Cannon Bore Question

[kend]

I have some brass 3" hex stock that I was looking at building a cannon to play with and I've been trying to find a cheap projectile to shoot out of it, having no luck I was looking at possibly using a golf ball but I'm concerned about the wall thickness, about .650, after boring it. Any thoughts on that being too thin? Thanks

[Idz]

"too thin" depends entirely upon the propellant used, projectile mass, and projectile fit. Arsenals spend a lot of effort calculating all that and then extensive testing and even then sometimes things fail.

[zymguy]

I cant help with wall thickness but Ive been interested in golf ball cannons.
Golf ball is a common projectile. Manufactured very consistent and cheap !
looking forward to seeing your progress

[JoeJames]

Ages ago Dixie Gun Company used to sell 3" ordnance rifled cannon. The bore was 3 inches. But they recommended using baby food cans filled with concrete - don't remember the diameter now - @2" - 2 1/2" - something along that size. I think the issue was that a lead projectile of that size would induce too much pressure. In any event the concrete filled container idea seems to be promising.

[sailcaptain]

I'll try to give you some perspective on cannon construction for "your safety". I have a steel barreled cannon coping the design of "Old Ironsides" Deck Cannons. (I'm redoing the roping now to match the original cannon design). I made back in the eighties. Photos attached.
It has an overall length of 13.75" x 3" with a bore opening of 1.2385" with a 9" deep bore.
I can safely use 1 - 1 1/2 ounces of Goex Fg Black Powder. Gives a nice smoke and smell when fired.
I've been in the market for brass stock like you have to build a ships Boarder Repelling Cannon but prices are out of reach right now.
You didn't say how long your brass stock was but I have to agree with Idz, "too thin" for that metal.
Be cautious with this project. These things play for keeps.
Hope you can use this information and helps you.
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[samari46]

Go over to the graybeardoutdoors.com site and scroll down to the black powder cannon and mortar site and you should find the ruling regarding the minimum wall thickness in brass. Frank

[Sasquatch-1]

If you make the golf ball cannon see if you can find someone who lives in a golfing community next to a fairway. I had a friend who's house was about where the first shot would land. The first month he lived there he had a couple of grocery bags of balls he picked up from his yard when he mowed.

Also, I think there was someone on the forum who use to collect zinc to make cannon shot from.

[quail4jake]

Wall thickness is something you'll want to research carefully....just don't put anyone at risk! Most of wall thickness has to do with barrel weight and recoil management beyond a minimum thickness needed to safely contain pressure. In my experience with Civil War artillery longer rifled guns go up on weight, breech thickness etc partially to manage recoil with heavy charges and cylindrical projectiles while short, rapid moving howitzers are much lighter but fire a lesser charge and lighter payloads. It seems that the 3" ordinance rifle is the compromise and recoil management is often more use of the prolong, wheel wedges and "uphilling" the recoil zone behind the piece. Anyway, too light a barrel with too much recoil puts too much energy into the trunnion mounts and axle box etc not to mention runaway artillery out of the recoil zone...Well, none of this really matters with 1 3/4" bore golf ball cannons with mild charges since the projectile is so light. These things are a blast just don't be tempted to cast lead 12 oz downrigger balls and fire 'em the same as golf balls, that's a whole world of unexpected hurt! My "extemporaneous" piece is made from a naval propeller shaft with a 1.53" bore and 18" bore length and .880 wall at the muzzle and 1.120 wall at the breech. It fires a 12 oz lead ball with a 1 oz charge judiciously sighted at a soft backstop with all the recoil I care to manage. Favorite load is 8 oz No. 6 shot over lubed fiber wadding and 1 oz Fg at a range of about 25 yards (with firmly established 300 yds open space beyond). That's a great canister shot load with mild recoil and safe max range, we fire with musket cap ignition and a long lanyard to the side which makes for a big surprise very suddenly. If you stick to golf balls there's alot less to worry about, I don't know about brass...:veryconfu

[John Taylor]

Golf balls out of a canon barrel do not fly strait. Juice cans do not fly strait also. One of the canon barrels I made many years back was made from the outer tube of a 4x4 front axle. 1.75" bore and about 1/2"+ wall. The steel tube was strong enough but I did add a piece of pipe to the rear portion to give it that canon look.

[Buck Shot]

I've been in the market for brass stock like you have to build a ships Boarder Repelling Cannon but prices are out of reach right now.

At Roanoke Island on the coast of N.C., there's a National Park museum about the first English settlers who came there (prior to Jamestown -- but the people who were left there disappeared so they call it "The Lost Colony") and they showed a really cool bronze or brass cannon that I believe was used to repel boarders and I think it was called a "Murtherer" or something like that. I always thought it was a cool design and size...almost small enough to hold by hand.

[Skipper]

Here's some good guidelines for construction

https://www.go2gbo.com/threads/safe-loads-construction-new-cannon-builders-design-standards.69739/

[sharps4590]

6 sided piece of brass? I'd like to see a picture of that!

[yovinny]

Years ago my old boss received a golf ball field cannon from his wife for Christmas.
I dont know where she found or bought it, but it was very nicely made and I'm sure quite expensive.
Anxious to test it and not having any black powder around, he called me to come over and play.
The first loading we did was with a level teaspoon of 4f,, as per the instructions that were supplied with it. We brought it out in the driveway, lowered the elevation to sight the middle of the tree line across the back field and loaded it up. With about 200yds of open field before a tall tree line and a quarter mile of dense old growth woods behind it and we felt pretty safe about the back stop.
As he lit the fuse, we all stepped back, watched and anxiously awaited to see how far the golf ball flew.... Making bets if it would even reach the tree line.

I'm still not sure how or what happened,, but the last thing we saw was the orange golf ball disappearing over the tree line at 3 or more times it's height.
We all froze with wide eyes and mouths agape, before looking at each other and in complete silence without a word spoken quickly put the cannon back in the garage.
We never heard anything about that golf ball,, but I know for a fact that was the one and only time that cannon was fired...lol.. ;)

[jdfoxinc]

.75 cal would be about the max bore in 3" brass. After the hex is lathed down to round. Bronze is much stronger I tension.

[SOFMatchstaff]

YO, Vinny... who lit the fuse you or John??

[SOFMatchstaff]

My Coston Line Throwing cannon is 2.5" bore with 5" dia at the breach end. Muzzle is 4" OD. A Coors silver bullet or Keystone full of concrete fits perfect. 2 ounces of cannon black and I've reached 1660 yards on the dry lake. At least thats what the Swedish range finder said. I worried some about the charge until I saw what the linebolt that it normally lobbed looked like, the beer can is a pellet by comparison. It will do some serious work on a water heater. I filled some tennis balls with heavy sandy stuff that I skim off the smelting pot and they fly better than the cans and explode in a reddish puff when when they hit, makes spotting the shot fall easier. Fun is where you find it....

[yovinny]

YO, Vinny... who lit the fuse you or John??

John...but he probably dosent remember...lol ;)

[ebb]

In my spud gun days it got an odd piece of PVC for the barrel, and as long as I stuck with potatoes I was OK. One day i tried a golf ball and it went in but was too loose, so I felt a cloth patched golf ball was the answer to all my ammunition problems. The real problem was when I started using pure oxygen and hair spray as the propellent. It blew up big time. But the cloth patched golf ball always seemed to fly well for me.

[Wayne Smith]

Please be aware that there is a huge difference between brass and gun bronze. The latter was the cannon material.

[elk hunter]

Here's my version of a golf ball cannon. With the barrel in a horizontal position I've never seen a golf ball in the air or seen one strike the ground when loaded ahead of 100 grains of F-G. I did recover one at about 300 yards while doing a range cleanup at least a year after the ball was fired. Maybe some day I'll make a set of proper wheels for it. For size reference the wheels are 24" diameter. I've thought about making a piece of yard art out of it as it's a pain to transport but with my luck someone would steal it.

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[17nut]

Bore = 26,75mm!
Size of a C-cell.
Mine will launch them more than 1km.