Help in identifying

Good Morning gentlemen I was hoping to ask for assistance in identifying a cannon that was found in the basement of a Long Island estate. I have attached several photos for your viewing and as a side note the barrel inside diameter is approximately 2 3/8" inside diameter.

I'm no expert on cannons but it appears to be a cannonade of some sort.

andy52 said:

I'm no expert on cannons but it appears to be a cannonade of some sort.

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Thank You Very Much I appreciate the feedback

Sorry I misspelled that term it's carronade

I am no expert either, but that is a real nice find. Looks like a very sturdy well built barrel. Super nice to rebuild some sort of carriage. Hope someone will post what the complete gun should look like.

They were meant for close range naval warfare, sort of the last cannons fired before you jumped onto the deck of the opposing ship and started whacking someone.

Thanks to all!!

And a very stout metal carry dolly .

Whats the handle thing on the back?
Does the breech end screw off for breech loading?

That's the cascabel. Ropes used to stop the piece when recoiling are attached to it. Sometimes there is a ring rather than a knob as shown in the carronade.

It looks like a Cohern mortar.
So it could easily date to the 1700’s

Maybe looked at it wrong. It’s likely a close quarter cannon

Im not referring to the cascabel. The other handle looking thing-

My apologies I missed that at first. I don't think I have ever seen anything like that before.

My best guess is a signal gun though with a large breech like that it could have been made for heavier work. It wasn't cheap when made. It seems fully lathe bored and exterior turned except the trunnion band. The trunnions and shoulders are machined as well.

With such high quality workmanship, there should be foundry markings stamped in some somewhere. Could be on breech face, base ring, muzzle face, trunnion faces, trunnion shoulders….could be most anywhere.

I would date it mid 19th century.

Post some dimensions and any markings you discover. Nice Find!

Youngblood said:

Whats the handle thing on the back?
Does the breech end screw off for breech loading?

Click to expand...

I believe the tube is sitting upside down in the photos. Cannot see the top and whether or not there is a touch hole on the top. I would make a guess that it is something that will accept a fuse for firing.

The nice Naval gun is a 'Carronade' with its trunnion set below. The old one might be better termed a gunnade' such as a commercial ships cannon. I've fired one 9 pounder often on ceromonies . Not mine belongs to the City of Nelson NZ. Thought be be used as a' time check' gun that is it was fired at noon every Saturday going by some ones cronometer . The boom allowed all clocks to be adjusted so that all the settlement in ear shot could be for a while be on the same time until the cable reached and wirelesses became the norm, Its a 9 pounder' gunnade' I got all the rubbish out of the breach anti chamber . and nursed what I called' My Baby 'As I was the one who fired it most and made all the kit it would have had. We fired three rounds in salute to the two sailing ships on the 150 eth Anniverery of the settlement of Nelson colony some 7,000 or onlookers as we had the area black powder clubs form our gun team, powder monkey, searcher, rammer , & me with me thumb on the vent to then fire by lintstock as directed by our Ensign (Who now is' Bucks County')2.500 grains of course power firering 3 pounds of sifted garden loam All wrapped in the Paperie mâché cartridge' Nelson Mail' ,The local rag ,Even had Sir Humphrey Wakefield who came out to portray his ill faitted Forebear Captain Arthur Wakefield of the New Zealand company (A planned migration scheme )in 1842 , it formed TV adverts & a continuous showing at the airport( But I never got a sixpence or a' by your leave' .)Now th ecouncil wont let us borrow it saying "We must preserve our heritage'' Which considering they had 'My Baby' out in the rain for years until the Hokey Carriage rotted dosn't sit well with me . The Vicar of Wakefield wanted to borrow it & me to add a bit of style to the 175 anniversary of their Anglican Church . But we made do with a small brass cannon that the Bishop of Nelson fired at my tending . He was tickled pink So I loaded it again much to his delight .
later I suitably attired made out I was hunting 1840s style Ide stalk about spot an invisable wood Pidgeon fire then recover a hidden plastic decoy of the English Wood Pidgeon .A bit of theater seemed to go down well with the crowds . However pardon my Digression it just seemed related .
Your Servant Rudyard