home made cannon

[fistfull of hurt]

im thinking of making and looking for some info such as charge size and wall thickness
i want to fire a 2 lb ball that is close 2 3/4" diam any help is greatly appreciated

[DiscoRacing]

What in the world for??? What would you shoot with it??

[mapsjanhere]

I'm sure if you succeed you'll make the front page of CNN, I'll be watching.

[fistfull of hurt]

i just think it would be fun to play with
i dont think i want to be on cnn :barf::barf:

[DiscoRacing]

where you live in wisc??? My mom lives in Gotham,,and works in Richland Center.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Check this link out, it may be informative, plus, it's a hilarious read...

http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm

This guy is even from Wisconsin, like yourself...

[fistfull of hurt]

i went to hs in mauston but i live in milwaukee

[darkgael]

The standard is normally that the walls of the breech are equal to the diameter of the bore. A one inch bore cannon will be three inches wide at the breech.
Your cannon will weigh a lot. It would be 8.5 inches across the breech.
A good book on the subject is The Complete Cannoneer by Matt Switlik.
See a very complete reference section at http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.p...c,41634.0.html

Charges - 2oz. of Fg or 3oz. of Cannon grade Goex BP per inch of bore.(from the American Artillery Association)

Pete

[notacop]

I personally cant wait to see the AOW charges this guy will rack up. Let us know if the ATF actually roll up in black tahoes

[darkgael]

I personally cant wait to see the AOW charges this guy will rack up. Let us know if the ATF actually roll up in black tahoes

Not really a problem. The cannon in question is essentially a muzzleloader. It uses - or will use - a substantial amount of BP to propel the ball; it's ignited by a fuze. Aside from size, though, it's not terribly different than any other BP gun.
You can buy ready made cannons of this size if you have the cash; they ain't cheap.
Pete

[Bill DeShivs]

Perfectly legal. I have several.

[hooligan1]

Bill, Have you ever seen people shooting anvils? It's the coolest thing, to watch an anvil fly 300 ft. into the air!!

[11B SSG]

I used to work with a guy that made a morter from 2 inch schedule 80 seamless steel pipe. He had alot of fun shooting projectiles he made out of 1 1/2" (possibly 1 1/4") pipe with blackpowder.

He said they went a long way and he got to where he was hitting his targets pretty accurately.

When it blew up it took off his left leg below the knee.

I think having one would be pretty cool, but I'd want to put alot of research into it before building one.

[Rifleman1776]

There are several websites by and for cannon fanciers. Check them out.
Look for the book Round Shot and Rammers by Harold Robbins, the cannon 'bible'.
Buy the catalog from South Bend Ordnance, loaded with good info.
Be advised, most modern made (old style) cannons have the bores sleeved with high quality steel for safety.

[Scorch]

Call John Taylor at Taylor Machine. He has made several cannons and still has both his legs.

[mapsjanhere]

Yes Scorch, but did he use internet instructions for making them?

[hooligan1]

You know how to tell a good cannon-maker from a bad one???? You start by counting fingers and toes and legs of course!!!

[Slopemeno]

I made a civil-war era mortar (about 3" dia x 5" long, 1/2" bore) in metal shop in Jr. High. Cast the aluminum,, turned it, etc. The shop teacher stood over my shoulder as I drilled the bore *half* way in, with dire predictions of it blowing up if I was to ever, EVER bore it all the way out. About fifteen minutes after getting home I had the thing functioning, and fired it about fifteen minutes after that in my driveway. Man, I gotta dig through some boxes of stuff and find that thing....

[fistfull of hurt]

thanks to all for your help ill try to keep the other 9 fingers i have

[briandg]

This ought to keep those meddling kids off of your lawn, eh?

[ofitg]

The cannon would be fun, but as darkgael mentioned, heavy..... probably hundreds of pounds.

Mortars are fun, too. You get a lot of the "big bore" thrill, but the weight is more manageable.

When I win the lotto, I want to get a 3/4 scale version of the 12-pounder mortar, machined from stainless steel. I'm thinking it would have a 3-1/2 inch bore, and the total weight would be under 100 pounds.

[Scorch]

The cannon would be fun, but as darkgael mentioned, heavy..... probably hundreds of pounds.

That's what gun carriages are for . . . I've never seen a shoulder-fired 3 pounder.

[ofitg]

Yeah, I'm just thinking that something you can haul out to the boonies in the trunk of your car and shoot every week, might be more fun than a monster which requires a special trailer and a crew of men.

Guess it depends on the individual. I've got a 400-pound cannon, and a 25-pound mortar. Guess which one I've had the most fun with?

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I had been thinking about this a year or two ago... think I had a thead on it...

... still would like to do it, only made with modern materials but formed to look old... maybe a schedule 80 bore, then wrap composite around the bore... fiberglass or carbon fiber etc.

... in essence, making something stronger than the original bronze battle cannons, but shaped the same, & weighing much less ( though the weight would likely be good, when it came to actually shooting it...

I had envisioned having one on each side of our 1/4 mile long driveway, but at like $7,500.00 each for boughten ones, I opted not...

BTW... they do a really nice flame show at night, when packed with steel wool



BTW #2... my old thread here, with a few links & pics...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261413

[ofitg]

That's a great photo!

Makes me think of the time back in the 70's when I started a grass fire with my big gun...... didn't seem like much fun at that time, but now I have to chuckle about it