Powder horns and powder storage

[Onojutta]

Ok all you guys who use powder horns for more than decoration...

Do you...

...fill it with as much powder as it takes, or only put in what you expect to use for the outing?

...keep unused powder in it for storage, or empty the powder back into the manufactured container at the end of the shoot/hunt?

...transport the horn in a vehicle when it has powder in it?

...take any additional safety precautions when using a horn that contains powder?

 

[SgtErv]

I fill mine full. It's easier to pour that way in my opinion

I pour it back into the can after the range. Stow the can locked in an outbuilding I do this mainly because I display the horn at home and volunteer at a site where I wear it empty. I'm around a lot of fire there.

As it is sealed well enough I transport it to the range filled. If I was a smoker I probably wouldn't

I have a little priming horn that I don't empty because it's a pain to refill. I just store it with the can.

Reckon everyone does things differently. There's mine :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I keep mine mostly full at all times. Hanging on pegs with the shooting bags in my bedroom.

 

[necchi]

I fill mine, then fill it again when it needs it.
I have no subscribed paranoia about using, carrying, transporting or storing black powder,, that should be enough said.
I'm the careless sort though, I still have a mercury thermometer in the house.

On the other hand maybe extreme caution should be taken, after all everyone that used a powder horn 100 or more years ago is dead!! An obvious sign that there are issues.

 

[SgtErv]

Ah...I also shift it to the rear when wearing it before taking a shot. Mainly for peace of mind

 

[Rick Boylan]

:rotf: :applause: :hatsoff: :metoo:

 

[Onojutta]

Ah...I also shift it to the rear when wearing it before taking a shot. Mainly for peace of mind

I once thought it might be "safer" to wear the horn on the side opposite the lock, so in my case shooting right handed that would put the horn on my left. However, when shooting off hand with the left foot in front of the right foot, that actually puts the horn closer to the lock and any sparks that may fall from the lock, than when the horn is worn on the right. So, I now wear my horn on the right, shooting right handed.

 

[Onojutta]

An obvious sign that there are issues.

Who said anything about issues? This thread is because I know there are lots of mindsets and I'm curious how others do it.

Anyone who walks around carrying black powder on his person and doesn't at least ponder safety once in a while wouldn't be welcome at the club where I shoot.

And speaking of 100 years ago, most of you guys past age 50 would have died from natural causes by now... :v

 

[BrownBear]

I'm a hunter and not a range shooter, competitor or reenactor.

I use a day horn about the size of half a banana. That's plenty for about a dozen shots with my big rifle our close to 50 shots in the smaller ones I use for small game and lots of shooting.

The horn isn't even on a strap. It's loose inside my bag, protected from brush tangles, rain and sparks.

 

[Artificer]

I should first mention I generally use a large size powder horn on the order of a FIW or Pre-AWI/AWI size horn.

When I shot in competition at the Primitive Range at Friendship and other ranges, I always made sure my horn was filled at the start of the day and usually before I left home, if I was not camping at the site. When it got down to about half full, I filled it up again. I always sort of "buried" my pouches and horns during transport under other things, so there was no worry about transporting a full horn.

Most of the time I reenacted, it was with a musket, so I used paper cartridges with a cartridge pouch or box. However, the few times I used a pouch and horn with a musket or rifle, I filled the powder horn full, before the battle or demonstration.

For safety when firing live rounds or blanks for reenactments or demonstrations with a powder horn, I DID NOT load the priming pan first, as we do with paper cartridges. I loaded from a measure into the bore and put the stopper back into the horn. Then when I got to the priming pan, I again took the stopper plug out and filled the pan. Then I replaced the horn's stopper plug again. Yes, this is MUCH slower than filling the priming pan first as we do with paper cartridges, but there is a LOT more powder in a horn than in a paper cartridge.

I have always stored my pouches and horns in a closet, so I was not concerned about powder in the horn. If I was to sort of "display" a pouch and horn, I probably would empty the horn while it hung on the wall. Come to think of it, I have had one horn on display on the wall before and it was always empty on display.

Gus

 

[excess650]

I have no fear of carrying a horn of powder. Horns were used because they were convenient, almost waterproof vessel. What I normally carry holds 1/2# or so of powder, but I expect that an early horn held considerably more.

 

[necchi]

And speaking of 100 years ago, most of you guys past age 50 would have died from natural causes by now... :v

Oh yeah, the pneumonia I had 6 years ago almost killed me then, and the way I broke my knee in 93' would not have been able to be fixed,, heck the massive 2nd degree burn I got on my arm at 5yrs old could have done me in with infection.
Life, it's dangerous.

When it comes to powder folks just need to use common sense, don't keep it near things that burn or get real hot. Whether it's a horn, a tin can or a plastic jug,, isn't knowing it's black powder (an explosive) enough to know where to keep it?
But some guy's are just scared of the stuff,, I'm sorry if I call that paranoid.
p.s. I smoke and allow smoking in my house, there is a powder horn w/powder, hanging on a peg 10' from me right now.

 

[George]

....there is a powder horn w/powder, hanging on a peg 10' from me right now.

Be careful out there, John. :wink:

The Pennsylvania Gazette
August 14, 1735
Boston, July 28. We have the following sorrowful Account from Woodbury in the Colony of Connecticut, viz. That a few Weeks ago, the House of one Johnson of that Town, catch'd on Fire in the Night Time, and got to a great head before it was discovered. The Man happen'd that Night to be abroad, and there were at home only the Woman and four Children; she being awakened, hastened to the Room where the Children lay, and to her surprise found it on Fire, but yet took Courage, and accordingly saved them all, by lifting them out of the Windows, but afterwards it so happen'd, that in getting out herself, a Horn of Gun-Powder which hung over the Window took Fire, and blew her away back into the Room, where she was burnt to Death; hardly any Thing of her Remains were to be found the next Day, but two or three of her Bones.

Spence

 

[Onojutta]

According to historical accounts of the Battle of Kittanning in 1756, the indians there kept large amounts of gun powder in their houses (don't know how much exactly). When Col. Armstrong's troops lit fire to the houses, the ensuing explosions were reportedly quite extraordinary, and body parts were blown about the town from at least one house.

Also, this account of an exploded powder horn on a man's side is quite sobering:
http://traditionalblackpowderhunting.com/2013/04/the-powder-horn-blew-up/

 

[tenngun]

I too keep my horns full and while I don't fire with a pipe in my mouth I do smoke while sitting on the ground, horn and bag pushed behind me. My bag is off when cooking on a trek, or even just starting a fire, but I shoot with out fear.

 

[Artificer]

And speaking of 100 years ago, most of you guys past age 50 would have died from natural causes by now... :v

Life expectancy in the 18th century was skewed far younger on average than today, due to such high infant and young child mortality rates. If you survived to your 8th/10th birthday, that was celebrated in one's family. People living into their 60's, 70's and even their 80's were not unheard of at all, though.

Yet in my own case in the modern world, I would have died within two months after my 18th birthday. This because even though I grew up in Iowa and was outdoors so much even in the coldest winter times, I caught Pneumonia in San Diego, CA of all places.

Simon Girty was blind at age 60 from cataracts. I would have been blind from them even two generations ago at the same age.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Also, this account of an exploded powder horn on a man's side is quite sobering:
http://traditionalblackpowderhunting.com/2013/04/the-powder-horn-blew-up/

One thing I noticed in one picture on that link was how high up the spout end of horn was riding on his body and close to the flash from the pan.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

Your experiences are typical. While people did get three score and ten, or four score, things that we fix or medicate for were killers. High blood pressure, type 2 diabetiecs, angina or chf, renal or liver problems put one in the ground. 50-60 saw a lot our best know people in the grave. An otherwise healthy soul would die of a minor infection, or even a broken bone. A walk around a pre 1930s cemetery show a lot more less then 50 then over 50.

 

[Ames]

I keep mine full. After all that work to get it almost airtight, I'm going to get use out of it.
Hang it on the peg full, and wear it under my outer layer to reduce the snags in the field.
Finally, at the range I take it off and move it way away from the hot side.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

And speaking of 100 years ago, most of you guys past age 50 would have died from natural causes by now...

The "life expectancy age" that you find when you do a quick look-up, is an average, and for historic times, you are talking about a high infant to teen mortality rate that skews the numbers downwards.

So, by the 16th century..., in England, IF you as an adult male lived past 21 years of age..., your life expectancy was actually as high as 70 years. So most of "us" would've been dead for decades having died before graduation from college, but if we lived to be able to vote..., we'd still be here after 50 when talking about the 18th century :wink:

LD