Question on an 80 caliber Armsport cannon

[MikeyPooh]

Howdy folks, I stumbled onto a deal locally, and I may go back for another piece tomorrow, depending. These folks have an older Armsport 80 caliber blackpowder cannon. It looks to be in good, complete shape, the guy said they only shot it one time. I can't remember what all was stamped on the barrel, it had proof marks of some sort, it definitely said Miami on it, and the people said it was made in the USA, but my google searching has said that Armsport was an importer... the people called it a Napoleon cannon, and it was definitely the largest signal cannon I've ever seen. I'd say the barrel was approx 18" long.

Sorry, that's all I have to go on at the moment. Does anyone have a ballpark idea what this thing might be worth? The people certainly aren't giving it away, but, based on some prices I just saw, it might be worth me scraping up the cash to grab it.

Any input much appreciated as always, thanks

[jnovotny]

I just aquired a brass signal cannon of about the same dimensions and I only have about 350 dollars in it. It all depends on what you want to spend.

[gnoahhh]

Scale model of a 12-pounder Napolean gun? Sounds neat. Pics?

[MikeyPooh]

No pics yet. It's gonna take me til early next week to scrape together the money. Just too many irons in too many fires all of a sudden, heh. I think I'm going to trust my gut and take a gamble on this one. I see Dixie Gun Works is selling a .69 caliber one for $795 that I believe is essentially the same thing. So the .80 caliber one has to be worth more than that, right??

Still though, if anyone has any better info for me on this thing, I'd love to hear it...

[jnovotny]

The ones dixie are selling, are not as large as you think. I think the overall length of the whole thing is right at 18 inches long.

[John Taylor]

something like this one http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1673
You need to be careful of recoil, if you put 100 grains of 1F the carriage will most likely take a beating. I shot a cannon with a 1" bore using 300 grains of powder and the barrel came off and went 13 yards before stopping.
Now if you want a deal on a cannon, I have a 2/3 scale 6 pounder that I will never finish.

[DIRT Farmer]

John that is a tempting idea but me having a cannon would lead to research on effective loads and my powder bill is high enough already. I need to get more than two shots to the pound.

[wolff]

You can give the cannon fans a shout at: http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?board=88.0

Your OP didn't indicate if this cannon was sittin' in a carriage or not...I'm thinking when you say it's "complete" that it's mounted, and for a Napoleon gun it should be a spoke wheeled carriage, as opposed to those chunky, low to the ground, solid wheel Naval guns.

I have a few cannon, the largest is a .69 caliber, 18" long in naval bronze - weighs a flippin' ton! A good deal on a quality cannon tube in your bore could be $300 - brass/bronze being more $$$ - carriages are a whole other thing - I've seen them go for 3-4x what the tube cost - or more!
CANNON CONSTRUCTION SAFETY RULE OF THUMB: Wall thickness at the breach ought to be bore diameter: .80" bore = .240" overall diameter of tube at breach. (I know this seems odd, seeing as how our ML breaches aren't this thick, but it is cannon shooter C.W.)

[Col4570]

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/003.jpg
This is a couple of Cannon on my Bench.18"x1.5" Bore on Oak Carriages with cast Steel wheels and axles.