Can it be fixed? Powder horn holes

[CharlieTN]

I have a powder horn that was my father's. He died 14 years ago and the horn would likely be over 30 years old. Unfortunately it sat in an old barn for several years and has a couple of holes, one of them roughly the size of half of a dime. Is it possible to patch these holes to make the horn usable again?

It does have in it some scars from whatever had chewed on it but they do't go all the way through.

Still having difficulty posting photos (apparently my computer skills stink). I'll see if I can get a couple posted.

Thanks,

Charles

 

[CharlieTN]

 

[Kansas Jake]

Charlie, I have a couple of horns with the same problem. The holes don't go completely through the horn, but are unsightly. Mine are more damaged than yours. I think bugs or larvae of some kind made the holes. I too would like to hear of a good idea to repair the holes. I do still use both horns. The damage happened sometime over a number of years while they were stored when I put muzzleloading on hiatus.

 

[CharlieTN]

I had thought about some epoxy and tape to hold it into the shape of the horn. I'll wait and see if there are any suggestions.

Would love to fix it but also don't want to make it worse since it was my dad's.

 

[Black Hand]

The one at the base appears to go through the horn. I'd plug the holes and cover the horn with rawhide. In doing so, I would remove the tacks, cover with rawhide and return the tacks to their original position.

 

[CharlieTN]

Here's a pic of the horn overall. Nothing fancy but it holds sentimental value.

 

[Gene L]

Epoxy the holes. I had a rifle with a horn buttplate, same problem. I think it's larvae of some sort.

If the holes go through, you can put a plug in to stop the epoxy from going through. The five minute stuff should do just fine.

 

[BrownBear]

A bud had the same issues, and 5-minute epoxy worked fine. At my suggestion he borrowed my tubes of epoxy pigment and came pretty close to matching the horn. You have to look really close to spot the repairs.

Only precaution, a tiny little bit of the pigment goes a looong ways in small batches like you'll need. I use colored epoxy for fly tying and for about a teaspoon of epoxy you need something like half a rice grain of pigment, if that example makes sense.

I just squeeze out the amount of resin I'm going to need, then dip a toothpick into the pigment and stir that into the resin. You can blend colors. When I get what I want I stir in the hardener and go to work.

The way my bud did it, he pulled the tacks and removed the base plug, then covered the inside of the holes with masking tape. Add your epoxy, let it harden, remove the tape, restore the plug, then sand the outside to smooth.

 

[CharlieTN]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

This excites me. I have the horn he gave me when he gave me the .54 Hawken many, many, many years ago but have since added a .40 flintlock to the mix and I was hoping to use his horn for the FFFG powder for it.

Again, thanks for the great help.

 

[bpd303]

What BrownBear said. I have restored several horns with more damage than your pictures show and they are still used today. If you don't want to pull the base plug with the larger hole, take a cotton ball and fill the hole so the epoxy doesn't run inside the horn.

 

[bubba.50]

that pull the plug & tape the inside is a neat tip that I never woulda thought of. gonna file it away for future reference.

 

[Black Hand]

Before applying epoxy, clean the edges well with acetone to remove any oil/wax that could interfere with adherence. Some people add horn dust to the epoxy, creating a filler.

 

[Artificer]

Before applying epoxy, clean the edges well with acetone to remove any oil/wax that could interfere with adherence. Some people add horn dust to the epoxy, creating a filler.

Great tip, but if one uses horn dust in the epoxy to create a filler, make SURE after the Acetone cleaning - to lay/spread some epoxy without filler over the inside, the hole and outside and THEN put the horn dust filled epoxy in place. The unfilled epoxy ensures the horn dust filled epoxy will be well glued/adhered to the horn.

I learned this from using wood dust filled epoxy to fill holes in stocks. If you don't put clean epoxy down before the filled epoxy, there is a real chance of the filled epoxy not sticking properly.

Gus

 

[CharlieTN]

I don't believe I'll attempt to pull the plug, it appears to have been epoxied in place in the first place then the tacks added.

I'll post my results as I attempt it. I don't want to order in the dies due to the expense and with the holes being at the bottom of the horn and one being quite small I'm not too worried about using just straight epoxy. Now to go find my epoxy. It's around here somewhere.

 

[BrownBear]

I don't believe I'll attempt to pull the plug, it appears to have been epoxied in place in the first place then the tacks added.

I wondered about that. The bit of base plug the photo shows through the hole looks pretty shiny.

In that case, I'm speculating the best alternative would be to get some of the wide masking tape, put a thinnish dab of epoxy on it just a little bigger than the hole, then bring the horn down onto the epoxy/tape until contact. Keep the plug on the down side and press the tape into place. Allow the epoxy to set real good and remove the tape. Some sanding/scraping will be required when you peel off the tape, of course.

 

[Black Hand]

I don't believe I'll attempt to pull the plug, it appears to have been epoxied in place in the first place then the tacks added.

Heat or acetone will loosen epoxy... Of the 2, I'd use the acetone to dissolve the epoxy and proceed with repairs. That said, it isn't my horn...

 

[robinsroost]

:wink: I would try JB-Weld, either the 5 minute kind or the overnight. It dries to a dark gray finish. Keep yer powder dry......robin

 

[ohio ramrod]

I often repair horns using epoxy. I recomend using small amounts of epoxy to fill the holes after a good cleaning with acetone. I fill the holes in layers and mix some horn dust into the top layer or two.For small holes I use tooth picks to work the epoxy in. Remember to use several light layers rather than trying to fill a hole all at once. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[CharlieTN]

:wink: I would try JB-Weld, either the 5 minute kind or the overnight. It dries to a dark gray finish. Keep yer powder dry......robin

Actually that is what I did. Letting it cure overnight then it should be good to go. Couldn't find my two part epoxy but stumbled across the job weld.

 

[bpd303]

JB-Weld is epoxy and a good one. That would have been my choice, given the color of your horn at the damage.