Load data for a cannon?

[Oreo]

Seriously. :)

My father has this small brass cannon that I used to put firecrackers in the barrel & plug it with a cork. It would shoot the cork about 20yards or so. So that got me thinking...

What if I were to build a small cannon from scratch. Lets say a 1" or 2" diameter barrel about 15" long. I'd only be interested in shooting relatively light weight projectiles- superballs, Paper, cork, that kind of stuff. How would I work up a load for something like that without having any sort of idea about what "safe" would be?

[mbradst]

It may be extremely illegal.

[DssG19]

It may be extremely illegal.

+1........go get a potato gun:thumbsup: If you're gonna use gunpowder to charge it, I would be careful. Might be some kind of stupid federal violation.

[BIGGUNGOBOOM]

Im not sure actually that it can be considerd illeagl. we have a friend that has several of them and none of them have to be registered. seriously whos gonna rob a bank with a cannon.. our friend has a bowling ball mortar and a golf ball cannon.

they are bad arse. got for it, he uses black powder. it makes a good boom.

Ill see if i can get him to give up any info

[DssG19]

Im not sure actually that it can be considerd illeagl. we have a friend that has several of them and none of them have to be registered. seriously whos gonna rob a bank with a cannon.. our friend has a bowling ball mortar and a golf ball cannon.

they are bad arse. got for it, he uses black powder. it makes a good boom.

Ill see if i can get him to give up any info

I'm sure it's a kick in the ass, but I would'nt put anything past our government. I could build pipe bombs that don't have to be registered, but don't get caught.

If you're gonna look into it let us know. I would'nt mind having a gunpowder charged baseball cannon.

[BIGGUNGOBOOM]

for sure i understand what you are saying DssG19. ill get some info in the next couple of weeks and let ch' all know.

[Oreo]

Sweet!! My father would think this is one of the coolest things if I could work it all out.

I don't think it would be illegal. I've heard of a few people doing this kind of thing. I remember one guy who used to actually make cannons like this for sale. It's certainly not anything new. It's just not very common.

Information for a golf-ball cannon would be perfect! That's exactly what I'm looking for. I guess I should also be interested in the material used for the barrel (I'm thinking brass) and the wall thickness at the breech.

[Rangerat]

Take a look here:

http://www.cannon-mania.com/foundry.htm

http://www.powerlabs.org/cannons.htm

http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html

http://www.dmoz.org/Recreation/Guns/Homemade/Potato_Cannons/

http://www.shootersolutions.com/homemadecannon.html

There are all kinds of websites for this stuff.

[Steel Talon]

Long time ago I met a guy who made his own cannons. It was an absolute hoot to shoot. He had several.. one to handle a bowling ball and the other which we shot alot was used to launch OJ concentraite "Cans" filled with cement.

Peace
Steel Talon:coolgleamA:

[DssG19]

The reason I'm so paranoid is that being in law enforcement we're held to a higher standard than the average citizen. If I get caught with a cannon and it is illegal, they're gonna say "you should have know, here's your pink slip, or suspension" the average person's job would'nt be jeopardy. Being in law enforcement can be a PITA when it comes to off duty type incidents. The average normal mistake can turn into a huge investigation. I have first hand knowledge of this.

I am going to look into this though, cause I think it would be a helluva lot of fun. .

[Steel Talon]

The reason I'm so paranoid is that being in law enforcement we're held to a higher standard than the average citizen. If I get caught with a cannon and it is illegal, they're gonna say "you should have know, here's your pink slip, or suspension" the average person's job would'nt be jeopardy. Being in law enforcement can be a PITA when it comes to off duty type incidents. The average normal mistake can turn into a huge investigation. I have first hand knowledge of this.

I am going to look into this though, cause I think it would be a helluva lot of fun. .

Heard that home skillet! Public Trust Employee..

Peace
Steel Talon:coolgleamA:

[MONTEGOD7SS]

A cannon is legal anywhere (yes even in CA) because it does not use a cartridge and is a muzzleloader just like , well, a muzzleloader. Going up the scale a bag gun does have a rear breachloader and is just as legal as long as it won't chamber a round such as a 20mm Vulcan. They are pretty popular to make from old 20, 30 and 40mm barrles because they are rifled for you. All you gots to do is weld up the breach so a live round can't chamber and you can legally shoot AP or any other of those pointy projos as long as you load the powder manually. Fun stuff!

[Anvil]

If you've got a potato gun and you stick a fozen carrot in the tip of the potato, does that make it armor piercing by ATF standards?

[BIGGUNGOBOOM]

I did some checking and montegod is right. AS long as theres not a Breach and its loaded from the muzzel and uses a fuse, then its legal."yes even in CALIFORNIA"

[MakeMineaP99]

A muzzle loading DD is NOT subject to the perview of the NFA.

[ISUSteve]

I want to do that anvil lauching thing. Its pointless and awesome.

[Seafarer12]

My father inlaw has a small morter. It will shoot one of the small juice cans (like v8). We have burned many pouds on BP and pyrodex in that thing. The biggest charge we ever put in it was almost a 1/3 pound of BP. That was a bit much. We scaled it down to a Pam cap full. They are fun but burning up the powder costs a lot.
If your going to buld one make it a pretty common size so it would be easy to get ammo for it. Golf ball size would be good.

[mbradst]

Even if it is legal by state and federal standards, there may be some local ordinances in play that make it illegal. Noise ordinances come to mind. Even if you are outside of city limits, you may want to ask a few LEO's in your area. I really don't mean to be a spoil sport.

[lcarreau]

Man, I would love to have a canon. I am pretty sure I could find a place to shoot it legally.

[Oreo]

For my father it's a non-issue. My parents live out in the sticks. You can get away with a lot out there since there aren't too many neighbors in the first place & they're far enough away to not be bothered by most stuff.

[VN350X10]

My "juice can" bore cannon (2 5/16") was a hoot & 1/2 !
Made from a 24" section of 4130 DOM tube, 2 1/2" id, 1/2" wall.
Turned a breechplug from bar stock, to be a shrink fit in tube, heated tube & froze plug, pressed in & welded.(I'm a certified weldor) drilled & tapped 1" fine thd, with a 3/32" hole for fuse in the plug. Did this to dump powder in case of misfire, safer than pulling a charge !
My "proof" load was 1/2 lb(!) of FFFG with about 4" of tightly packed newspaper wadding. INCREDIBLY LOUD....CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW ??
Used only about 100 gr of powder for salute load, plenty with 3 sheets of newspaper for wad. With a projectile, this can be deadly, use caution ! Saw a similar one shoot a concrete filled juice can THRU a concrete silo, was still climbing on exit, hole was higher than entrance hole !

Historical note:
During the Revolutionary War, the patriots used cannon with bore as small as 1 1/8" to destroy Brit supply wagons, this with ball only, no explosive charge, ruined a lot of supplies & 2 men could pack it easily & move to the next "encounter".

BE SAFE, but they ARE fun !

uncle albert

ps. sold mine when it became too expensive to want to feed it.

[MONTEGOD7SS]

One of my buddy's has several cannons and was telling me the other day that someone he knows in CA is really into cannons and just bought 450lb of black powder. Said it should last him through the Spring, yikes.

[RustyFN]

I've seen this one shoot a bowling ball 200 yards. It was frigging awesome.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7ce08b3127ccebee9fcd8770400000026100DZOGblm4Yo

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7ce08b3127ccebee9fcc5f62900000026100DZOGblm4Yo

It is made from an oxygen bottle from a torch set. He cut the bottom of the bottle off. He uses black powder.
Rusty

[VN350X10]

Rusty, is that oxy bottle cannon primer fired or fuse fired ?
I've seen a setup that uses a converted hand grenade striker & a shotgun primer.

uncle albert

[MONTEGOD7SS]

The friend I was talking about before has a bowling ball one that will send one out of sight in an instant so probably well over a mile. It is out of a hydraulic cylinder probably 1" thick and is loaded with 4-8oz of black and a cannon fuse. The fit of the bore to a bowling ball is so tight they hiss as they're sliding in and if the ball sits in the sun too long they won't fit. How much powder does that guy use Rusty?

[zdogk9]

http://www.buckstix.com/MortarBarrel.htm

[RustyFN]

Rusty, is that oxy bottle cannon primer fired or fuse fired ?
It's fuse fired like the one Monte was talking about. There is a small piece that he lines with paper and fills with black powder. That screws into the end of the cylinder and then he puts the fuse in it. He theows the rest of the black powder down the barrel and then loads a bowling ball. It looked like he was using about 8 ounces of black powder total. It looked like 200 yards was about all he was going to get out of this one.
Rusty

[VN350X10]

LETS SEE....16 LBS = 112000 Gr., needs 1.4732 fps to make major.

If it's going 200 yds, it's making major !.......and then some !