crude bison powderhorn

looking for a maker who can build a crude bison powder horn. as it was have been made on the frontier. ruff outside unfinished wood base etc.

Horner75 here might be a good start.

Horner75 he be da man :bow:
Flintlocklar

I don't know if you could twist a "crude" anything out of Rick. Maybe a rustic or a simple. ;-)

Highly endorsed by Stumpy (that and $1.75 will get you a coffee . . . but not at Starbuck's).

It wouldn't be very hard to make it yourself. Here are some instructions from a Hidatsa Indian, mid-19th century, area of the Missouri river, and it sounds pretty crude.

"The powder horn was made of the horn of a three year old buffalo, the proper age of a buffalo to make such a container. One end of the horn was cut with a knob; the thong from which the horn was hung was looped around the horn on either side of this knob. The larger end of the horn was plugged with a piece of cottonwood bark. The horn was heated and the plug driven home; when the horn contracted, the plug fitted snuggly. To secure the plug further, some tacks were driven through the thin edge of the horn into the bark. A piece of iron was twisted into an eye and driven into the end to receive the thong. A pin of hard Juneberry wood was used as a stopper for the powder horn."

Spence

I wonder if many were made that wasn’t well finished. The horns and horn implements that have survived can be pretty rough lookingbut I wonder if that was poor storage. Boone made a horn he traded for an oxen
Horns are easily finished.

Horner75.

There is no finer for what you're looking for.

I would suggest looking in the mirror for a maker. Bison horns are readily available from slaughterer houses that process bison. Prices can be as low as $6.50 plus shipping. (Google bison horns for sale.) Spencer's instructions are pretty plain. Whittle a peg for the stopper and make a staple from a finishing nail to tie the strap.

It's not really that difficult and you want the frontier look anyway.

tenngun said:

I wonder if many were made that wasn’t well finished. The horns and horn implements that have survived can be pretty rough looking but I wonder if that was poor storage.

Click to expand...

I believe you can tell the difference. Which do you think this one is, decrepit from old age or crude from the beginning?







I think it's possible more of this type were in use in the day than the fancier ones we think of.

Spence

I don’t know :idunno: raw horn I’ve handled was rougher then that. Leaving two possibles, the horn smoothed some or was roughly smoothed by handling, orthat horns veteran of rough use.
I’m sure many fancy horns were saved by families and crude horns thrown out

Spence that is a fine looking horn to me. I would use it. :hatsoff:

Not fancy but a user. IMHO, impossible to date. Could be recent made to look old or genuinely antique. Was crudely made but looks to have been scraped to eliminate some of the roughness. Either way, use and enjoy.