New swivel Gun and Thunder Mug

[mdtnhunter]

Here are some pics of a swivel and a thunder mug that I just acquired on a trade. Got them from a retired museum curator. The thunder mug is copied from the French Artillery Manual by St. Remy and styled from a early 18th century piece. The latin inscription on it translates to "fire when ready".

The swivel is a copy of an iron one found at the forks of the Ohio. May have been one of the 9 that G. Washington surrendered to the French at Ft. Necessity and found in the accounts at Ft. Dequesne Sp.? A national parks service employee had some cast in bronze for use at parks service sites about 30 years ago. It has a neat take down yoke for transportation. I have no experience with artillery but looks like I'll be learning.

 

[Coot]

Very nice looking pieces. You are one lucky fellow!

 

[flintlock75]

Awsome aqusitions, you will have alot of fun with the swivel gun. Be carefull.

 

[buzz]

very nice yeah not a fan of the thynder mugs but you have lots of fun with the swivel gun
I got into cannons a year ago now i take one out at least twice a month to make noise
welcome to artilary world

 

[matt denison]

Very nice. I'm in love with the thunder mug (signal cannon) It has a large bore, can fit lots of powder in there.

:thumbsup:

 

[hawk]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[KABAR2]

Your swivel is a nice piece I owned one of these
for a bunch of years I will caution you that they
were cored and if you plan to fire anything other than blanks to have it bored out and sleeved when I first had mine I discovered that the bore constricted at the trunnions - not condusive to firing ball out of.

I'll post a photo of the one I had up until around 2002-2003

Allen

 

[mdtnhunter]

Who would you recommend for me to get to sleeve it? It has a 1 1/2 inch bore.

 

[KABAR2]

Most machine shops can handle the job,

Here is a link to some guidelines on seamless liners and breech plugs.
http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?topic=89682.0

Hope this helps,

One question the fellow you got it from was the museum in N.J. ? If so I know the man.




P.S. keep me in mind if you ever sell... I miss mine.

also I didn't get on the computer last night when I got home maybe tonight I can post a picture.

 

[mdtnhunter]

Checked the bore on the swivel. There doesn't seem to be any constriction in the bore where the trunions are.

 

[Josh Smith]

Hi gents,

How does one use a thunder mug?

This is the first time I've seen reference to one. Interesting piece. Is it like a small howitzer or what?

Very nice guns!

Josh

 

[KABAR2]

Josh,

early thundermugs were probably chambers from
breech loading cannon....
when used by itself it would be loaded with a
blank and fired as a noise maker, either as a signal or in celebration later they were purpose made as thundermugs for just this purpose some
towns in Europe & South America still use them in
place of fireworks, they come in a variety of sizes
from rather small to very large I guess it depends on how much noise or how deaf you want...

Allen

 

[MSW]

cool looking pieces!

:thumbsup:

 

[JohnnyO]

very cool! :hatsoff:

 

[mdtnhunter]

How much would a the bronze swivel be worth?

 

[KABAR2]

Well I promised a photo of the one I owned a while back & here it is.....

I want to thank mdtnhunter, we conversed about his little swivel and came to an agreement, it arrived today in good order, I'll be boreing it out and sleeving it and making it a shooter.

Allen

 

[Tralfaz67]

Double salute to you, Sir. As a long time fan of black powder, a swivel gun is one of my goals. Also, as a strong supporter of 4th of July celebrations in a post 9/11 America, I have improvised a few "Thunder Mugs"(signal guns). These aren't to be handled carelessly. Anyone else hear that the first casualties at Fort Sumter had something to do with a signal gun? Still, imagine everyone raising their mugs in a toast, then dropping them in shock. Very nice finds.

Happy hunting,
Tim