Old Buffalo horn

[A.Merrill]

   A friend of mine gave me a old buffalo horn that had been past down in his family from as far back as anyone could remember. Probably from around 1900, he still has the buffalo robe coat that was with the horn. it has several bug holes in it but they don't go all the way through. I'm building my son a Hawken rifle and thought the buffalo horn would go good with the rifle. I have never made a powder horn out of a buffalo horn and several of you on here has more experience than I do with horns.
This buffalo horn is 16 1/2in on outside curve and 3 5/8in wide. What should I do with it? Should the bug holes be filled or left as is to look old? What kind of plug should it have that would fit that time period? Give me some ideas and show me some pictures. I would like to decorate it some but keep it realistic.
   Thanks.   Al

[Jeff Murray]

Depending on the condition of the horn (natural rough or cleaned up) you might try scraping it down to see how deep the bug holes are.  You may be able to clean some of them up enough so they don't show that bad.  Maple, beech, walnut and pine were common woods used for plugs.  Pine is likely more traditional for a buffalo horn since that is what they had out west.  Most of the original buffalo horns I have seen were very simple, even crude by today's standards.  Some were decorated with brass tacks around the base and sometimes on the base plug itself.  Buffalo can be a little tough to clean up if it is in the natural rough state, but it also looks nice when finished.  PM me if you would like some ideas on how to clean and finish the horn.  I also have pictures of an original in the Buffalo Bill Museum as well as some I have done.   Pretty cool find.  Good luck. 

[A.Merrill]

This horn has been polished a long time ago. I was thinking about leaving it just like it is but adding the plug and eather carving the tip or adding a screw tip. There is three bug holes I would like to fill if there's a filler that won't show. I would like to see your pictures. Thank you.    Al

[Bull Shannon]

I think the one you have is great as far as time period and authenticity. Scrape, sand and fill the holes. Personally, I'd rather have a hardwood plug and love black walnut, cherry, apple or pear wood.
I had Powderhorns and More make me a buffalo horn to specifically pair with my Hawken reproduction, it's my second buffler horn and I think it looks great.

My Hawken:

[Robert Wolfe]

Here is one I did from a vintage horn I picked up somewhere. It looked like a ragged mess but cleaned up nicely with lots of rasping and scraping.



I took the copper band from this original horn. I think the site I got the pics from called it a buffalo but am not 100% sure.

[Tim Crosby]

 I can't tell how deep the cavity is on this horn but the neck looks pretty thick, you may have trouble just drilling the hole. I would do that first and see if it comes out OK before doing anything else. The "Crater" on the side can be filled, the depth of it makes me think the neck is very thick. The smaller holes will probably scrape out. You could fill the "Crater" with epoxy and cover it with a leather patch. Another idea would be to fill it with Pewter and let the repair show. As far as working the horns, start with a coarse rasp and work down to a fine file. Then sandpaper to 0000 steel wool of scrape it if that's the finish you're looking for. If you want it more polished burnish it with a pieces of antler. If it gets to shiney rub it with the steel wool to mat it out a bit. PM me with any questions.

 Tim C.

 A couple of the ones I have done:

[TN Longhunter]

And Tim's top example is hanging with some of my pouches and horns made by me and more talented makers from here. This double-beavertail bag is by Cory Joe Stewart. Great horn.

[MuskratMike]

Until recently I have never owned a buffalo horn and I have owned a lot of horns. When I inherited a cap lock Hawken from my late best friend and hunting partners family I felt the need to have a buffalo horn to go along with the included bag. Tim Crosby make this for me. Read Tims guidelines for doing your horn he is a wizard with horns.

[Tim Crosby]

 Thanks Mile, I must have lost those Pix.

   Tim

[MeliusCreekTrapper]

Here are two simple buffalo horns I've made. Simple wooden plugs. Large one has hickory pins for the plug, smaller one has brass tacks.

[Jeff Murray]

These are some good looking horns.  Two pictures attached show a group of buffalo horns, and the second shows a buffalo horn that I left the rough edge around the base on and did a tab type strap connection to make it a little different.  It went off the blanket first.

[Martin S.]

Muskrat Mike,  Where can I read about Tim's suggestions for building my own buffalo horn?

[Tim Crosby]

Muskrat Mike,  Where can I read about Tim's suggestions for building my own buffalo horn?

I did not do a tutorial on using a Buffalo horn to make a Powder Horn. Does this help?

 https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=83574.msg818528#msg818528

 Other than that I will answer any questions you have. I think the only real difference is in getting a good finish on it and the fact that they are very thick at the neck and may be difficult to drill the hole.

  Tim

[Darkhorse]

Are buffalo horns thick enough to cast pewter designs?

[Top Jaw]

I would check that no holes go all the way through by shining a flashlight inside the horn in a darker room.  If none go completely through, I would likely just take the horn surface down below the level of all the bug divots if possible - rather than try to fill them.  It would also make for a much thinner and lighter horn. 

[Bryan Enoch]

Hello,

I’ve read the posts in this thread and had an idea about filling the large holes if you decide to do so. 

In woodworking, we make a closely matching filler by using sawdust from the wood and glue.  Mix them together, fill the void slightly above the hole then after it is dry, carefully file and sand down to flush.  Depending on the type of glue used, sometimes you can even stain it to match the rest of the wood.

You will probably cut something from this horn like the tip to make a spout, or in the base to clean it up.  If you then take your scraps, file them and save the dust, mix with epoxy, it would probably make a good patch.  I would scratch up the base and sides of hole to give the glue surface to catch hold of. 

Of course this is just an idea to consider as I haven’t made very many powder horns like others here but perhaps Tim or others can comment on this patch filler idea.  Maybe they’ve been there and done that and now don’t recommend it?

Best wishes with your project.

Bryan

,

[Jeff Murray]

If the cut off tip is long enough, you can also slice it the long way and have two patches that can be fit to the larger holes.  That way the patch will closely match the surrounding horn.

[Monty59]

Here are two examples I built  some time ago but there are enough examples on the internet so it shouldn't be a problem to find something that suits you.

Monty

[Daniel Coats]

Here's my Buffalo horn by Jack Brooks waiting on the Kibler Hawken.

[Notchy Bob]

Epoxy is good for filling holes.  It tends to show, on cow horns, but if it is colored black it is virtually invisible on buffalo horn.  Stew-Mac, a luthier’s supplier (formerly Stewart-MacDonald), sells a two-part epoxy that is really thick, like a gel.  They also have “powder stains” in a variety of colors (including black) that can be mixed with adhesives like epoxy to provide color.  Stewart-MacDonald used to have similar powders in only two colors… ebony/black and rosewood… that they sold in little pill bottles.  I bought a bottle of each 50 years ago and still have most of it left.  It doesn’t take much.

That is an impressive crater, though.  It may be hard to conceal completely.  I have seen photos of old horns encased in a tight-fitting wrap of thin rawhide, stitched in place.  That might work.

Crazy Crow is the best place I know to get raw buffalo horns for powder horns.  The ones they sell are big, mature bull horns for $15.95.  These go on sale for around twelve bucks once a year, but it’s hard to predict when that will be.  I bought three last year, and they are all great horns.  The point being that you might spend $30 for epoxy and a bottle of powder stain, not to mention your time expended, to make the old horn work, or you could buy a fresh horn for $16 that needs no repair.  I understand if you have a sentimental attachment to the old horn, though.  No disrespect intended.

Good luck with your project!

Notchy Bob

[Notchy Bob]

As a post-script, this is a buffalo powder horn I built last summer:



I intended it to be a close copy of this original:



The horn I used was about 50 years old, one of a pair I bought from Bison Pete Gardner, a buffalo rancher in Wyoming, some time in the mid-seventies.  The mate is being worked into a powder horn also, but it isn't finished yet.

This horn had a series of deep, longitudinal ridges inside, which made it extremely difficult to get an airtight fit with the base plug.  I smoothed them out as well as I could with an inletting hook, but ended up sealing the base with Stew-Mac epoxy gel with black color, as described in my previous post.  It's airtight now!



The base is one piece, made of cherry and finished with walnut Danish oil.

Notchy Bob

[Notchy Bob]

Here is one I did from a vintage horn I picked up somewhere. It looked like a ragged mess but cleaned up nicely with lots of rasping and scraping.



I took the copper band from this original horn. I think the site I got the pics from called it a buffalo but am not 100% sure.

You do good work!

Looking at that original horn with the copper band, I think it may be South African, made from a Savannah or Cape buffalo horn.  This is based on the flattened oval cross section and the amount of twist in the horn.  In addition, that short strap, with attachment to the top of the horn base rather than to the wood plug, would have been suspended from the shooter’s belt, which is a South African custom.  It’s a nice old horn, though.

Notchy Bob