Gotta Stay out of the Shop

[Eddie2002]

Here's my latest build, a .54 caliber bronze ship cannon based on a British 24 pounder from the late 1700's. Won the rough cast barrel on Flea-bay and built the carriage out of an exotic 5/4 Coco Bolo wood. Taking to the range next week for some target shooting at 25 yards. I'll start around 35 grains FFF and work up to 50 grains. The overall length is 20 inches with a 16 inch barrel and it weight in at 17 1/2 pounds.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a206/Beeboy01/54calibershipscannon_zps963141e3.jpg (http://s12.photobucket.com/user/Beeboy01/media/54calibershipscannon_zps963141e3.jpg.html)

Planning to shoot a .530 patched round ball, hope I can hit the target. Loaded 75 grains and 1/4 of a paper towel as a blank round last night, boy was it loud, should of heard the echo.

[johnson1942]

wow, your cannon is a thing of beauty. made one in the early 60/s. fired it in the backyard with just newspaper and it was so loud that the police kept going through the neighborhood for and hour. gave it to my cousin and the police came and took it away from him and cut it up with a torch. he wasnt useing any projectiles either. the range is the best place for your beautiful cannon to go off. bet it shook the windows.

[CastingFool]

Looks very nice! you ought to make a video of your first firing at the range, and post it, so we could watch and hear the boom!

[waksupi]

Very nice. I think I would consider beefing up the trunnion mounts a bit before firing.

[John Allen]

That is a beauty.

[BrassMagnet]

I'm in love!

You have touched the heart of an old sea dog!

[Boaz]

You did a really nice job !Should be fun .

[w5pv]

Thanks for the post it is a thing of beauty just looking at the picture I would take waksup advice and beef up the trunnion straps.

[Bored1]

That's a true work of art you should be proud of!

[Hanshi]

That is beautiful craftsmanship.:drinks:

[Eddie2002]

I'm not too worried about the trunnion straps, they are pretty thick and the trunnions are almost completely buried in the sides of the carriage. If I get time I'll cast some nicer ones out of the cuttings left over from machining the barrel.
I contacted a local private range and got the OK to bring the cannon over this Wendsday for some target shooting. Every Wendsday the range is open to the public for a small fee and they are a little more easy going than the range run by the county. The private range also has shooting areas that are enclosed by dirt berms which will be perfect for the cannon instead of a straight line of shooters on a bench.
Got the video camera charged up with a tripod ready to go and will take a still camera along also. 30% chance of rain is called for Wendsday starting in the afternoon so I'm hitting the range in the AM. I've a .50 caliber Hawkens caplock that needs some range time also.

[mj2evans]

Excellent work! Heck the carriage is as nice as the metal work. Reminds me of a story about my grandfather building a "cannon" near Okmulgee, OK. After a couple "test firings" my grandfather owed neighbor a new chicken coup. Word was the two didn't get along to begin with and I was too you to get the real story directly from my grandfather. Needless to say I never saw said cannon. Even if I did I am sure it wouldn't be half as nice as your project.

[Eddie2002]

Had a chance to get the cannon out to the range, here's a video on Facebook of a test firing with 50 grains of FF.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=616496358422929
I had a range officer watch me load and shoot the cannon for almost 45 minutes before I was given the OK to be on my own. The good news is that they said I can come back anytime, they loved it!!
I was shooting at 25 yards at a piece of construction paper and was on paper with most of the shoots. It is tricky to aim but real fun to shoot.
Here's a Parrott design .50 caliber cannon which was a flea market find that cleaned up nicely. I believe it was made back around 1860.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=616509981754900
I decided to push my luck and take both cannons to the range today, glad I did.