Tinned iron , cane, bone, horn or wood, antler, ivory, sewing thimble, bowl from a broken clay pipe....
Here is a quote of using deer antler found by one of the great scavengers for 18th century material culture references..... Spence.
_General George Hanger to all Sportsmen, Farmers, and Gamekeepers_ in 1814, but describing his experiences in the colonies during the AWI, Gen. George Hanger had this to say about powder measures:
"I will next tell you how they judge what quantity of powder is necessary for their rifles, on active service: for shooting deer, &c. in peaceable times, they never put in more powder than is contained in a woman’s thimble. They take the horn of a deer, make several trials with a ball, always on the powder, and when, by each time increasing the quantity of powder, they find the rifle rather throws back, that is to say, has a recoiling motion, they draw off a small quantity of the powder, cut the horn off, and use it for the actual service before an enemy."
