I've just layed down some serious dollars on a beautiful English Walnut blank for my 470 Mbogo.
My stockmaker is very keen to put a buffalo horn FE tip on this one and horn plugs for the rear crossbolts.

I know he has done other rifles like this and they look superb but I'm not sure if I might end up having trouble with this timber/bone combination down the track.

What sort of maintainance will the horn require to stop it from cracking and or shrinking?
The horn is well seasoned at about 20 years, if this even makes a difference.

Should I play it safe and stick with the good old ebony?

I had a 60+ year old Westley Richards built on a 98 action that had a horn forend tip. The rifle was well used, but not abused, and the forend tip looked great. A lot of scratches, a small nick, very dull in appearance, but still mated to the stock perfectly and was very stable.

Horn can be difficult to work with sometimes, but I have not yet seen any gun with horn on it where things did not still fit together after years of use.

As long as it is installed properly, have no fear of using it.

-Spencer

Oil the horn, and you'll be fine.. don't oil it, and it will split, fissure, and crack

jeffe

Thanks fella's.
I haven't had this combination before and was just a bit unsure.