Priming from the Horn

[Bob J]

Beautiful cool morning here on the east coast of Florida as Geraldo and I commenced our Friday offhand shoot with the Sells southern rifles (his a .45 percussion and mine the .54 flintlock). As I reached into my bag, lo and behold, the priming horn was gone :shocked2: I left it in the bag that goes with the .36...oh well!

Well, pulled the plug from the powderhorn which is filled with 3f Goex. Honestly, I expected a delay, but the ignition was instantaneous! Shot all morning with no problems and learned a valuable lesson: 3f works A-O-K in the .54 :wink: Will add that I put about 40 shots today on a Rich Pierce flint that has numerous shots on it from the last outing - never touched 'er up once :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

You are absolutely right, 3f will work just fine in your pan but filling your pan directly from your horn is a very dangerous practice. The least little spark left from a previous shot could set off the whole horn in your hand. Not a pretty sight. It would be far safer to pour a bit into your powder measure and then put it into the pan. If that small amount ignites, you will likely get a burned hand but you will still have a hand. I just hate to see anyone put powder directly from a horn into a pan or, in rare cases, directly into the muzzle.

 

[nchawkeye]

You are absolutely right, 3f will work just fine in your pan but filling your pan directly from your horn is a very dangerous practice. The least little spark left from a previous shot could set off the whole horn in your hand. Not a pretty sight. It would be far safer to pour a bit into your powder measure and then put it into the pan. If that small amount ignites, you will likely get a burned hand but you will still have a hand. I just hate to see anyone put powder directly from a horn into a pan or, in rare cases, directly into the muzzle.

Never done this in over 40 years, if there is a spark, the main charge has already gone off.....

 

[LRB]

I have to agree. I have never seen a pan retain a spark. It is good to wipe the pan anyway before reloading. I seldom do, but it is a good practice.

 

[Bob J]

Good point, however, I generally wipe the pan and bottom edge of the flint prior to priming. Will make a point to wipe every time when priming from the horn.

Never ever load the barrel directly from the horn!

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

I have never read or even heard of this happening. Do you have any personal experience with this or is this just theoretical?

 

[flintlock75]

I only carry one horn with 3F, it has always worked in 40 years of shooting, saves having to carry extra horn. I do have a small copper flask that i have in my pouch with some 4F for just in case, it hold about 100 grains, i mostly use it to help cap shooters get there gun to fire :haha:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used to and still do carry tiny brass flasks with a cork stopper that I refill with FFFg from the main horn. I use these as priming flasks.

With a length of copper wire soldered to the side they clip on a little leather strap on the back of my horn strap.

 

[Matt85]

You are absolutely right, 3f will work just fine in your pan but filling your pan directly from your horn is a very dangerous practice. The least little spark left from a previous shot could set off the whole horn in your hand. Not a pretty sight. It would be far safer to pour a bit into your powder measure and then put it into the pan. If that small amount ignites, you will likely get a burned hand but you will still have a hand. I just hate to see anyone put powder directly from a horn into a pan or, in rare cases, directly into the muzzle.

have never heard of this happening and it doesnt make since. if there is a stray ember in the barrel wouldnt the main charge go off? as for a stray ember in the pan... never heard of it happening.

unless you can provide proof of this im gonna have to call :bull:

-Matt

 

[Bear Rider]

I don't know about you guys, but I always wipe the pan with my thumb between shots. If there's an ember left there, I'm going to know about it long before I try to prime.

That having been said, I use either a priming horn or one of those small brass primers so that I get a consistent amount of priming powder each time.

 

[Flint1]

I have also primed my .54 Early Virginia with 3f. In addition I have tried 2f as prime--in both cases I could not tell the difference in ignition time. I suppose there is some delay which one of those high speed cameras could detect, but my human senses could not. It has the Chambers English lock which uses the 7/8 flint--I guess the large flint with a large striking surface throws enough sparks to ignite the larger grains. I normally prime with 4f, was just experimenting to see if it would be feasible on a hunt to leave the 4f behind and prime with what I use in the main charge.

 

[kaintuck]

I have never read or even heard of this happening. Do you have any personal experience with this or is this just theoretical?

yup...had it happen twice with me....now i type with a pencil and watch TV all day long........ :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Sperit de bois]

Someone has to be first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'll read about it!!!!

 

[Billnpatti]

To those of you who have called me on my suggestion (warning), you are absolutely right, I have never known of a horn to explode when loading powder directly into a pan. Where I was coming from is my professional background in safety. I was trained that when looking at a practice or procedure to look for what could happen, not only at what has happened because if it can happen, eventually it will happen. There is always that first time. I still think that even if the possibility is very remote, it could happen and the results would be dire. For that young person who thought that my suggestion is :bull: all I can say is that as a free man, you go ahead and do as you please but if you are insistant on loading your pan directly from your horn, please do it down the bench from me 'cuz I ain't so sure it is absolutely safe even if no one can cite a case of a horn blowing up when doing this. In the final analysis, there is no need for anyone to get their panties in a wad, it is just a suggestion. :thumbsup:

 

[ebiggs1]

“... absolutely safe ...”

I was in nearly the same position as you for Hallmark Cards before I retired. But how many things do people do that is absolutely safe?
You need to balance reason with reality.

But just another point in favor for the use of a small plunger type priming tool with 4f in it! :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have never read or even heard of this happening. Do you have any personal experience with this or is this just theoretical?

We are playing with stuff that goes 'bang'.
Taking chances with bp is not wise.
Do watcha want. But not next to me.
Depending on weather, I sometimes wipe pan with a used cleaning patch and sometimes don't.

 

[jethro224]

Not to anyone in particular, just clicked reply at the bottom...

Sometimes I use a brass plunger priming tool, sometimes directly from my main horn. Either way can't be "absolutely safe" but, to me, either way seems as safe as the other. Since we all use non-flamable materials (right?) to hold the flint in the jaws the possibility of holding an ember in the pan is very small.
The chance of an ember down the barrel would be much higher. We all prime after loading (right?) so any ember down the pipe would have already set off the main charge long before we primed.

If a brass plunger priming tool were to explode, the explosion would happen in a tightly contained space which would certainly turn the priming tool into brass shrapnel flying about. The one video I ever saw of a horn igniting (which happened upon firing with no plug in the spout, not while priming) caused a whole lot of fire to shoot out the spout but no large explosion.

Nothing in life is absolutely safe. Do whatever makes you feel safest or what the rules dictate at your range. I feel pretty safe priming from my main horn but... :idunno: lightning could strike anywhere... :surrender:

 

[Bear Rider]

I was two benches down from a powder horn that was ignited when the shooter left it lying on the bench beneath an underhammer that he was shooting over sandbags. As a crowning oops, he had left the stopper out.

IIRC, the horn ended up about 10 feet behind me, and was split like a banana peel. Nobody was injured, but it caused some anxious moments while everyone checked for leaks.

I know of one other case where a chain fire in a capper was ignited by a flintlock fired on the next bench over. IIRC, the capper was either on the bench or in the shooting box. The shrapnel from that sent its owner to the emergency room. I don't know if it was pieces of the capper, the caps, or other objects around the capper that cause the injuries.

 

[Sperit de bois]

MURPHY'S LAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Number19]

...filling your pan directly from your horn is a very dangerous practice. The least little spark left from a previous shot could set off the whole horn in your hand..

What you seem to be saying is that you don't run a cleaning patch down your barrel after each shot. If you run a wet patch, and 2 or 3 dry patches down your barrel, there will probably never be a spark left in the barrel. There is no definitive statement on this - it all boils down to the firearm and individual practice - and common sense.