How do you carry your priming horn?

[brew]

I just came a cross an antique priming horn at a tag sale and with a little tlc it looks great.Now
I need to figure out how to carry it. I know some people attach it to there shooting bag. What other options are there? I will post a picture of it in the photos section.

 

[brubincam]

-----keep mine in the hunting pouch-----

 

[rabjr]

Yep, mine lives inside my bag.

 

[roundball]

What other options are there?

Shirt pocket...

 

[renovato]

I toss it in my cluttered bag to add to the clutter! :haha:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Mine goes in a shirt pocket, if I have one. Otherwise, in the bag.

 

[tg]

I used to let it hang on a seperate strap so it hung on the same side and just above my main horn.I have since stopped using a seperate powder type for priming so only one horn is needed, the old priming horn is now used as a short hunt horn and carried the same way or now and then kept in the bag if the bag.

 

[wwpete52]

I agree, one of the smartest things I ever did when I shooting a flintlock was loose the priming horn!

 

[trent/OH]

I suppose you'll have to look it over real carefully and see what evidence there is on how it was handled back in the day. If it doesn't have a place for it to be attached to a cord or strap, it may have lived in a pocket or a shooting pouch. Look closely, because if a staple fell out a long while ago, those holes may not show up very well.

 

[2172]

I'm with tg and wwpete...I carry my priming in my horn with the fffg I use for my main charge..I find I don't need a separate priming horn or ffffg for priming...Hank

 

[J.D.]

I toss it in my cluttered bag to add to the clutter!

IMHO, the best way to get rid of the clutter is to do away with those things that are not necessary.

The priming horn is one of those things that just get in the way.

I once observed a timed match where a competitor dug through his cluttered bag looking for a priming horn. He only fired one shot at that station. Most of the other competitors who did not use a priming horn fired three shots in the same time frame.

IMHO, we get wrapped up with the gottahaves, so we gottacarry all those gottahaves that we don't really gotta have. That results in a cluttered hunting pouch where we can't find the things we do need to keep those firelocks working, because of all of the unnecessary things we believe we gottahave in that pouch.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Years ago, I bought a matched set of horns, Primary and an Priming horn, and each hung from its own leather thong over my neck and at my side, above or next to my bag. I looked pretty as a picture.

I do not regret buying the horns. What I do not like is the fact that I have to worry about the leather thongs coming off, and the horns banging into me, and other things. The horns are worn, with my buckskins, knife, and tomahawk, when my club is doing a public demonstration. I even remove my eye glasses, becoming a public menace in the process, just to give the tourists a " nice " picture.

Over the years, I have found that 3Fg powder works as well as Priming powder in my rifle, and better on rainy or foggy days. So, the priming horn gets left at home, or in the car. I have begun to leave my main horn in the car also, and simply carry pre-measured powder charges in plastic tubes when I am hunting. The same powder can be used for priming. And, the bag stays home, now, while I carry the needed items in the pockets of my various layers of clothing I wear anyway.

I have some small horns that I want to flatten, and make into pocket-sized carry horns, for hunting, with the idea of using them with a small caliber gun to shoot squirrels and rabbits. With the small caliber, powder charges will also be small, and the small flat horn should carry more than enough powder for a day in the woods. But, I can also use them to carry powder when deer hunting, as I never expect to get more than 2 shots on a deer hunt as it is. And, these small horns will carry enough for several more shots, if needed in a survival situation to signal to others for help.


The best use for those small " Priming " horns, in my humble opinion(IMHO), is to carry a small amount of powder - just enough of FFg or FFFg powder-- for use during a hunt. Find a pocket it fits in and carry it there. If you buy a flat horn, it can often fit in a back pants pocket, out of the way, but quickly available to you to reload your gun. I have put my round priming horn down my jeans back pocket when I used it to prime my fowler at a clay target range, but its a very uncomfortable place to carry such a style of priming horn.

 

[RC]

okay mine is in my bag (thanks Swampy!) on a timed shoot i use the big horn..normally use the primin horn otherwise,,huntin season i use 2ff for main load ,so i carry 3fff priming horn..i feel(imho) it works better,,jus me) as far as shirt pocket? TRUE story, guy the goes to a lotta shoots and does real well, used to carry his primer in his shirt pocket,,till one day at the range a spark from his flinter got his shirt goin.... :shocked2: he don't carry it there no more...and seein his shirt convinced me...like paulv says "it's only gotta happen once".....the "in the bag" trick is (again..imho) i have a lil leather strap on mine,tied to the bag, so i can just drop the primer, yet, find it easily again when i need it....(again ditto, imho!)other wise theres a pocket fer it....and the new bag (thank you swampy!) will have an outside pocket under the flap jus fer the primer! (swampy spoils me!) :grin:

 

[Ridge]

Mine is in the bag.

I like to use 4f when the weather is nice. I notice the difference in ignition. Maybe your guns fire with 3F just as fast, but all 3 of my Chambers locks give a delay when comparing 3 to 4 F.

If it's damp out, I typically will just use the 3F. It doesn't seem to suck the moisture up so fast.

 

[roundball]

I like to use 4f when the weather is nice. I notice the difference in ignition. Maybe your guns fire with 3F just as fast, but all 3 of my Chambers locks give a delay when comparing 3 to 4 F.
If it's damp out, I typically will just use the 3F. It doesn't seem to suck the moisture up so fast.

I use 4F for the same reason, and I use it all the time...if its humid / damp I just refresh it often.
Pocket pan primers may not be PC but they are extremely fast & convenient...rifle is cradeled in the arm...lift the pan primer out, depress the 3grn plunger into the pan, drop it back in the pocket...takes maybe 5 seconds

 

[bebloomster]

Mine is generally inside the bag if I am dressed in period.... otherwise it is in a shirt pocket. Hmm... come to think of it priming horn in shirt pocket when firing a flinter? Maybe it might be better in a back pocket.

 

Mighty,

When i carried a primer horn it was on the main horn strap and hung just above the main horn.
Dont carry it anymore. Tho, it does make a good day horn.
:v

 

[Coot]

When I used a priming horn, it was in the bag. With the high humidity common here, I quit using 4f to prime & just go with the main horn. The little priming horn is now loaded with 3f & travels with a pistol in my portmanteau. If I go out with just the pistol, I leave the bag & main horn in camp & just put the little horn & a few balls in a pocket.

 

[Mulebrain]

I have a priming horn, but will just cut it down to one main horn with fff and be done with it!

 

[agill]

I keep my priming horn in the bag or in a pocket. I do agree that it isn't needed, but I bought a pound when I started shooting flintlocks and it lasts and lasts.....