How to remove Kitty from under the tree...

The title says it all... :grin:

How to remove "Kitty" from under the tree


Unhappy "Kitty"


Cannon Inspection


The gun is "Barney" - a Hern 5/8 Carronade that I got myself for Christmas last year. It's one of a pair that I ordered - the other was given to a member of my crew by his wife. The carriages were finished up in October, though I still have some chain I plan on using to attach the trunnion pegs to the carriage. They started out as a single board of 8/4 oak that was 13' x 14", which was not the easiest thing to transport in my Camaro :shocked2: . The trunnion caps and bolts were forged by hand out of 1/4" bar stock and 5/8" rod.

"Barney" got his name due to the finishing process I used. I made an iron acetate brew using vinegar and steel wool, which when applied to the wood turned it purple as a dinosaur. Once I applied some boiled linseed oil to it, it took on the nice weathered brown look, but when I told the story of my purple cannon to a few friends, each of them in seperate tellings told me that when I said I had a purple cannon they envisioned "Barney." :haha:

MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!

Wow. I'm sure any of us would love to find that Barney under our tree. :thumbsup: GW

Bet that one is a hoot to shoot! My powder supply would shrink FAST were it mine.

Steve

What fun you can have with a little 1F. Very cool! :surrender:
Dusty :wink:

widget,
Very Nice!:thumbsup:Kitty seems to be in love with it.:hmm:
snake-eyes :wink:

I'll trade you another cat for the caronade. Aw heck, I'll go two for it.

My crew goes through about 25lbs in a weekend with 3 this size and our small arms when we're doing a show, so yeah, we use a fair bit of powder.

Shooting it is a "blast," and it makes me grin to feel the ground shake when I touch it off. A few years ago we were shooting from a dock and made some drift wood!

Thanks for the offer Trent, but I don't really need another cat. [strike]Now, if you've got a gun I like, I may have a sweet rottweiler available...[/strike] :nono:

GREAT PICTURES....GUN SHOOTS HIGH OR IS THAT JUST
A THREAT???

The carriage is designed so the gun is exactly horizontal when perched on the flat of the quoin (wedge), and can acheive various angles (forget the max elevation off hand) when sitting lower on the ramp of the wedge. No need to shoot high, I didn't really sight her in, though.

As I recall, old Seacoast Artillery could fire between 5 degrees below horizontal to 10 degrees above horizontal. Shoot too low and the gun jumps off the ground or out of it's carriage. Shoot too high and recoil drives the gun down, instead of backward.

You're right that there was not a lot of angle adjustment in naval carriages. Something to keep in mind is that they were used at sea...so much of the angle adjustment was timing the waves as the ship would rock. I've also seen examples of rigging the cannon using ropes to acheive more angle than could be done with the carriage itself.