AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Contemporary Accoutrements => Topic started by: Jeff Murray on May 09, 2024, 10:06:43 PM
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Horn makers have a lot of options for finishing their horns. Aging or leaving them in the white produces a dramatic difference in appearance. There are three different finishes in the picture. Which do you prefer?
(https://i.ibb.co/Gdbd9vf/IMG-1323.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zm0mFhW)
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1, then 3, then 2. I understand that they were like #2 when in use. I’m just not loving the “as new” look.
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I don’t feel real woodsmen of The era would carry a bright white horn. It would point you out in the forest like a fluorescent arrow. The few horns I’ve examined and repaired seem to have some kind of stain that goes beyond just old dirt.
Hungry Horse
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Thats what I was thinking also HH
george
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Agreed. A new horn back in the day would not be left in white. There were a number of recipes for coloring bone and horn back then.
Cory Joe
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And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.
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And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.
And some purposely died green.
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I like the color of the one on the left best.
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And of course, some horns are not white but browns and black.
I really like amber colored horns.
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I like 1 & 3 and most anywhere in between. I have made many horns and the "aged" horns sell much better. I have had natural color horns on the table for years, nice styled but blaring stark. I added some color and they sold, could have been "the right person at the right time" but "patinaed" or painted horns sell much faster.
Tim C
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Hands down #1,then #3, followed by #2
They all look outstanding
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Personally: 2
They were new in the era, not 200 years old. Plus: Patina should tell the true story of a horn and to me artificial aging is like telling `fairy tales´.
Same goes for engravings. I would only want to have things on the horn that have something to do with my real self and things that I have experienced. At the moment I wouldnt even know what to engrave on a horn.
But I admit that Im a little strange at times. ;D
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Not the middle horn.
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The right one ; )
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I like the look of naturally aged horn. Looking at pictures of many original horns, it is clear that many were stained, but many have a natural patina that would be hard to replicate. Getting a color fast stain on horn may be a little tricky.
Lynn
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Thanks for the feedback. My shooting kit horn has fairly detailed scrimshaw of the British Crest on the front side and a map on the back side. I left it in the white. Forty five years of exposure to powder, the elements and dirty hands has "aged" the horn to a light yellow that tapers to dirty toward the spout. I also prefer the finish on the left side horn. My "supervisor" likes the white one but she does not hunt and is completely unconcerned about being spotted unless a grizzly is the observer.
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I also like an amberidh colored horn, or one with some aging to it.
But sometimes the white of a horn works well on a particular horn. This flat horn I recently made screamed at me not to be “aged”. To me it just looks right.
(https://i.ibb.co/Tb51Gph/IMG-1726.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D8nYFsK)
(https://i.ibb.co/X8PstNq/IMG-1727.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dgv2D1R)