right handed shooters/left side horn carry/how do you prime???

[sonny]

I have always tried to find a better way to carry my powder horn with my pouch.I tried horn on left side , pouch on right, but cannot figure out how to prime from main horn when shooting righty.What am i missing?How is it smooth an easy when you need to switch hands to prime then switch back....Right side horn,right side bag is easier.after you fire the gun just lower the gun an prime with the right hand.I can see why the double bend was prefered in powder horns.it naturally is shaped to fit the right hand an prime away.I see pictures of horn on left side.....how do they prime with the main horn,shooting righty..............sonny

[Leatherbelly]

Hi sonny!
  I'm right handed and yes I carrry bag on right and horn on left.Just feels right. As to  priming from my horn,well, forget it. I carry a nice priming horn in my pouch.I prime with 4f. Some fellows like their primer on a lanyard around their neck.What ever works for you.

[Randy Hedden]

Sonny,

Powder horns come in three different shapes. There are straight horns that will work on either side of the body, right or left. Then there are horns with a double curve. Some of these double curve horns fit good on the right side with the tip curving into your body and then there are double curve horns that fit good on the left side of the body with the tip pointing into the body. If you wear one of these double curve horns on the wrong side for a particular horn the tip will stick out away form your body and catch on everything from weeds to small tree branches.

If you are a lefty shooting a right handed rifle you can wear a horn made for your left side and to prime with the large primary horn you would just prime it from the left side of the barrel over the top of the barrel. This does mean that you will have to hold the gun somewhat away from your body with the right hand while priming.

It sounds like you are trying to wear a right sided horn on your left side?? If you are doing this it would be hard to prime the pan with this horn because the horn spout would be pointing up instead of down when you tried to prime the pan. If you want to prime from your primary horn that is on your left side than you need to buy a left side horn.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[sonny]

randy..........when i shoot my right handed gun,i can see where you put gun against right shoulder,then remove powder measure an load with horn in left hand,tip in teeth.I then charge the gun,patch an ball from bullet board/short starter,an here is the tricky part.......after ramming down the charge.......you must now raise the rifle/swing the gun on your left side with right hand ,an turning the gun sideways prime...then you must close pan an swing the gun back to the right side.seem's like a lot of switching riflr from right to left then right again.....how do you make the loading smoothe an fast............sonny

[Roger Fisher]

Well now Terry, for the woodswalks and such I use a belt pouch (don't like a shooting bag hanging over my shoulder to shoot offhand) Belt bag on right and horn on right -primer hanging round my skinny neck. Works for me all these yrs.

Strip of patching shoved under l side of my belt.  Small formed pocket inside belt bag for 1 finger removal of a ball.  Better than nutzing around with a ball bag.
Hunting a ball block and bear greased balls (in the block!!!)

I do Not prime with the main horn for obvious reasons!

[Randy Hedden]

randy..........when i shoot my right handed gun,i can see where you put gun against right shoulder,then remove powder measure an load with horn in left hand,tip in teeth.I then charge the gun,patch an ball from bullet board/short starter,an here is the tricky part.......after ramming down the charge.......you must now raise the rifle/swing the gun on your left side with right hand ,an turning the gun sideways prime...then you must close pan an swing the gun back to the right side.seem's like a lot of switching riflr from right to left then right again.....how do you make the loading smoothe an fast............sonny

Sonny,

When I shoot a right handed rifle with by bag and pouch on my right side, I load the primary charge, powder and patched ball, and then I cradle the rifle in my left arm across my body with the muzzle pointing to the left of my body, Then I prime with my right hand, close the frizzen and bring the rifle up to my right shoulder to shoot.  The only thing different about the way you want to prime is that your horn is hanging on your left side. In that case you cradle the rifle with your right arm and a bit away from your body and prime from the left side of the gun and over the top of your barrel. Or, you can cradle the rifle in your right arm and hold it with the butt pointing slightly forward from your body and prime with your left hand. In doing this you then have the rifle backwards for shooting and must turn the rifle around to mount it to your right shoulder, which doesn't seem to be a problem for the guys I have seen loading and priming like this.

The more you practice loading your rifle the smoother the operation will become. If you want to make your loading and shooting process better/smoother/easier and less awkward, then carry your powder horn on the same side as your shooting pouch.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[sonny]

rodger..........what about putting the bag on left an horn on right side.You could then prime an load from same horn easier then swinging rifle around or working over the top of the barrel.geez.........i'm not sure,,,,,,,rodge,did you ever try a different way of loading with all the gadgets....sonny

[Roger Fisher]

rodger..........what about putting the bag on left an horn on right side.You could then prime an load from same horn easier then swinging rifle around or working over the top of the barrel.geez.........i'm not sure,,,,,,,rodge,did you ever try a different way of loading with all the gadgets....sonny

Since I shoot right handed I don't have to 'swing the piece around or load over the top' and I do not prime with the 'large' horn.  I use the least amount of gadgets possible (in ML shootin that is

[Dphariss]

I have always tried to find a better way to carry my powder horn with my pouch.I tried horn on left side , pouch on right, but cannot figure out how to prime from main horn when shooting righty.What am i missing?How is it smooth an easy when you need to switch hands to prime then switch back....Right side horn,right side bag is easier.after you fire the gun just lower the gun an prime with the right hand.I can see why the double bend was prefered in powder horns.it naturally is shaped to fit the right hand an prime away.I see pictures of horn on left side.....how do they prime with the main horn,shooting righty..............sonny

Obviously you are missing that what you are doing, left side horn for a right handed person, does not work. Just because you see it in a picture does not mean its a good idea. If its a painting it may have been done by the artist to get a look he wanted.

Dan

[ChipK]

I developed a routine for when I carry my horn on the left side as I am a right handed shooter.  I save a bit of powder in my powder measure and just hold it between my middle and first finger while I finish loading.  My left hand does not leave the muzzle so it is not difficult to do.

Once the ball is rammed in place you just transfer the powder measure to the right hand and prime the pan.  Not hard at all - give it a try.

[Randy Hedden]

Obviously you are missing that what you are doing, left side horn for a right handed person, does not work. Just because you see it in a picture does not mean its a good idea. If its a painting it may have been done by the artist to get a look he wanted.

Dan

Dan,

Over the years I have known several right handed shooters that wore their shooting pouch on their right side and a left side horn on their left side. These guys shot like this for years and never had a problem. It is all in what you get used to. I can see where Sony might have a problem because apparently he is trying to use a right side horn on his left side.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[long carabine]

I shoot right handed and carry my pouch and horn on the left side. This is the easiest way for me to load, prime and shoot. Tried all different ways but stil keep coming up with left side pouch and horn. Timl