Black powder cannons

[cheese1566]

Looking into miniature black powder cannons in either .50 or .69 caliber. Like the Traditions on the Cabelas website. I would probably shoot it more than a BP rifle. (Only looking at commercial units and not any homemade or fly-by-night companies. I like all my arms and legs!)

Anybody have one and wanna give their experiences?

(Didn't know where to post it...feel free to move it.)

[jdgabbard]

No, but I'd like to have a small cannon... Does that help? J/k

[snaggdit]

Well, I'd like to have a large cannon but don't have one either. What is Cabelas asking for theirs?

[rockrat]

Gp to Greybeard, there is a cannon and mortar section

[gwilliams2]

I have one that I made back in high school... I guess that might say something about how long ago I went to high school.. I made it on a lathe from a solid chunk of cold rolled steel and it has a 3/4 inch bore.. I do know that the biggest bang you can make with it uses only about 1 cap full of powder; you can pack it completly full of powder and it only makes more smoke but does get any bigger of a bang.

[geargnasher]

Only cannon experience I have is with a very well-executed homade 1-5/8" bore "salute" cannon a good friend made out of 2-3/8" drill stem and a hitch ball, nicely finished with spoke wheels, wooden carriage, and all appropriate iron hardware. 1/4 cup of ffffg and a 2" long rolled cardboard wad works great for smoke and noise necessary for certain National Holidays.

Might check into that brass jobber, though, looks pretty neat.

Gear

[MtGun44]

Have him add a 1/4 cup of flour in a ziplock bag on top of the powder if he wants some
REAL flash and bang. No danger to pressure as it burns in the air, but that give the
fantastic flash, bang and great white smoke. Learned this from Civil War re-enactor
cannoneers.

Bill

[Leftoverdj]

Dixie Gun Works would be the first place to look.

I would not worry much about any modern reproduction. The originals were brass and cast iron. Mild steel is a LOT stronger.

[oldhickory]

Years ago I bought an antique bronze "salute" canon, (tube only) said to possibly be 150yrs. old. It's roughly .40 caliber and mounted on a crude naval truck. With around 40gr. of 3F and some newsprint it still barks every 4TH of July in Enders!:redneck:

Small canons are a lot of fun to make noise with a few times a year, but rather inaccurate with ball...Aiming is a real pain. I would probably go for a Napoleon type myself, and remember...Sponge before you ram.

Hmmm, a .58 rifled piece with Minies...Just a thought.

[-06]

I have used a 5' section of 4 inch schedule 80 seamless tubing for several yrs to celebrate occasions. I drilled a small hole(1/4') about four inchs from the sealed rear. I simply put the tip of my propane/oxygen cutting torch to the hole and give it a shot of mostly Oxygen. I stand off about four feet and put a flame to the same hole and the thing gets excited. It will "rattle some windows". Have been toying with the idea of reinforcing the firing chamber end with a slightly larger pipe, drilling/tapping the hole, putting in a spark plug, and adding a hose to the other hole with a strong one way valve. I should be able to do repeat firings fairly rapidly. Should be a nice 4th of July show maker at events. wc

[calaloo]

Watch this Youtube video. The whistling sound is caused by air passing over the finger holes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouBNaKnNeRw

[peter nap]

I have used a 5' section of 4 inch schedule 80 seamless tubing for several yrs to celebrate occasions. I drilled a small hole(1/4') about four inchs from the sealed rear. I simply put the tip of my propane/oxygen cutting torch to the hole and give it a shot of mostly Oxygen. I stand off about four feet and put a flame to the same hole and the thing gets excited. It will "rattle some windows". Have been toying with the idea of reinforcing the firing chamber end with a slightly larger pipe, drilling/tapping the hole, putting in a spark plug, and adding a hose to the other hole with a strong one way valve. I should be able to do repeat firings fairly rapidly. Should be a nice 4th of July show maker at events. wc

The OP didn't want home brew but FWIW, I've built several and one 4 bore smoothbore, from very heavy walled DOM tubing.

The Breechplug is the important thing to get right.

[Dollar Bill]

My father had a small naval cannon to mark the start of boat races. I've had a couple small cannons like you are looking at and they are a blast! Normally, I shoot lead balls, but pretty much anything that will fit down the tube has been shot out of it. I have friends that have 1/2 scale cannons. With a 2 1/2" bore, you use soup cans filled with quickcrete pushed by 1 oz BP and lob them about 4-500 yds at junk cars. At one time, Dixie Gunworks had one that was cap-ignited and you just filled with powder, put a piece of cheese on the trigger mechanism, and had a mouse trap that let you know when it got one!
Bottom line, Go For It! :Fire:

[Shiloh]

A buddy would drag a Beer Can Mortar up to the Pawnee Nat'l Grasslands in Northeastern Colorado.

Fill beer or pop cans with sand, seal with wax, powder, load, and fire.
Even painted florescent orange they would go out of sight never to be seen again.

SHiloh

[TAWILDCATT]

Bang site still sells cannons. carbide they make quit a bang I have several from yrs back.I also have brass cannons we cast in a foundry.that are 31 cal and 5/8 cal.those shoot bullets with black powder.win used to make saluting cannons in 12 ga.
big bang cannons=conestoga company bethlem pa
:coffee: [smilie=1:

[jforwel]

search for "doubleD" on this site. He has quite a bit of experience with cannons and motars and set up and ran a cannon shoot recently in Montana. We had one motar at the shoot that was so large it was mounted on a trailer. The projectile was a five gallon water jug filled with concrete. We also had exact scale replicas of Parrot rifled cannons that shot machined steel bullets.

I don't know if he still has them but he was selling the brass miniatures from firecracker size to .50 cal I think.