Field flask made from elk antler safety question.

[renegadehunter]

I’m going to make a small field flask out of the base of an elk shed. It will hold about 500 grains when I’m done hopefully, going to wallow out the inside to create the room needed with an extension through the bushing hole that is needed, want to keep it as short as possible. I’ve ordered a brass pour valve and small size base plug from TOTW with the threaded bushings. I’ve read that the bushings should be fitted into a 15/32 drilled hole and epoxied in. I recently read that powder horn base plugs should be sealed with bees wax rather than epoxy being used to try to prevent a pipe bomb situation. My question is whether the bees wax is preferred or if the threads are supposed to allow it to vent and therefore epoxy would be okay?
I realize this might be a debated question, but would like to hear what some of you long time black powder shooters think is best.

 

[necchi]

I've used that valve and bushing in a few horns with success and always epoxied, never gave the "pipe bomb" issue a thought.
But, these are horns with a base that's pinned and waxed to seal as you mention not just a hollowed out section of antler.
If your worried, you could drill through a section of antler, fashion a plug for the non-valve end, use a toothpick "pin" and hot wax seal it.
Your going to need to epoxy that valve though,, pushing that spring loaded button does exert some "sideways" pressure to the bushing.
I like Devcon 10ton because it's a slow set epoxy, easier to work with and much more reliable then the fast set types.

 

[Black Hand]

I've seen flasks made from the beam but not from the base.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...86213312&selectedIndex=21&cbir=sbi&ajaxhist=0

 

[renegadehunter]

I'm going to cut the very base knob off from where it was shed from the skull, I just meant that I'm using the very bottom where the most diameter is located.

 

[Le Loup]

It is possible that the article you read on powder horn safety was mine or based on mine, I wrote this some time ago now. Gunpowder flasks of copper & brass have soldered seems that will be the first to break in an explosion. In my opinion, any flask that does not have a "safety valve" of this type could potentially be dangerous. When the base plug on a powder horn blows out it can be a projectile problem, but the wearer is usually not injured as the horn has not fractured & hopefully the base plug does not harm anyone else.
When a powder flask explodes the pressure is immediately dissipated as the seems come apart. If there are no seems, then there is a potential for the container to either fragment, or turn the head & base into dangerous projectiles. Personally I do not think it is worth the risk.

Causes of exploding gunpowder container:
1) leaving the spout plug out of the horn & a spark ignites the powder within. 2) Each time the spout plug is replaced it can grind the remaining gunpowder in the spout which gets impregnated into the plug stem & this can act as a fuse. 3) loading a gun directly from the horn or flask. Any embers remaining in the barrel will explode the horn/flask. 4) the flask that uses a measuring spout is not a safe seal, & a spark landing on this spout can explode the contents.

After priming from my powder horn & replacing the spout plug I always swing the powder horn behind my back out of the way. I suggest this is a good habit to foster!

Keith.

 

[Elnathan]

The simplest solution I can think of would be to have a wooden cap over the open end - spout is glued into the wood, and the wood is fitted to the top of the antler in much the same way as the butt end of a powderhorn. The joint between the antler and the cap is your designated fail point.

Having said that, antler is not the same thing as horn, and in the absence of actual testing I wouldn't assume that the same safety rules apply to it. It may very well fragment regardless of whether or not you use epoxy.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That 'pipe bomb' issue has come up recently. I believe it is ridiculous to even consider that issue when making a horn or flask. If there is any possibility you are going to handle your black powder in anything but a safe manner take up flower arranging for your avocation. You should not be able to blow yourself up doing that. As for your antler flask. Go for it. But, personally, I would not bother with a brass thingy for the spout. Just drill a hole and use a whittled plug for the stopper. Pic required when finished.

 

[FishDFly]

I would more worry about someone talking on their cell phone when pumping gas next to me.

 

[renegadehunter]

I think I'm going to just going to epoxy it in, provided I can wallow out the inside and make it satisfactory to what I'm after. I feel the risk is pretty low that it would ever get ignited somehow.

 

[necchi]

Yeah,, but that's why drill through with the 15/32,, then back bore with a 24/32 (or bigger) and plug.
A larger reservoir for capacity,, while maintaining the proper size for the bushing,, you can always make a pretty plugged end. It's doesn't have to be a tapered/whittled chuck just stuffed in there. Fit a piece for the hole, peg-glue-wax and polish,, a nice flat base plug.

 

[Black Hand]

That 'pipe bomb' issue has come up recently. I believe it is ridiculous to even consider that issue when making a horn or flask. If there is any possibility you are going to handle your black powder in anything but a safe manner take up flower arranging for your avocation. You should not be able to blow yourself up doing that.

Stupid happens to all of us a some point...

 

[renegadehunter]

Haven't had much chance to work on this yet. Family stuff, a deer to cut up, and late muzzleloader elk now being open has dominated my free time.

Lots of good suggestions, I appreciate them. I'm thinking that wallowing out the inside to make enough room is going to be the challenge, especially through a 15/32 hole that I don't want to accidently enlarge from contact with a spinning shaft while working on the inside part. If it can't be done this way then I'll either just forego the valve and go with Rifleman1776's suggestion of whittling a stopper and only have one end drilled (this will be the most compact too), or I'll go with Elnathan's suggestion of a wooden cap on one end. That end of the antler could be really opened up and tapered, and the cap can be drilled for the fill-end plug and then the other end would have the valve. I don't think it's going to be very "pretty" when done, but building it will be fun and it'll perform the task that I'm wanting it for. I'd rather make one like this than just go buy the brass field flask that Traditions sells. Which ever way I do it, it is going to have some type of "give" on one end. While the odds are really low, perhaps winning the lottery low, I still want to have a bit of safety factor. Like Black Hand stated above, stupid happens...Who knows what kind of powder handling techniques someone down the road may have that winds up with it after I'm gone.

 

[renegadehunter]

View attachment 2028
Well here it is. Nothing fancy but I couldn't be more pleased with the volume. It holds just a pinch over 500 grains of 2f, enough for 5 reloads in the field. It is about 6" long. Not quite as compact as I was hoping. I thought about trying to do something about the spot where I cut the eye guard off (other than rounding the edge off), but it actually makes a nice gripping point on the opposite side of the push valve, so I made sure that the valve was positioned opposite of it. The softer inside portion of the antler was getting some rot, which shows in the second pic where I cut the eye guard off, so I sealed the whole thing so that moisture doesn't creep in from there. The fill plug end bushing is just glued in with a thin strip on opposite sides and then the rest sealed with wax so it could possibly vent if it ever somehow needed to.