Powder horn

A powder horn was a container for gunpowder, and was generally created from cow, ox or buffalo horn. The term may also be used for any personal container for gunpowder, regardless of material or shape, for which powder flask is the strictly correct term. Typically there was a stopper at both ends, in later examples spring-loaded to close automatically for safety. The wide mouth was used for refilling, while the powder was dispensed from the narrow point. In some cases the point was closed and the mouth used for both, with a powder measure, a type of scoop used to dispense the powder, and in others both ends were open and the horn merely used as a funnel. The horn was typically held by a long strap and slung over the shoulder.

Although forms of pre-packed cartridges go back to the Middle Ages, many forms of early firearms did not use them, or users preferred to load each charge before firing. Most cartridges were prepared by the gun-owner and a container was still needed for the gunpowder used to make them up. There were other methods, including small cloth bags containing the correct amount for a single shot, that might be carried on a bandolier (again requiring a container for a supply for refilling). An important safety concern was that when reloading a muzzle-loading gun soon after a shot there might be small pieces of wadding burning in the muzzle, which would cause the new load of powder to ignite as a flash. So long as no part of the loader faced the end of the barrel this was not dangerous in itself, but if a spark reached the main supply in the powder flask a fatal explosion was likely. Various precautions were taken in the design and use of powder flasks to avoid this happening.

Some types of guns required two different forms of gunpowder (such as a flintlock with finer priming powder for the pan, and different powder for the main charge), necessitating two containers, a main horn and a smaller "priming horn". In particular, the powder horn was rendered obsolete by the innovations brought about by Hall, Sharps, Spencer and the later development of self-contained cartridges that were developed and marketed successfully by Oliver Winchester, after which manufactured cartridges or bullets became standard.

Powder horns were also used for the priming of large naval guns, and in blasting operations; apparently sometimes the horn shape was merely a convenient form of funnel in such cases, and was open at both ends and not used as a container.

The use of animal horn along with nonferrous metal parts ensured that the powder would not be detonated by sparks during storage and loading. Horn was also naturally waterproof and already hollow inside. In America, a number of period horns dating from the French and Indian wars throughout the American Revolution and beyond, have been preserved in private and other collections. Many decorated examples shed light on the life and history of the individuals that used them, and can be classified as a medium of folk art.

Powder horns were often decorated, most often with engraving, making a form of scrimshaw, which was sometimes supplemented with colour, and less often with carving.