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The other horn

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Eutycus

Cannon
Joined
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There have been several interesting threads about powder horns on this forum lately. How about a discussion and maybe a few pictures of horns used for blowing into? I guess they're just called hunting horns and used to sound off to the hound dogs when coon hunting. I have a few old horns and haven't decided whether to make them into powder horns or hunting horns.
 
My uncle had one at his hunting camp in the UP. It was loud. On a rare occasion a moose would respond.

Track sells the brass mouthpiece and i plan to get one next order to attach to a horn on the bench.
 
That's what I've been calling them.
20201109_211502.jpg
 
How about that, there really is such a thing, but a true Oliphant is made from an elephant's tusk. How about a cow horn?
 
It was Rolands horn, I don’t know if it was supposed to be ivory or not, or named that for the loud trumpeting I always saw a silver mounted cows horn in my minds eye
 
I cleaned and scraped a cow horn to blow when I was a teenager in Scouts many years ago. Still have it somewhere. I had cut off the tip, drilled holes in the body and made a beveled hole in the tip. I reversed the tip and glued it in the body. It made a good sound by blowing a "raspberry" with your lips in to it.
 
The old guy I worked for in high school had his fathers hunting horn that he brought over from Switzerland in 1912. It made a great sound!
 
Is there any trick to blowing one of these horns and getting any real sound out of it? I know that from with just messing around with the unfinished horn you don't just blow air into it. (What little sound I do get out of it drives Carol....."not so happy"). Maybe it will become a powder horn. oreclan mentioned reversing the tip and blowing "rasberrys". And I imagine the size of the hole would be a factor as well?
 
As oreclan said, you basically purse your lips and blow a "raspberry" into the horn, like playing a trumpet or a bugle. The mouthpiece needs to be shaped correctly. I believe in South Africa, they used a kudu's horn, but cut the hole in the side of the horn instead of the end.

Once they started using breechloading shotguns instead of muzzleloaders, old-time hunters here in the south would open the breech and unload the gun, but leave the breech open, and then blow into the muzzle as above. It's really easier than blowing a horn, and makes a nice, musical tone. You can get a similar effect with a section of 3/4" pipe.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
The words "The mouthpiece needs to be shaped correctly" interest me, what exactly is correctly? I do have an idea of how it should be shaped, kind of.
 
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