Cannon Competition

[AZbpBurner]

When I was a kid, my Dad & I would go to the Muzzleloading Festival held at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. One of the highlights was watching the competing canon teams. As I recall, they fired a ball made of lead outer shell with a plaster inner core. Anyone know how they actually made those balls?

Sorry, but I got tired of seeing the former post headlines of "canonning illegal?" displayed for the last several months - time to see a new topic for a while ...

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Took my son to ft Shenandoah when he was 4 or 5 to see the nssa cannon matches. But I have no clue what to se guys were lobbing down range. Never heard of plaster centers, but I don't suppose it is hard to do.

 

[kaintuck]

Mostly balls from ore mines outta the rock crushers come in different sizes.....steel balls from my 2" were fun to shoot into the woods...... :shocked2: would penetrate 10" hardwood trees REAL good....

Marc n tomtom

 

[paulab]

The "Loomis Battery" will have an event at Camp Grayling Mi. soon [sorry don't know the date]. Live cannon and mortar firing at targets. Open to the public. I know that they used to use projectiles cast from zinc. WAAAAAAAAAAAY COOL to watch!

 

[hawkeye2]

I have never heard of a lead ball with a plaster core and I doubt that they would be reusable after they were dug out of the backstop. Years ago cans filled with concrete were popular as they were easy to make and expendable. Today, to the best of my knowledge, everyone in the N-SSA fires projectiles cast of zinc.

 

[RjSixgun]

Hawkeye my team use to use bondo! If you look in the n-ssa museum you'll find a few of them that we took a medal with........from way way back in the days.

 

[hawkeye2]

RjSixgun, who did (do) you shoot with? 2nd. VA. Vol. Inf. here

 

[AZbpBurner]

Apparently the plaster cored balls were mandated for competition at Greenfield Village, since the backstop was adjacent to the parking lot, and in years past, ricocheting lead or iron balls did bad things to cars parked there.

And then there was the gatling gun competition. Greenfield Village had their own team & used a gatling gun from exhibit for the annual firing at stacked layers of 5 gallon cans filled with water. Impressive!

 

[RjSixgun]

I still shoot with the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, we're over on Artillery Rd, 1 camp past the foot bridge.

Some of the teams are now using cement filled zink rounds in the mortars and the cannos. But in our cannon we are now using a lead minie ball type round.........we gave up on the bondo balls years ago

 

[hawkeye2]

I could hit your camp with a rock. That's my gray hut with the shed roof backed up to the exit road.

 

[RjSixgun]

Small world!! Swing in to camp next Natl on yer way to the range and I'll buy you coffee!!

 

[Poor Private]

Camp Grayling here in Michigan will host live cannon firing July 30-31 2016. come watch or bring your piece to fire.

 

[Chris Sweeney]

Sometime in the late 60's the NSSA had a skirmish in Fishers NY that got raided by the State Police. Seems that the concrete-filled OJ cans were ricocheting off the back stop and landing on the NYS Thruway

 

[Treestalker]

Kaintuck, do you have or can you still get the 2" iron balls? I think they might fit my 2" Coehorn mortar. Thanks, George.