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Just received more of Mook Machine's (hst's) buttplate products. Flawless as usual, thanks, Glenn!

Question for SDH, Glenn and others: where can I find nicely-done forearm wedge plates? I can make the wedges OK but pleasingly-shaped plates seem to be beyond my expertise, or patience, or whatever. Mine look like they were made by a blind 4-year-old.

And does anyone have a source for horn?
Regards, Joe

Hello J.D.

There should be several suppliers or sources of Horn in the USA. Rams horns from either wild or domesticated sheep or Black Buffalo (Asian species) seem to be the most readily available. Cows horn is thin with only a little solid piece at the tip and whilst great for making powder horns it doesn't offer much material for other uses.

Junk and Pawn Shops may be worth visiting for old sporting trophies that may be moth eaten and therefore going cheap.

Antlers of Deer and Antelope are of no use as they are essentially a form of bone and cannot be bent or shaped like proper horn which is made of 'Chitin' the same material as your fingernails.

If you cannot obtain what you need drop me a PM, I have some pieces of both Rams horn and Black Buffalo horn, let me know what size you are looking for.

Re 'Escution Plates' for forearm wedges, there would appear to be a little niche market here for anyone with a small 'Fly Press' and the ability to make a set of dies to punch them out. Making them out of Stirling Silver would add a nice touch of class to any rifle or shotgun. After finishing, they could be prettied up further by gold plating them.

Harry

Thanks for the information, Harry. I'm aware of some of the differences between true solid horn (permanent) and antler (annual) since I've used antler & cow horn in my carving and scrimshanding, but true horn has been difficult for me to obtain. I want horn for its light weight (forearm tips & grip caps) and strength (trigger guards and added wrist/grip curves). Am assembling parts & components for a couple of ELW sporters in both bolt action and single shot forms, and the horn would be a great addition if I can find some at an affordable price. Ebony is fine for most applications but it's too heavy for my plans for these 5-lb rifles.

I too hoped that someone had entered the niche market of providing nicely-formed wedge plates, and figured that possibly one of the Guild members here could tell me about it. I'll investigate Track of the Wolf's products as suggested by Brent. I have some German silver but have had no luck in shaping pleasing forms from it.

BTW how's your Borchardt progressing? I really enjoyed seeing pictures of your project on the ASSRA site since I'm a big Borchardt fan! Hope your health is OK.
Regards, Joe

I found my horn (Asian buffalo) from a knife supply shop. One in Texas I do believe. I have a bit left, If you cannot find a source I can send you some. That stuff is not easy to work I will say. I found my forearm wedge plates at Petitonica. They had them in stock when Track of the Wolf did not. I hope this helps.
Steve

Mr. Steele;
Jantz Supply
PO Box 584
Davis, OK
1 508 369 2316
http://www.knifemaking.com
jantz@brightok.net
Buffalo horn slabs and cylynders and lots of othe good stuff.
Have a good one;
Bill

Mr. Steele:

I had the same trouble with escutcheons. The ones I found(TOTW & the like) are not all that well done. I ended up making what I needed. The last were of damascus and I used a nicely shaped but flimsy set from ToTW as a pattern and filed them out.

Y'all want oval ones? I hafta make a set up here pretty quick like and it won't be all that much work to make a pair.

Glenn

Careful when you use the "y-word". You could find youself backlogged with a request for ten dozen of the things.

Brent:

Today's lesson in the English language:

Y'all -----Singular
All y'all ----- Plural

And you being an academic type. Sheesh.

Glenn

All y'all only makes that definition south of the Mason-Dixon line where south is spelled with a capital S. You are north of the MD line. Hence, my concern.

It's gonna be a LONG winter.... I'll have a shooting cart built by spring at least. And a new rifle (fingers crossed). What to do in the meantime, but peruse the english and Southern languages...