Help…how to attach horn strap

Pics below. Have had this horn for a while, great piece, very well crafted.

The rear has a threaded wood plug, see pics.

Any ideas on how to attach the rear strap? I don’t want to place any stress on the rear plug, it’s fairly soft wood.

I do have this ring (see pics), but there is no where really to put it on the plug end of the horn. Screwing it into the side of the horn (last pic) just doesn’t look right.

Ideas?

Maybe you missed the part where I said the plug was made from very soft wood and I didn’t want to over stress it (to failure.)

The ring in the base, is it able to hold a dally?

I use a staple like this, Powder Horn Staple, Small, 5/8" wide hand forged iron, with decorative twist - Track of the Wolf ,It goes through the horn rim into the base , drill the staple holes , don't just hammer it in , it is easy to make your own , use a tiny amount of epoxy to make sure it stays put .

I would not use that screw thing anywhere on that horn.

I'd use a simple thin leather lanyard/thong around the bulb end secured with a whip finish on both ends.
Or, a staple like @DuncNZ said.

necchi said:

I would not use that screw thing anywhere on that horn.

I'd use a simple thin leather lanyard/thong around the bulb end secured with a whip finish on both ends.

Click to expand...

I agree. I’m going fashion something on there and hope it holds. May braid something into a loop that fits over it. I’m not craftsy…I know my limitations!

brazosland said:

I agree. I’m going fashion something on there and hope it holds. May braid something into a loop that fits over it. I’m not craftsy…I know my limitations!

Click to expand...

This is how i attached my strap .

Do you already have a strap, or do you know what kind of strap you'll be using? The way the strap ends are finished may provide some guidance for attachment.

If it were mine I would not modify the horn in any way. That's a nice horn!

If you use a simple leather strap, you can cut a slit near the end just big enough to accommodate the threaded shank on that plug. Open the slit, push the shank of the plug through it, then screw it into the horn.

Lots of old horns were attached with thongs. Wrap and tie a thong to the knob of that screw-in plug, and tie the other end of the thong to your strap. Use another thong around the neck of the horn to attach to the other end of the strap.

You can Google "antique powder horn" and look at the images to get some additional ideas.

Either way, I wouldn't drive or screw any additional fixtures into that horn if it were mine.

Please let us know what you decide.

Notchy Bob

Here are some original examples. I have these pictures saved in a folder, and didn't have a practical way to note where I found all of them.

Anyway, this one is from the Eastern Dakota people:


You can see the attachment to the knob in the base is a simple string affixed to the beaded band.

This next outfit was obtained from one of the Lakota groups, and is now in the Smithsonian. Out of the series of photos shown on the Smithsonian website, this one gives the best detail of the attachment of the strap to the base plug:



I'm pretty sure that leather device attached to the strap of the shot pouch, identified as "ornamental Greek fretwork" by the museum curator, is in reality a percussion cap holder.

The next pouch and horn set was listed on the Cowan's auction site a while back. It's hard to say exactly how the horn was tied on, but you can see a very untidy mass of leather strings coming off the butt of the horn and wrapped around the horn's neck:



Kind of messy looking, but it worked.

If you want to do it the old-time way, there are hundreds of examples to study on the web. A lot of museums in the United States and Canada have digitized photographs and put them online in searchable "collections databases." Auction sites dealing with antique firearms are also good sources. Google is pretty good at finding them, too... just get creative with your search terms. Try various ones, like "antique powder horn" or "Texas powder horn" and look at the images.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob

deerstalkert said:

View attachment 160034

Click to expand...

That's a nice horn! I think I would use a lanyard, as someone else mentioned, you have some nice rounded ferrules on the large end, use them.

brazosland said:

Maybe you missed the part where I said the plug was made from very soft wood and I didn’t want to over stress it (to failure.)

Click to expand...

done correctly the screw will reinforce the soft plug, thereby making it actually stronger. ymmv

Great replies. Thanks! I thought about slipping it through through a piece of leather as mentioned above…will pull out the scrape leather box while watching the game today.

brazosland said:

Maybe you missed the part where I said the plug was made from very soft wood and I didn’t want to over stress it (to failure.)

Click to expand...

I understand your concern. But, I wouldn't screw any brass thingys into that beautiful horn. Replacing the plug would be one way. pm sent.

Rifleman1776 said:

I understand your concern. But, I wouldn't screw any brass thingys into that beautiful horn. Replacing the plug would be one way. pm sent.

Click to expand...

I would carefully drill a small hole most of the way into the end ,the threaded end and using short piece of a # 6 finish nail epoxy the nail into the hole. Mix a little epoxy and sawdust to match the wood and cover the end of the nail, and you will never know it was reinforced.

IMHO, you're far better off looping something over the plug than drilling a hole for the brass ring.

I would make a leather tab, the heavier the leather the better or two thicknesses of leather sewn together, punch a hole on the tag end of the tab so the plug fits through (you want a tight fit) grease the tab well as to weather proof it. ( think of it like a leather washer) Insert the plug back into the base plug, Then attach the horn strap to the tab.

Notchy BoB beat me to it.

Shorthanded said:

I would carefully drill a small hole most of the way into the end ,the threaded end and using short piece of a # 6 finish nail epoxy the nail into the hole. Mix a little epoxy and sawdust to match the wood and cover the end of the nail, and you will never know it was reinforced.

Click to expand...

I had same thought. That would work.