Do you treat your powder horns with anything?

[Tim L]

What do you use?
Do you oil. rub into them, coat them with any thing.
I use olive oil.

 

[Black Hand]

What do you use?

You should be a little more specific as to what you are asking...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Not necessary to do anything to them. But do not store in a confined place. You will find the full of holes eaten there by buggies. Mine hang free.

 

[Crewdawg445]

I apply a beeswax finish by burnishing the horn, easy and simple.

Wouldn't use olive oil, becomes nasty after some time and offers little in the way of protective qualities.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I wax mine with a hard paste wax.

 

[Ames]

What he said. Wax.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Do you treat your powder horns with anything?

When loaded with powder, I treat mine with respect...!
(And I polish the exterior with Nu-Finish to keep it shiny)

 

[Cruzatte]

Like others, I just take a little bees' wax and rub it onto the horn, paying attention to the area around the butt end where I've drilled and inserted round tooth picks, partly for decoration, and partly as a belt and suspenders way of securing the base plug. (And here I suppose some one will chime in and say "Awwww Cruzatte, ya don't hafta do that....." And maybe he'd be right.)

 

[Kansas Jake]

Not necessary to do anything to them. But do not store in a confined place. You will find the full of holes eaten there by buggies. Mine hang free.

I can attest to that with a couple of mine that were store in a box for a number of years. No holes clear through, but they look like they've been carved to resemble the map of some unknown place.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Like others, I just take a little bees' wax and rub it onto the horn, paying attention to the area around the butt end where I've drilled and inserted round tooth picks, partly for decoration, and partly as a belt and suspenders way of securing the base plug. (And here I suppose some one will chime in and say "Awwww Cruzatte, ya don't hafta do that....." And maybe he'd be right.)

I like the thorns of hawthorn trees. Tougher than toothpicks. These bad boys take out garden tractor tires.

 

[jrdavis]

I put linseed oil on the outside surface. it tends to keep the little bugs or worms from bore small holes in it; in my experience

 

[Cruzatte]

I like the thorns of hawthorn trees. Tougher than toothpicks. These bad boys take out garden tractor tires.

Good idea. I like it. They look pretty ferocious. I have thought the thorns from our local honey locust trees might be pretty good, too. Next horn I assemble, I might try that.

 

[nhmoose]

Boston polish wax

 

[S.Kenton]

I’ve poilshed a few and others I’ve let alone... but like RIFLEMAN1776 has stated let them “hang free”, less bug issues that way.

 

[tenngun]

Wax for me too but not very often.

 

[peashooterJoe]

2nd, Use Johnson Paste wax and no bugs. They ate on one with linseed oil on it was my favorite.Peashooterjoe

 

[Black Hand]

I've used beeswax or a greased patch. Since I covered my horn with rawhide (dropped onto a concrete floor when full and it cracked), I use a little lube/grease on the exposed horn and beeswax on the rawhide. Usually, my greasy hands (Bear grease for lube) are all the horn sees.

 

[mudcreek]

I have an old horn dated around 1780. I use it, nothin fancy at all. never thought about treating it, but after reading this it seems like a good idea.

 

[Black Hand]

I have an old horn dated around 1780. I use it, nothin fancy at all. never thought about treating it, but after reading this it seems like a good idea.

I'd speak with a conservator at a museum if your horn is from ~1780. I'd hate for you to ruin a piece of history...