My cannon

[workinforwood]

Don't drool on my post :biggrin:

This is my swivel cannon. I just bought it, but don't know very much about it. I know it is 1 7/8 bore and 22" deep, that's a 1.5 pound cannon ball ...but this is just a signal cannon so it couldn't fire a 1.5 pound ball nearly a mile :wink:

It has a blast cap primer but I have no clue what blasting cap to buy or how to even find out. The post for the cap is just under a 1/4 diameter, makes me wonder if you use a bullet primer like a 22 or maybe 9mm? Then it must shoot sparks down the hole to the 1/4 pound of powder inside. If anyone knows anything feel free and share! Type what you know because I might be deaf by the time I see it :laugh:

 

[workinforwood]

This is the firing mechanism, post, pull the string and that heavy hammer swings around and smashes the blasting cap

 

[skiprat]

Well...trust my old buddy to take it to the extreme....
Most guys come on here bragging about their little firearm toys and you rock up with a cannon...!!!:biggrin:

I can envisage it now....

Jeff....strolling through town lookin' for baddies and sayin'...

'Are you feelin lucky?......Well?.......Are you?.........Punk!!':biggrin:


Happy birthday for the other day btw.:wink:

 

[BradG]

I've just measured one of my .209 shotgun primers and they 0.241inch.

notice the lip they have at the b ack? id imagine they would sit in there quite nicely. pistol primers are much smaller and fiddly.

That would only work if there's a firing pin in the hammer arm cup though. You can epoxy a steel BB in place to remedy that if need be.

I should mention though if you're planning on firing that, I think you're meant to have an ultrasound done on them to make sure there's not any cracks within you cannot see.

 

[mredburn]

Black powder percussion cap? Like they use on black powder guns.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1301119241/cci-percussion-caps-10

 

[Snowbeast]

Jeff,

That is a nipple for a black powder percussion cap. Unscrew it from the cannon and take it to your local gun shop. They should be able to easily determine if it is a regular cap or a musket cap. They are different sizes and different power. That one is probably for a musket cap to ensure the fire gets well down into the powder charge.

As Brad said, get it checked thoroughly before firing. Once it checks out, have a blast with it! Or maybe even three!!!

 

[workinforwood]

Ok, thanks guys. I will definitely have a few blasts with it. Start building Skippy, I know you want one...what guy doesn't need a cannon??

 

[magpens]

Don't seem like "casual conversation" to me .... you mean business !!!!

 

[BradG]

Ok, thanks guys. I will definitely have a few blasts with it. Start building Skippy, I know you want one...what guy doesn't need a cannon??

We're not allowed Jeff

Even a mini cannon which fires a tiny BB through a drinks can is prohibited. Only exception to that law would be things made before a certain year classing it as antique.

 

[TonyW]

Firstly there are several Yahoo e-groups devoted to model cannon. I would advise you to join and discuss your cannon with the people there before you try firing it. I found it very informative when I was building cannons.

Secondly try shooting golf balls first, before you start punching holes in the scenery with 1.1/2 pound iron cannon balls. With 4 ounces of powder such a ball would probably pass straight through a car for instance! A golf ball, wrapped in paper to seal the bore of the barrel, with just a small powder charge would be much safer. A friend of mine has a 19th century field cannon that he fires such as turnips out of at re-enactments and such like. A 4 ounce powder charge will fire a large turnip well over half a mile!

You also need to decide what grade of black powder you need. Very fine powder for priming flintlocks is FFFFg whereas very coarse powder for full sized cannon is Fg. That is 4Fg and 1Fg respectively. 3Fg is pistol powder and 2Fg is rifle powder. If you use too coarse a grade of powder most of it will still be burning when it has left the barrel. There will be lots of noise and flame but the ball will not go very fast. Too fine a grade would burn faster and could cause a pressure spike resulting in damage to the cannon, and to you,

WARNING Never, never, ever, use smokeless rifle or pistol smokeless powder instead of black powder without making your will first. There are several videos on YouTube showing why not !!! It is not dangerous, it is deadly both to you and any spectators. If this cannon can be fired with a pull cord, use a long one!

The good news is that as someone else said, the nipple is a commercial one and so percussion caps should be readily available. As with the powder, you are best going to a gun shop for them as buying them mail order will attract Hazmat fees. Shooting cannons is very enjoyable when done safely, but beware as it is addictive! <VBG>

Tony Wells

 

[workinforwood]

Thanks Tony, I have watched a bunch of videos, will join a group too.

We have weird laws in USA too. Like a cannon can only be a signal canon, you can't legally fire golf balls, potatoes, etc from them. And black powder guns before a certain date, or a new one replica from certain dates are not considered guns despite killing millions world wide. I personally won't fire much more than a paper wad most of the time simply because of cost and danger of where the ball could go. I do live for the big boom though, that's all I want, a massive explosion that scares the neighbors to death yet does no harm. People are shooting guns practicing for hunting all the damn time near my house and sometimes at the worst time of day when I want to sleep. This is my revenge.

 

[1080Wayne]

So what you really want is for the sound of a nearby rifle shot to trigger the canon in response . Not easy to do but I suspect not impossible . But I don`t think it will help your afternoon nap !

 

[randyrls]

Like the line in the movie "Tremors".
"Just add a cannon fuse".
"What do you use cannon fuse for?"
"My cannon!"

 

[Cmmarshall]

Regardless of all the details, that cannon has a wicked "cool" factor!