Black powder newb looking for advice.

M

marcjer

CGN Regular
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Location
South Central Ontario
Hello

Looking for the collective wisdom of the CGNers again.

I am a Newbie to Black powder... and got myself a flintlock rifle.
Do you know where in the Greater Toronto Area I could find some friendly Flint lock shooters?

Also I got myself a powder horn, but the provided spout plug is way too small to fit.
I am looking to make my own... but paranoid about what materials to use...
incase something could ignite the loose air born powder in the horn!

While I am thinking just making my own wood plug out of a dowel,

I found a plastic pen cap that fits perfectly...

No doubt the pen cap ruins the aesthetics of the horn,

but is there any risk ( static electric charge or fire piston via compressed air ?) from having a plastic
pen cap on it with a tight fit? Or is my imagination running wild?

I know that I should keep Ferrous Materials away from in advertantly causing sparks near black powder,
but I 've heard stories about Nylon rubbing against itself causing enough to ignite really fine powder.

So trying to go about this with a bit of zealous precaution...
I've only seen plugs made of wood or brass. ( I am not sure if that is for maintaining tradition )



Thanks again CGNers!
 
You could find an appropriately sized tree branch (hardwood is best) and whittle yourself a plug or use a violin peg. Suggest you attach it to the horn strap using a small diameter leather thong or cord. Unsecured plugs are easily lost.
 
marcjer said:
Hello



Also I got myself a powder horn, but the provided spout plug is way too small to fit.
I am looking to make my own... but paranoid about what materials to use...
Click to expand...

you do not have to worry about static setting the powder off; there are photos on the web showing an arc of static electricity striking a grain of black powder without igniting it. Just whittle a plug out of wood. I have lost 2 or 3 plugs over the years, while shooting on a trail; I just cut a piece of dry branch and whittled it to fit

but is there any risk ( static electric charge or fire piston via compressed air ?) from having a plastic
pen cap on it with a tight fit?
I know that I should keep Ferrous Materials away from in advertantly causing sparks near black powder,
but I 've heard stories about Nylon rubbing against itself causing enough to ignite really fine powder.

I've only seen plugs made of wood or brass.
Click to expand...

I think the risk of a fire piston is just about zero to perhaps lower than zero; it takes a pretty fast blow with lots of compression. Also I don't recall seeing any brass plugs --- what you may be seeing is a brass pouring spout with a spring loaded cross valve in it; it serves the same purpose but is not quite the same thing

I also think you may be worrying excessively about ferrous materials; the frizzen has to be both high carbon (on the surface at least) and the flint sharp and striking with a fast blow. I think you would find that as long as you are not using the iron and sharp edge in a flintlock type application, the likelyhood of sparks is fairly low. About the only risky situation I can think of would be starting a fire with a flint and steel while your powder horn is close by. Also knapping the flint with the back of a high carbon steel knife while your powder horn is open and close by

cheers mooncoon
 
Modern steels seldom spark. Also it takes steel against steel or steel against some sort of hard mineral to generate a spark.

The rule against "steel" from the old days wasn't due to steel per se. It was more due to high carbon iron be it cast or forged which tended to spark readily. Hence the rule that only brass, bronse or "gunmetal" was ever allowed in a powder magazine.

As mentioned you really don't need to worry about static with the powder. But really.... a pen cap? :D

A source for brass tubing to make a spout for your horn can be found in the K&S rack at hobby shops that cater to model railroaders.
 
Awesome replies everyone!.... I ended up going to home depot and getting a 3/8 dowel and brass eyehook.

I screwed the eye hook to a 1.5 inch dowel segment to make the plug.

The eye hook is connected to strap so I won't drop and loose the plug.

And even if I do, I have another 3 feet of dowel for a new one.

Not pretty, but snazzier than a plastic cap!

I think I have wood chess piece floating around which I can use as a decorative plug cap... we'll see.

Once again. Thx for the great suggestions.
 
Think for a minute, "how did the old guys do it?" No one before 1969 ever bought a powder horn, or the plug for one. Make it! Whittle it out of wood, like mentioned above. Make other stuff, as well. Get some deer hide, and make a possibles bag, and a fringed shirt. Find some wood, and make a short starter. Use some brass rod, for example, a 1/4" brass brazing rod, and a piece of antler, and make a nice range ramrod. Our culture of buying everything sort of separates us from a lot of the cool things about our pastime. As always, YMMV.
Glen
 
I got my horn from a small local slaughter house and after a couple of days of rotting, cut the horn away from the bony core at the base, put the core in the vise and gave a big twist. The horn just popped off of the core

cheers mooncoon
 
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