[Laurie Behenna]

I have had this powder horn that is stamped in several place USN. I have not been able to gather any information on the Internet as to when the US Navy used powder horns in order to identify this particular one.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Lin Robinson]

That is an interesting powder horn. Horns were used on board naval ships to prime the vents/touch holes of cannons. Small arms used paper cartridges, so there was no need of a horn for Marines or other fighting men on the ships.

Loading a naval cannon required ramming home a cloth bag containing gunpowder, followed by a cannon ball, rammed down on the powder charge. The gunner would then push a vent pick (sp?) into the touch hole in the breech of the gun to expose the powder followed by pouring a powder charge into the touch hole/vent after which the gun was fired by a bit of slow match attached to a linstock. With the advent of friction primers, prior to the Civil War, the linstock and match were discarded. I am not sure that priming the touch hole continued although I think it did, after friction primers came into use.

It is difficult to say when your horn would have been used. I am not up on US Naval markings but someone on the forum probably is. My slightly educated guess is that your horn was used during the time period from about the War of 1812 through the Mexican War and possibly until the Civil War. Sorry to be so vague.