Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 All said and done, they were pretty precise. Not like laser guided missiles of today, but they had the best at that time in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Some of these guns at Ft. Pulaski, outside of Savannah, have barrels weighing 4 tons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 25 minutes ago, Travis In Austin said: I think the whole thing needs to be live streamed. I ran some basic calculations for a 6lb ball (not sure what you have there, or the fore diameter) but it looks to be close to that. For that type cannon they were for close range, not a lot of elevation. Figuring a 6 degree elevation, you should figure about 1500' to 1600 yards, add 10% safety factor, that's 1760 yards (that's 5,280 feet, one mile). (This is all from a book by Benjamin Robins, Principles of Gunnery,from the mid-1700s, and Thomas, A Treatise on Naval Gunnery, which I taught a class on a long, long time ago). I'm chuckling right now. First, I have zero history with this thing firing cannon balls. Dad said the other day that he fired it ONCE with a ball and the ball went "about that far" He was pointing to the house directly across the street.....though I'm sure he didn't fire it in town....his point was it didn't go a huge distance. To be fair, he might have used "X" amount of gun powder instead of 4X units....again, I have no clue. I'm not terribly interested in firing the balls too often....I'd have to go retrieve them and I DO know that I do NOT want to do that. As a kid, we stuffed a wash cloth down the muzzel and it would still throw that something like 100/150 feet down the way. I do live in the country. I CAN fire a firearm on the property and then, we are also surrounded entire by TVA and high powered rifles (along with bow/arrow, muzzle loader rifles) are allowed on their property......as are hikers at the same time!) I think the muzzle on this is about 2 1/2 inches diameter though I've not measured. My fear of firing a ball through it is the ball is out of round and gouges the side as it gets shot out. I suppose it it rolls in/out freely it should be ok but I don't think they are perfectly round (I've only glanced at them as I moved them from garage to my car, back to my garage) Given that we get trespassers out here every now & then, maybe it would be to my advantage to do some practice shots 1/4- 1/3 mile downrange rather than walk out there to confront them (with them holding live weapons) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 18 minutes ago, Marvel said: All the kits have iron cast barrels with a 3/16 or 1/2 in steel tubing liner. Friend of mine did heavy artillery with a group of re-enactors. For those they would just have a powder charge. If they wanted to actually have a projectile, depending on the barrel size, they would use something line a small juice can full of concrete. There are charts available to calculate the distance, using gun elevation, powder amount and ball size. Years ago, had a friend over. Had a spud launcher (PVC pipes with V05 hair spray as fuel and launched a potato quite a distance) We were messing around when a Wildlife officer came out. He had heard the reports (bang) of the shots and came to investigate. Had a visit, he confirmed that with THAT, we were breaking no rules out here and to have fun but be safe of course. I emailed this same friend the other day with picture of cannon and said Spud guns were for beginners..... BUT, was inferring we could maybe use a shaved potato as the projectile. I don't know facts but my guess is this does not have a liner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 7 minutes ago, Coytee said: I don't know facts but my guess is this does not have a liner. The liner would certainly make it safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 The regular guns could be pretty accurate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 I'm going to correct myself. I just walked over to look at it and I'm guessing that it DOES have a liner. You can see it. It's maybe 3/16th's thick... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 The bore is right at 2.25 inches diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Looks about the same size as this one from DGW. Aways liked the deck guns, thought they were cool looking. https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/page/product/product_id/3031/category_id/541/product_name/MC0620+US+Carronade+Cannon+Barrel+only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 I thought they packed some sort of wadding around those balls and they were not metal to metal. Well if you are skeered of it why not start a trebuchet range and launch toilets and pumpkins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 8 hours ago, Coytee said: I'm not terribly interested in firing the balls too often....I'd have to go retrieve them and I DO know that I do NOT want to do that. As a kid, we stuffed a wash cloth down the muzzel and it would still throw that something like 100/150 feet down the way. Isn't this cooler in original condition with he wooden wheels and parts?. Can't fire but a nice resto project. You can always build a cannon if you really need to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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