Repairing and restoring horn buttplates and fore arm tips when they're far gone can maybe be best done with epoxy, but minor defects can easily and quickly be corrected with super glue. Less serious deterioration seems to respond well to Daly's Wood Conditioner. The latter is most likely to involve forearm tips and especially on American rifles where they seem more vulnerable to aging than Continental ones.

Bill,
To recondition horn that has dried out I use Tea Tree Oil which is available at a lot of the Vitamin & Health Food stores. It doesn't damage the horn and helps rejuvenate it.

I got turned on to this by someone that worked for a museum and they used this on original old powder horns and other old horn items. It has never changed the color of the horn.

WBLDon

WBLDon, Thanks. I'll look for some. Does it have other restoration/ preservation uses?

Not that I have come across. It comes in a very small bottle and with the little bit you will use it lasts a long long time. One side note is that it give whatever you put it on a very pleasant aroma.

Have a Great Week & Beyond!
WBLDon

I believe that Tea Tree oil was used by Australian troops during WW2 and perhaps in others, as a antifungal oil they'd rub on their skin. I've used it on my arms and elsewhere, perhaps it'll help restore/preserve me!

Seriously. thanks for the tip WBLDon!