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This excerpt comes from "The Confederate Field Manual", " Field Manual for the Use of the Officers on Ordanance Duty" (1862)

To unspike a piece.-- If the spike is not screwed in or clinched, and the bore is not impeded, put a charge of powder of one third the weight of the shot and ram junk wads over it with a handspike, laying on the bottom of the bore a strip of wood with a groove on the under side, containing a strand of quick match, by which fire is communicated to the charge; in a bronze gun, take out some of the metal at the upper oriface of the vent and pour sulphuric acid into the groove for some hours before firing. If this method, several times repeated, is not successful, unscrew the vent piece if it be a bronze gun, and if an iron one, drill out the spike, or drill a new vent.

There's other methods of clearing spiked barrels that have been dry balled, as well.. :grey:
 
Does this imply that YOU are the winning bidder?

I surely am, ("Squire Robin" isn't actually my real name) ::

I think I shall need some kind of hoist to lift these beauties into the back of the Range Rover :thumbsup:

Hadn't thought about de-spiking them, I will post pics when I get them, hopefully this weekend.

best regards

Me :crackup:
 
great find. Park those on the front lawn and all your neighbors will be envious. :crackup:
Seriosly though it looks like all the hardware is in pretty good shape it shouldn't be too hard to re build the carrages.
 
it looks like all the hardware is in pretty good shape it shouldn't be too hard to re build the carrages.

I had a good long chat with the seller, apparently his father painted the carriages gray but most of the paint has flaked off. This is probably lucky because paint doesn't do anything to preserve wood. There is an old photo of his grandfather sitting astride one and he says he will send me a copy along with a short history of them.

I pressed the bid button with 9 seconds of the auction left and I really didn't expect to win. I had watched it for the last 15 minutes solid and my heart was beating fast when I finally switched to my bidding window and counted down those last few seconds.

I still can't hardly believe I won, it all seems too good to be true :thumbsup:
 
I dunno what you're doing for a living squire, but I gotta get in the business. :shocking:
 
I had watched it for the last 15 minutes solid and my heart was beating fast when I finally switched to my bidding window and counted down those last few seconds.

I still can't hardly believe I won, it all seems too good to be true :thumbsup:

I can believe that. If I had to 'splain to THE ADMIRAL that I had just "won" the privilege of spending 3,600 pounds (which is like a gozillion dollars) the beating would hardly have started. And it wouldn't be my heart. :haha:

Looks like fun! Tungsten carbide drill and a bolt extractor?
 
Make sure you get the name of the ship(s). Sounds like there's a couple of tales that could be attached to those guns.
 
When I grow up, I want to be Squire Robin...

I also want to see his collection in person...
 
Squire,

Good on you mate! Not one, but two Falkirk gunnades! Current exchange rate shows that you got them for a little over $3100 each. I'd say you did very well. The 6pdr is a perfect size for the private collector also.

I suspect the guns are much later than the 17th century as the seller suggests, probably 1st or 2nd quarter of the 19th century.

Gunnades are a cross between a standard gun and a carronade. Falkirk is the birthplace of the carronade so I think that makes them extra significant.

I lost a bid on a 9pdr Gunnade that came up on ebay about 5 years ago. It finally sold for about $5000. It was on a similar carrage, but in worse condition. Still regret not pursuing it.

cheers

Mark Hubbs
 
But do trunnions automatically convert a Carronade into a Gunnade, or do they also have to be early? :thumbsup: ::
 
SR - It truly is neat that you were able to acquire these. Really fascinating stuff!! The story behind definitely adds to the enjoyment, too.

You lucky dog.

Regards, sse
 
Squire,

From what I remember, the carronade was first introduced about 1779 in fairly large calibers (12pdr up to 64pdr). It was a resounding success, but after a generation or so the need for something that had a little more range and in smaller calibers and could be mounted on a standard carriage arose. The answer was adding standard trunnions and lengthing the tube somewhat and making them availible in 12, 9 and 6pdr. I'm not sure that gunnade is even a period term. The name may have been introduced by current collectors and historians to deliniate the difference. I've also seen them called "trunnioned carronades". What makes them carronades instead of guns is the cupped muzzle, shorter tube, and a bore with less windage than standard guns.

None of the gunnades I've seen were Board of Ordnance weapons, but were made by private foundrys for commercial sale to privatly owned merchant vessels. That fits in perfectly with the provanance of your tubes.

From the photo it appears that the gun in the back is upside down thus not revealing its vent field and looped cascabel. Other wise, it looks like the same gun in the forground. If indeed you have a matched set of tubes I think that enhances thier overall value immensly. When you see them in the flesh see if they by chance have consecutive serial numbers (usually marked on the trunnion ends). That would be brilliant!

The real expert to contact would be Charles Trollope of the Royal Ordnance Society. He lives in Essex. Email me directly and I will give you his contact information.

Again, a great museum quality find and acquistions to be very proud of. :m2c:

Mark Hubbs
[email protected]
 
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