Cannon balls

[Captndan]

Does anyone patch cannon balls

 

[Tasbay]

Yes I do. Have a one pound howitzer and all my shots either golf ball or lead ball are patched.

 

[Soliderity]

There was something I saw or read somewhere that showed a cannon being loaded with a handful of straw rammed down on the powder before the ball was loaded. I'm not sure if this was common practice, a field expedient, or somebodies fantasy, but it seems like it would be a fire hazard unless the straw was damp or completely consumed before leaving the muzzle.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Does anyone patch cannon balls

They used to strap them to the wad, aka the sabot. I don't think this snugged them up in the bore, but maybe did seal some of the gasses....

Gibbon's Artillerist Manual, 1860

LD

 

[Phil Coffins]

I don’t, the ball is a close fit but loads with a gentle push. Click the photo for a video with sound.
KVID4115 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[zulu]

They used to strap them to the wad, aka the sabot. I don't think this snugged them up in the bore, but maybe did seal some of the gasses....

Gibbon's Artillerist Manual, 1860

View attachment 168301

LD

 

[Phil Coffins]

Could it be they were doing that to get the fuse where it needed to be? It says in the above text that shot didn’t use the sabot but shell (exploding projectile) did.

 

[TDM]

Could it be they were doing that to get the fuse where it needed to be? It says in the above text that shot didn’t use the sabot but shell (exploding projectile) did.

That’s my understanding too, it was for fuse placement.

 

[flintlock75]

My 1lb gun I have used a patched ball and bare ball, I found no difference in accuracy, I always use the bare ball, less chance of flaming debris everywhere. Gun is accurate enough to hit a 30 gal drum at 300 yards, and I have hit a 55gal drum at 900 yards about 1 in 3 shots, all were very close.

 

[TDM]

My 1lb gun I have used a patched ball and bare ball, I found no difference in accuracy, I always use the bare ball, less chance of flaming debris everywhere. Gun is accurate enough to hit a 30 gal drum at 300 yards, and I have hit a 55gal drum at 900 yards about 1 in 3 shots, all were very close.

That’s pretty darn good.

 

[flintlock75]

That’s pretty darn good.

It’s a great gun to shoot, took lots of practice to get good accuracy have had it since 1993, lots of range time.

 

[deerstalkert]

glassy eyed and trembling here, i have the cannonitis soooooooooo bad. the drill sergeant still says "NO, old fool"
still trying to think of where i could hide it!

 

[Red Owl]

This is new to me and I never thought about it. Iron balls can't deform to the bore. On a sailing ship rolling back and forth- how did they keep the balls in the bore?

 

[Youngblood]

Dont know all the tricks but i did read where a rev war brit shipwreck had loaded cannons with a big wad of cotton on top of the ball.