Horn

[talkingamoeba]

Hello,
Starting from getting them off the bovine's head, how do you gather the horn and what is the procedure for preparing them for use as powder horns?

 

[ohio ramrod]

Two methods of removing horns. 1. Get vet or old time farmer to cut them off living cow with tool made for the job. (bloody and painful but not fatal. )2. Cut off of dead cow with hand saw. After removing horn pack in salt for two weeks or so to "dry out center". After center is dry it will shrink and pull away from the "horn". repack in salt another week. Then remove all salt and let "air dry" . After drying the horn will be ready to polish and work. I like to cut off small end ( saving tip ) about 1 and 1/2 inches. Then drill part way through to the hollow part and finish the hole to the center by burning out with a heated wire. (Do this outside and well away from the wife or anyone else with a sense of smell.. ) To make the plug , I like to make a wooden plug about an inch or more thick trace the horn end on the plug and then cut to the line and sand at a two or three degree taper until the plug starts in the end about half way. Then place the horn and plug both in an oven set at two hundred degrees for about an hour. This will soften the horn and shrink the plug. Then quickly remove the plug rub edges well with beeswax an insert plug into the horn. The plug should slide easily into the horn which will conform to any imperfections with the beeswax giving a good seal. After cooling sand the horn and plug smooth and put several 1/8 inch wooden plugs through the side of the horn to hold the plug in place. You can make a plug for the small end out of wood, antler, or any other suitable material or even use a valve. There are many other methods but this is how I do it and I haven't had a cow complain yet. (I use only horns off of dead cows) :hmm: :hmm:

 

[talkingamoeba]

I have a bull I'll be butchering when it cools some. He has a nice set of horns, thanks for the help.

 

[Eterry]

I never made a powder horn, but as a kid we hunted with hounds and I made a couple blowing horns. Dad swore on using broken glass from a mason jar to scrape the horn....I guess the bleeding made me a man! It took forever and he was hard to please, but I still have my blowing horn, plus one made from a goat thats over 100 years old!

Eterry

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Dang! I didn't know they lived that long.

 

[gmarc]

I have had the best luck with a #1 cabinet scraper

 

[omarick1948]

Those horns are going to have to be cored and cure for about a year before you make them into powder horns. If you work on them too "Green", you will have a problem with shrinkage and cracking etc.

I like to take the roughness off with a Hoove Rasp. The best scaper I like is a Utility Knife blade. Use it like your painting back and forth with a paint brush. Burnishes the edge and keeps it sharp and cheap ta boot!..Just my 2 1/2 cents worth!

These days, I am a city boy, so I just buy 95% of my horns here: http: //www.powderhornsandmore.com/index.html

Rick

 

[ohio ramrod]

Eterry, "pieces of broken glass" were often listed in old time probate records of gunsmiths estates. Back when I was a kid we would use broken coke bottles to smooth up the horns on our 4-H show cattle. :hmm: