horn from one of the shaggy native beasties, but...I finally did. Two actually (the other one is bent in the wrong direction for my right-handiness). Cleaned it out, thinned it down (THAT took a summer of Saturdays, believe me). For the flattening, I trial and errored on several scrapper horns, and after much input from those who knew what they were talking about (but had no results to show), I pressure cooked the darn thing, 15 lbs pressure for 15 minutes. That got it soft enough to flatten. Smelled really bad in the house for a looooong time. The base plug is from a tap root chunk of a white oak, 200+ years old that was a fixture in my childhood-hard, gnarly stuff...it has history, mine and its own, and will travel with me as long as I carry the horn-and then with the next owner, when I'm gone. The spout is a reproduced 18th century english spring spout-I have seen horns explode, and didn't want it happening to me-the thing is almost idiot proof, and keeps rain out (I know this for a fact-have carried it in real downpours, no wet powder). The leather straps are deerskin, nails and buckles, plus fill plug, of brass and stitching of real sinew (I know it's real, I salvaged it from the deer myself). The repair is a piece of trimmed horn-clonked the thing on a bar on a deerstand once, and cracked it. Didn't lose any powder, but had to repair it after.

No plans to scrimshaw-yet. I'm no artist, but one day will get to it. It's not a pretty horn, so my semi-stick figures will likely look right at home. Until then, it carries powder-and I carry it.

[Spc. Scott]

I will admit I really admire the very fancy horns that I've seen but IMHO it's the simple ones that really get me.

Well done!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I'm impressed.... well done!

[mull]

Beautiful work. Carry it proudly!

[Nighthawk]

I'm impressed.... well done!

What he said!! Wow! I know what I want for my birthday...

[Mark E.]

I will admit I really admire the very fancy horns that I've seen but IMHO it's the simple ones that really get me.

Well done!

Thanks! I actually have another "on the books" that, hopefully, the quality of construction will allow me to justify decoration of quality to match. At the point I made this one, it wasn't a luxury item-I needed a powder horn, so I decided to make one. My former horn, also one that I had made, was of a very American style, and from an American steer horn, is permanently attached to a hunting pouch I nearly wore out. The former pouch I need to repair-and the horn is staying with. This one, I made buckles to fit up to several bags-I hunt deer with a longrifle (which is the bag you see it on in the one photo), birds and small game with a flintlock shotgun (another hunting pouch, not pictured), and English with a musket/pistols-since it was an almighty pain making the horn, I made it so it could adapt.

Something that has come up, too, when I am at events where shooting happens...The other folks focus on the repair. It seems with all of the "pretty equipment" out there, that the wear and tear and damage, along with the "fixer-ups" are becoming decoration on their own. I have worn out and broken knives, knife sheath parts, repaired hatchets, and fixed things on my accoutrements, all of which draw attention and comments of "Dang, that stuff looks like you really USE it". Really sets the weekenders apart from those who have stepped out of their time in a very real fashion.

[MacSaorsa]

I needed a powder horn, so I decided to make one

This is one of the reasons I like this horn. That's the sentiment that would have led our gg-grandfathers to make that exact same horn a couple of centuries ago. Great job.

[tyger]

Great job! I have made a few powder horns too, and nothing beats doing a piece for yourself that you are proud of.

Using something that you made is a hoot, and making one for somebody else is almost as cool. Keep it up.

Tyger, at Tyger Forge, wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

[Eleazar]

That's awesome! I like the things that are built from everyday items. Not always simple, but practical.

[Piper]

Just a tip, although maybe you've tried it already. Boil the horn in oil. Something I picked up a couple of years ago at the Horner's Convention in Williamsburg. You can get it hotter than you can in water, so there's less risk of cracking. The other thing is to use a form inside the horn when you press it to keep it from going concave on the sides. Almost any work on a horn is best done outside. I'm blessed with a very tolerant wife, but horn work in the house is pushing the envelope. I can do my rasping and filing in the basement without any repercussions, and scrimshaw can be done anywhere. Anything involving heat or power tools is best done in the open air. I'm thinning out a horn right now to flatten. Sometimes I soak them in water overnight to soften the outer layer for scraping, but even that is best done outside. I put in in a coffee can of water to soak on a bench at the bottom of the basement steps. Next morning my wife was searching the family room for an "indiscretion" on the part of one of the dogs.