My Cannon

[olgriz]

Here are some photos of my half scale Napoleon. It's not a nut and bolt replica, but it's a shooter. It's a Dixie tube, and they had the cast iron bore sleeved with seamed water pipe. I took it to a machine shop and had some seamless tubing turned down to fit inside that, and it still gives me a 2 inch bore which is also half scale. I bought the wheels off ebay, and built the rest of the carriage myself, including the iron work. It now sits in our front yard at the base of the flag pole, the only cannon in the neighborhood. I flew the flag at half staff at Reagan's funeral, but I didn't get a photo of the gun going off then because we were all busy, but I fired it when we raised the flag back to full staff. The photo of the gun firing is a blank fired later just for the picture. I have a five gallon bucket of 2 inch ball bearings for ammo. They just fit the bore, but I can't hit a darn thing with it. I think the tube has some run out that I can't get on top of. Anyhow, I mostly shoot blanks, so it doesn't make that much difference.

 

[soggy]

:: Nice looking cannon Cowhand. How big of a charge do you put behind that 2" ball?
Have you tried patching the ball . I use a heavy patch on my .75 cal cannon and it is remarklby accurate out to 100 yds.
Soggy

 

Very Nice, very nice indeed! :front: I have a tube with an 1.5" bore, I hope to work up a carriage for soon. I would love to get a closer look at your elevation screw set up.


Just :m2c:

 

[Halftail]

Nice Cowhand,
Great little Cannon! :front:
I couldn't imagine wheeling my Cannon out on my front lawn or shooting off a powder charge for that matter!
Do something like that here and the cops would swoop down on you and take every gun you owned. :cry:

 

[musketman]

What did the neighbors think when that went off?

 

[Will Bison]

Nice work on the carriage. Also a good idea on the additional sleeve in the bore.

 

[olgriz]

Lets see, regarding the charge, I was using 3 Oz. of Fg powder, and just the plain ball, no patch material, so that would be a large part of the accruacy problem, but I still think the bore has some run out. When I was shooting balls out of it the ground was damp, so we couldn't see where it was hitting to adjust for that either. I really do need to take it out this summer and see just what's going on. The elevation screw came off a old lathe drive screw. The only thing about that is that it's a left hand thread, so it turns backwards, so if the Reb's was attacking I'd get excited and turn it the wrong way. As for what the neighbors think, they just think the nut is at it again. In fact most of them come over and join in. We live in the country so we get away with things that wouldn't be tolerated in town. We have a little country church close by and they have a 4th of July picnic and we celebrate by taking the cannon over and shooting blanks. Fire crackers are against the law, but my cannon is legal. If I could find a CD of bugle calls I'd go one step further. On special occasions I'd fire the gun, raise the flag and amp "to the colors" so everybody would know what's going on.
Everybody needs a crack pot neighbor, and I get to be one.

 

[soggy]

Everybody needs a crack pot neighbor, and I get to be one.

. You got that right! And I guess I'm the guy that fills the bill in our neighbourhod :crackup: I figured I might as well say it cause I know if 1/2 tail reads this thread he would say it for me :imo:
Soggy