General discussion > Contemporary Accoutrements

Rounding the Plug

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b bogart:
I am working on a horn now to kill time until rifle parts arrive. Is it necessary to round the plug? I noticed in a few reference books that the originals appear to be round, but its not really clear cut. Does it matter, or is it historically done. I am curious and to the point where its time to round or not.
Thanks for any input!
Bruce

Randy Hedden:
Certainly commercially made powder horns made in the horn factories were formed round on the butt end.  Heating and rounding the butt end was easier and more efficient for the business. Probably most of the memory horns from the F&I and Rev War time were also rounded.

Powder horns which were made outside of any shop that had machinery could have been rounded or they could have been left in the natural shape and the plug made to fit the horn.

Some horns are just not candidates for rounding. If you take a horn that is oval in shape for it's entire length and round the butt end it will look terrible. On such horns the best bet is to shape the plug to the horn.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

b bogart:
Thanks Randy!

Tim Crosby:
 Bruce,
  Are you talking about rounding the horn and base plug or about doming a base plug?

Tim C.

Dale Halterman:
I have three original horns that have the plugs carved to fit the horn. At first I thought that this was the mark of a crude homemade horn, but the last I acquired has reasonably nice tip treatment that sure doesn't look homemade.

Dale H

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