Little brass cannon, again

[Eutycus]

Last year I posted a picture of my little brass cannon, the kind you pop firecrackers in. And I think we had a pretty fair discussion on it. This year we are combining a 4th of July with a young boys birthday party. Do you think it would be appropriate for a 10 year old boy to play with it and the firecrackers?We more than likely were old pros at fireworks at that age, but times are different. Several grandmas and aunts will be there. A firecracker burn used to be a "badge of honor".

 

[Eutycus]

 

[Treestalker]

With intense supervision, hell yes! The womenfolks will recoil in horror, but young men must learn responsibility with weaponry, and earn the trust they need. The Govt. goons don't want us to raise our young men and women as warriors. Screw that! Let freedom ring, that freedom that the Fourth of July stands for, E Cinco de Mayo, Hermano!

 

[Captndan]

Hell at 10 we were making cannons out of electrical conduit.

 

[SOLANCO]

Mom's family was from the hills in SW Virginia. Got my first .22 unmentionable from an uncle when I was 6 years old. I think it would be fine.
You know the boy and we do not. What do you think?

 

[Eutycus]

City boy, a great great nephew so I really don't have alot of say so. But personally I like the idea and he desperately needs a male role model. His Dad lives in Austin, the "San Francisco of Texas".

 

[SDSmlf]

If your nephew shows interest, go for it. For the 4th, New Year’s and anytime I want to make noise, I load up a short barreled smoothbore blunderbuss with whatever excess powder I have under a cotton ball. Kids young and old seem to love shooting it. Only complaint I’ve ever had was from a groundskeeper (aka, the sister in law) not caring for the shredded cotton balls littering her yard.

 

[Eutycus]

We had great (and not so great) uncles shoot an anvil up in the air when I was a kid. That's what some of the 4th is about, making noise.The rest is History lesson. Let's hope more kids learn some of that history before it gets erased or rewritten.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Supervise, put some eye and ear protection on him and let him blast away,

 

[SOLANCO]

Tell please how that anvil thing worked.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Tell please how that anvil thing worked.

Look up anvil shooting on youtube. Great stuff.

wm

 

[Eutycus]

Tell please how that anvil thing worked.

I really can't give alot of details as I was one of the "little kids" who weren't allowed to get too close.(those strict aunts and grandmas, you know)But the base of an anvil is hollowed out some, A little powder goes under the base, it's set of by fuse or powder trail.Boom, the anvil flies up in the air spinning. There was always a stronger, older cousin around to dig the anvil out of the ground where it halfway buried itself in the dirt when comming down, (there were no soft landings). I don't ever recall any mishaps though. That's one reason I was a spectator and not a participant. I was too young to pick up an anvil, now I'm too old. It wasn't one of the bigger anvils but still too heavy for me.I would recommend looking it up on youtube. They got a pretty good video or two on the subject.Enjoy!

 

[Eutycus]

We'll, the party is over and that nephew is probably still grinning from ear to ear. He's got some memories and I get to clean the cannon. Firecrackers are kind of corrosive aren't they?

 

[toot]

Look up anvil shooting on youtube. Great stuff.

wm

now that is the most scary sort of shooting I have ever seen, looking up to see where it is going to land!

 

[SOLANCO]

We'll, the party is over and that nephew is probably still grinning from ear to ear. He's got some memories and I get to clean the cannon. Firecrackers are kind of corrosive aren't they?

Good for you!

 

[appalichian hunter]

Toot that is half the fun, as in now where is that thing going too land. And which way do I run.

 

[GomezMunoz1951]

Hell at 10 we were making cannons out of electrical conduit.

I used to love fire crackers. I don't know how many cannons, rifles, and pistols I made that I used them in. Slide the cracker in and make sure the fuse stuck out of the end, throw a bunch of BB's, rocks and whatever down the barrel and light it... I made a cannon out of a block of wood, a pipe and an old hinge. I drilled a hole in one side of the hinge and attached it to the block of wood. The hole fit over the pipe I drove into the hole I drilled in the block of wood. I pushed all sorts of things into the back of the "barrel" then slid a fire cracker in and made sure the fuse stuck out the side. I then closed the hinge as a breech plug. I had a bar that held the hinge closed tight, and lit the fuse. Cool boom and stuff flew out the barrel. I miss those days...

 

[11Bravo]

I made a cannon maybe 35 years ago and my younger son used it yesterday with his daughters. I was a pipefitter/welder so it was easy, 2" pipe barrel welded to a 2-1/2" reducer, short piece of 2-1/2 and then a weld cap. The touch hole was 1/4" and you would either put a paper cup over over the barrel or load it with a tennis ball. Fill the chamber with O2/act from your B-Tank and use a BBQ lighter to set it off. My boys sure had fun with that thing, you got the boom and used to have contests how far it would throw the ball. I figure it was safer than my taking them to little league on the back of my motorcycle.

 

[toot]

Toot that is half the fun, as in now where is that thing going too land. And which way do I run.

roger that.

 

[Eutycus]

I'm bringing out this old thread for this year's 4th of July. I got a package of firecrackers left over from Christmas so I might just get out and celebrate (if it isn't too hot)