Cannon Ball or Conical Molds?

[Smithy]

I know we don't have a Cannon section as yet so I thought I'd place my inquiry here. Does anyone have a suggestion for a company or existing product for a cannon ball mold for a golf ball cannon? Also I think that a conical would be rather neat to produce and to shoot as well.

As of yet, all of my ordinance is "noise maker" only. Good thing because most are permanently set to shoot straight up and only one is permanently set at a 45. I do have my eyes on this little gem. http://www.cannonsuperstore.com/black_powder_cannons.htm You have to scroll down a bit till you see "All steel Black Powder Golf Ball Cannons". They also make a bigger one in a tennis ball size. And if I had a ton of money they have a semi modern looking one that uses military 30mm Vulcan barrel pieces. As money goes I'll have to stick to the golf ball for now, but with the steel carriage I could actually load up and shoot it at a target unlike my other noise makers.

Conical wise I was thinking of something akin to a very large mini ball. Hollow base, good seal, weight forward. Obviously I wouldn't need handles for the mold and the pieces could be held together with studs and wing nuts (much like my lead hammer molds). The mini would need to be three pieces with a way to index the parts. The round ball would probably be the easiest to make I just need to find one with a 1.70 diameter. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Smithy.

[Mooseman]

I have large Golfball cannon I Machined out of some 4.25 " diameter steel shaft stock from an old Copper mine in the early 1900's .
I found a 2 cavity C. Palmer 1 pound cannonball sinker mold that works perfect for COWW round balls and they are very accurate out of a 16 inch barrel to 200 yards.
Golf balls go slap outta sight !!!
Duct tape containers of slingshot ammo work great as Grape shot in it.
Rich

[Smithy]

Thanks very much Mooseman. I just checked E-Bay and there was a 1 cavity 1 pound Palmer mold their #801 that looked brand new. I got my bid in so we'll see. At least I'll know what to look for if I don't win it. You didn't have a problem with excessive flashing or misalignment of the mold halves? My 1 pound lead hammer mold (admittingly does not have alignment pins) comes out pretty sloppy. I have a steel plate and a chasing hammer that I correct the errors and it comes out looking pretty good, but if I were to have to do that to a cannon round ball mold I'm sure it would no longer fit into the bore. I guess I'll find that out on the condition of the one I'm bidding on. If nothing else I'll know that a new one might make the difference. I couldn't believe just how many people were selling not molds but molded sinkers themselves! And they wanted a lot of money for them as well. Thanks again. Smithy.

[mold maker]

Thanks very much Mooseman. I couldn't believe just how many people were selling not molds but molded sinkers themselves! And they wanted a lot of money for them as well. Thanks again. Smithy.

That's how I got rid of some contaminated alloy. I got a reasonable price for otherwise unusable lead.
I made sure the buyer knew not to use them as boolit material.
I suspect I'm not the only one doing this.

[blackthorn]

You might try contacting a company that makes downrigger ball fishing moulds to see if they make a size you can use.

[Mooseman]

Mr Palmer made very good cast aluminum molds and mine come out very round and little or no flashing...they seem to line up very well. They do have a cutout for the wire loop , but it just gets nipped off with sidecutters. the mold heats up fast due to its design and the cast handles get very hot , so you need good gloves. Mine has a handle latch that locks the mold together...a good feature IMHO. I use a newspaper wad then load the ball and tamp it for firing.
It is a Blast ! With a Lead ball the 80 pound cannon recoils 6-8 ft !

Rich

[Smithy]

Wow Mooseman! The gun and cariage I'm looking to buy is all steel with a short bore to facilitate trunnion mounting and elevation adjustments. In other words, the powder chamber and bore start just ahead of the trunnions (make's it easier to mount the trunnions without having to worry about encroachment on the bore) and also it means that the barrel is very breech heavy. This way the cannon will always come to rest on the elevation screw no matter what the angle. It is of course bored for golf ball, but the all steel set up is only 53 pounds. Yours was 80 and still recoiled that much. Is it O.K. to ask what your load was? Smithy.

[TreeKiller]

Next time you go to the coast go to a deep sea fishing supply and get a 1# round ball mold.
Bought the boys a scaled down civil war mortar bored to golf ball size. Shooting a golf ball it has a hell of a hook lead wt shoots straight i use about 60g 2F that is the size of the powder chamber.
Dan

[geargnasher]

We need a cannon and mortar forum! Mooseman, how about lobbying TPTB?

I built a salute cannon for firing carboard plugs only, I can imagine how much fun an accurate, scale field piece would be.

Gear

[Mooseman]

For a lead cannonball I load 700 grains of BP
For a Golfball I load 200 to 300 grains of BP.

BIG bada BOOM !!! lol

[Smithy]

Thanks Mooseman. Your lead ball load is just about half of what the maker of my mortar has me shooting for a blank charge. I sure imagined that the loads would have been inverted. Ie. more powder for the small weight projectile and less for the heavy one? I guess though if you have 700 grains behind a golf ball you'd never have a chance of seeing it at all. In flight or at the target. With the 700 and lead, are you able to catch a view of it in flight? Same with the smaller charge and the golf ball? That's what drew me to black powder in the first place. Especially with a flint lock. You hear the hammer drop, the flash in the pan, then the main charge, and finally the thwack at the target. Got to hold steady for something like that.

Just like my various organ experiences. (played for just about 40 years, 17 as my church's organist). I got a chance to play a 35 rank 4 manual pipe organ at one of those Pipes and Pizza places that use to dot the countryside. It had a pneumatic action with electric relay switching. A higher note up the keyboard and a smaller pipe setting (like a 2 foot set of pipes) and you'd hit the key and pretty much hear the note at the same time. But if you hit a low pedal note on a 32 foot set of pipes and you'd hear the key hit the bottom of the board, and then a whoosh of air and then at first a lower sounding note that raised up to pitch as the air pressure came up to full volume. There was almost a second delay for the lowest notes. Now trying to play two peddle notes, a three note left hand cord, and a couple of melody notes to sound all at the same time, you'd have to have a staggered activation of the various notes that were being played. Very interesting and hard to do right. That's why it feels so good when it is done right, just like a flint lock. Smithy.

[Mooseman]

Honestly I catch a glimpse of a bright colored golf ball sometimes but thats if the lighting is right or Im shooting into a bank across a river...Cant say I ever saw a Lead ball in flight, just the damage as it hits the target!

[rbuck351]

Go to a store that sells the round weights for halibut fishing and measure the different lead balls. I think your going to need a lead ball in the 2 to 3 lbs size for a golf ball size bore. I have a couple of 3lb ball molds but I think they are just a little big. I'll have to measure one and see.

[I'll Make Mine]

My calculator (using 4/3 * pi * r^3 and 11.34 g/cm^3, with appropriate unit conversions) gives the weight of a 1.7" diameter lead sphere as just over a pound (470 grams and small change). Projectiles made for a Hotchkiss one-pounder (1.65" bore) might be close enough to fit, possibly with a patch.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I've been searching for a 1 pound ball mold myself. 1.6" is apparently the diameter for 16 oz'ers

[Mooseman]

Go to a store that sells the round weights for halibut fishing and measure the different lead balls. I think your going to need a lead ball in the 2 to 3 lbs size for a golf ball size bore. I have a couple of 3lb ball molds but I think they are just a little big. I'll have to measure one and see.

Nope...a 2lb. ball is just about 2-3/16". ( I have that mold too...)
A golf ball is 1-11/16 " diameter (1.680) and my 1 lb. balls measure 1.665.
They work just fine with a wadding behind them or a thin patch.

Rich