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Shot horn?

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Daryl Crawford

50 Cal.
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Has anyone tried to use a small horn to hold shot? I was thinking about it today as I was looking at Irish Shot Pouches and my bank account. I have a small horn and an antique shot dipper. If I bore out the opening a bit and perhaps get a brass fill plug for the base it could work.
Has anyone tried it? Is it worth my time or should I keep saving pennies until I can afford a decent shot pouch?
 
Mine is not noisy. Basically, the shot tips the horn to one end and stays there in a dense mass. It's not like you're bounding through the woods with maracas...

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In my younger days, I carried shot in a horn. It did make some noise, but certainly not enough to scare away game. I doubt if it was any more noisy than a dried twig dragging across my boot top. I never really gave it any though. Neither did the birds. :cool:
 
I have a small original horn, about the size of a large priming horn or a small day horn, that came with some shot in it - about #4, at a guess. It just has a wooden base and plug. Perhaps the spout hole is a bit bigger than normal, but not overly so. It is extremely plain.
 
I'd make a leather shot pouch with a wooden spout and plug and carry it in my pocket. In a recent Muzzle Blasts there is an article by T.C. Albert on making a shot snake that would be much more convenient. I have an Irish headed one that works and carries great. It's getting old though and I'm tempted to build a new leather bag for it.
 
I made one with a brass spout and stopper. It's heavy. A lot of weight in a small package. I think a leather snake would distribute the weight over its length and make for a more comfortable carry.

There is no requirement that it be filled. The shot snake I recently sold was quite heavy when filled. So, I just didn't fill it to reduce weight.:doh:
 
Having spent 10 years hunting pheasant with a ML i think a shot horn would not work as well as a soft bag pouch with an Irish charger. Its not only the noise but a horn carried on a strap might catch on stuff and either yank you down or be lost in the field. I carried both a copper powder flask and the pouch in my bag. both being tethered to the bag strap. I found the irish easier to use than the english. Both seem really too big to easily use on a horn as well. Stopped hunting wild pheasants when they literally went extinct in N California.
 
Took a day horn, drilled it out to 3/8" spout, made an Applewood plug, and attached it to my small shooting bag. It holds about 14 oz of shot. I could push more but don't think I need to. 10 oz is probably the most I'll ever need to fill it to. Shaped the spout so it can easily fill my shot measure.
This will work for now. Maybe some day a nice Irish Shot Pouch.
 

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Shot rattles in a horn, The Irish repro bags have good tops but hang badly ,Best sort are home made Y shaped bag as it dosnt swing about too bad .and you don't want to have to adjust the bag ere you draw a charger of shot .
Rudyard
 
I carry my irish in my side pouch along with my copper flask. Works well and think historically accurate. The soft bag doesnt dent the flask. I keep a short cord on the charger as well to prevent loss. The bag and flask are in one section and my wads in another. Caps stay in thier own little section or in a water resistant container. Once learned, muscle memory takes over and can reload one or both barrels very quickly. The sub 6 pound double plus maybe 2-3 pounds of possibles are barely felt even at a dead run down a ditch trying to beat a bird to the end. Now reloading at a dead run is another issue altogether. Now too old to do either,
 
Don't think i ever carried more than 1/2 pound of number 6 shot or more than 8 oz of powder in the field. The soft bag made no noise, nor did it clink against my flask. Both being inside my bag ( and tethered within) reduced snagging to a bare minumum, FWIW I use a Gray Milsurp Swedish Bread Bag in the field. Cheap, effective, adjustable strap with partitions and long cover flap. Added plus was somewhat water resistant for light rain. I miss those days and with no sign of any pheasant and the stupid lead shot restrictions i doubt i will every see them again.
 
Took a day horn, drilled it out to 3/8" spout, made an Applewood plug, and attached it to my small shooting bag. It holds about 14 oz of shot. I could push more but don't think I need to. 10 oz is probably the most I'll ever need to fill it to. Shaped the spout so it can easily fill my shot measure.
This will work for now. Maybe some day a nice Irish Shot Pouch.
This is what I used after I decided I really don't like playing with loose shot in the field, and before I started using my shot cup/cartridges. Each "river cane" (craft store bamboo) tube leaves the natural node and wall as a stopper at one end and holds up to 90 grains of #5 shot.20200403_135614.jpg20200403_135659.jpg20200403_135640.jpg
 

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