Powder horn help!!!

[Loja man]

Hey all,
I need some help!! I just learned my brother-in-law had my name in family Christmas gift exchange!! He wanted to get me something for my black powder shooting. But due to all our moving the last couple of years, we’ve been in the states almost 2 years now, he had the wrong number in his phone. So he had been calling and texting some poor dude about black powder accessories!!! Last night he finally got ahold of me! LOL!!

I hope to start a Fowler build this year. I currently have a flat horn I cary in my shooting bag when out in the woods with my Kentucky .50 cal. I thought another horn to go with the Fowler would be nice. I would like to make my own. So…….. what do I need?
I was looking at powder horns and more but thier are a lot of options. I think I would like more of a medium size horn. Was thier a more common size carried with fowlers?
So any advice on choosing a horn and pictures of your horns to help inspire me!! Gives you opertunity to show of your work!!

 

[JohnL]

Find you a farmer or rancher and get you a horn to clean up, or go to Powderhorns and more online. Mr. Gerry will fix you up with one to clean or a polished horn or kit. Lots of good information online and reference books out there. Limited only by your imagination. Enjoy it. Post photos! It’s rewarding to take one from fresh off the cow to work of art that’s useful!

 

[tenngun]

Hey all,
I need some help!! I just learned my brother-in-law had my name in family Christmas gift exchange!! He wanted to get me something for my black powder shooting. But due to all our moving the last couple of years, we’ve been in the states almost 2 years now, he had the wrong number in his phone. So he had been calling and texting some poor dude about black powder accessories!!! Last night he finally got ahold of me! LOL!! I hope to start a Fowler build this year. I currently have a flat horn I cary in my shooting bag when out in the woods with my Kentucky .50 cal. I thought another horn to go with the Fowler would be nice. I would like to make my own. So…….. what do I need?
I was looking at powder horns and more but thier are a lot of options. I think I would like more of a medium size horn. Was thier a more common size carried with fowlers?
So any advice on choosing a horn and pictures of your horns to help inspire me!! Gives you opertunity to show of your work!!

Horns are a deep dark hole of never ending fascination.
South developed the banded. Horns could be carved or plane, and crude or very artistic.
Later tended to be plainer.
A fowler or Fowling piece may well have a flat horn.
Twenty shots won’t go over two thousand grains about four ounces capacity or for most of us much less
So
1) what type of fowler, Dutch long Tom club butt, English/colonial 1770s, French Fusil, Pennsylvanian Dutch barn gun, 1790s Appalachian poor boy 1830s, each would have a different horn…. Sort of,
I shot with a man who used an ancestors horn from just after the war between the states. So an older horn then your gun style is ok
2) economic class
A middling farmer might have a more frontier style horn then an upper crust
3) how you use your horn
Sunday afternoon small game hunter?
Farmer on the edge of civilization, close enough to the frontier Indians are still a threat?
True frontiersman
Or Massachusetts minute man
4) people did make their own horns but Horner was a proud profession. Any horn except for the high upper crust could be home made or Horner made

 

[Loja man]

tenngun

1- I’m looking seriously at the Chambers PA Fowler (1760-1770). The other guns in the running are Clay Smith early English trade gun (1740)or Caroline G trade gun(1760). I’m concerned about the length of the the Chambers PA Fowler. I hope to handle one at Friendship to see how they feel.
2- my family moved into Tennessee before the Revolution. I believe they owned a mill. Not sure what class that would put them but was thinking owning a gun they might have carried would be cool.
3- I would say Sunday afternoon small game hunter or someone on the edge of the frontier. These are probably totally different! more the on the edge of the frontier.

 

[French Colonial]

Recreating the 18th century powder horn by Scott Sibley

 

[Loja man]

Recreating the 18th century powder horn by Scott Sibley

Hey French colonial, have you read this one? There’s not a big price tag on this one but did you find it helpful?

 

[French Colonial]

Yes and yes
Scott has built a lot of horns and is well recognized in the Horner community

 

[Grenadier1758]

When ordering a horn kit, be sure to specify if the horn is to be left side or right side carry. The curve of the horn will hang better on one side. I like the tip of the horn to be pointing towards my body to minimize snagging on brush. Sometimes the horn will be relatively straight and could be carried on the right or left.

The smaller horn pictured in @JohnL's post would be about a half pound carry and good for a little more powder than a day's hunt.

I like a horn with a narrow tip to be easier to pour into a measure and with a thin enough body to be able to hold to the light and see an approximate powder level.

 

[Loja man]

JhonL,
What size is your smaller horn? Would it be considered a medium size horn?

 

[JohnL]

JhonL,
What size is your smaller horn? Would it be considered a medium size horn?

I think that smaller horn was around 12”. I have heard some call that horn a medium sized horn and some call it a large sized horn.

 

[Loja man]

I think that smaller horn was around 12”. I have heard some call that horn a medium sized horn and some call it a large sized horn.

Thanks JohnL,
I have my eye on one a little bigger. We’ll see if my brother in law pulls through. I sent him links for Scott Siblys book as well as to the horn. I will keep you all posted.

 

[Loja man]

So here’s where I’m at! My brother-in-law went a different route as a Christmas gift. So I brought the book by the Sibleys at Friendship as well as two horns! The smaller of the two horns I will be making as a gift for my nephew to go with his TC renegade. He will be getting the renegade in September or October as a birthday gift from his parents. That will allow me to practice some on the smaller horn before I start my horn.
The first single horn was posted on a the forum. I don’t remember who made it but I like the style! The second horn I think is when I just found a picture of on the Internet. Both of these caught my eye. Probably no scrimshaw.

 

[flntlokr]

So here’s where I’m at! My brother-in-law went a different route as a Christmas gift. So I brought the book by the Sibleys at Friendship as well as two horns! The smaller of the two horns I will be making as a gift for my nephew to go with his TC renegade. He will be getting the renegade in September or October as a birthday gift from his parents. That will allow me to practice some on the smaller horn before I start my horn.
The first single horn was posted on a the forum. I don’t remember who made it but I like the style! The second horn I think is when I just found a picture of on the Internet. Both of these caught my eye. Probably no scrimshaw.

Make sure that whatever horn you make for the nephew will hold enough powder for him to do a complete trail walk (at least) Annoying to run out of powder part way through, or having to fill every time he goes out. The first one I built was too small, and is now in use only for pistols and squirrel gun. Nice work!

 

[Steve Martin]

Lots of great videos on YouTube showing how to make your own horn. I made my first one and got hooked, have since made six or seven and it's a very enjoyable past-time all its own! Most of my horns average 14 to 15 inches measured along the outside curve.

 

[PathfinderNC]

For your first try, I will bet a kit from Powderhorns and More would be a good Idea. I think Crazy Crow may have some also.

 

[Loja man]

For your first try, I will bet a kit from Powderhorns and More would be a good Idea. I think Crazy Crow may have some also.

So is the advantage to a kit that the horn has been sized to the plug already?

 

[PathfinderNC]

So is the advantage to a kit that the horn has been sized to the plug already?

From the pictures, it looks that way, though I never did a horn kit. If it's a good kit it should come together nicely.

 

[BoomStick]

So is the advantage to a kit that the horn has been sized to the plug already?

I think one advantage to a kit for a beginner is the neck being drilled.

 

[Loja man]

For better or worse I’m just using what I have! My two older boys both also bought home blank horns. I’ve been working with my second son on his. As well as working on the one for my nephew. My nephews horn is drilled and plugged. My sons is drilled, plugged, and partially shaped! Pic to come!

 

[Ames]

The first single horn was posted on a the forum. I don’t remember who made it but I like the style!

Thats one of mine.