Powder horn

Although forms of pre-packaged paper cartridges go back to the Middle Ages[citation needed], their extra cost and small benefit to civilian users discouraged widespread adoption of them except for militia duty.

For example, on April 19, 1775, in Lexington and Concord, paper cartridges were routinely used by many civilians on the opening day of the American Revolutionary War.

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.

In America, a number of period horns dating from the French and Indian War throughout the American Revolution and beyond have been preserved in private collections with a few exceptions.