different ways to fire a cannon and loading questions

[dmgunman]

hi guys
im wondering what the different ways used to fire a cannon are
i know of putting powder down the touch hole and touching it with fire
and the flintlock style pulled by a cord
and few that used a caplock style
are there any other ways that were used?

also another question
how to load powder down the bore without encasing it and poking a hole into it through the touch hole would you just elevate to its maximum height

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You have covered the basics of ignition. Now as for not encasing the powder, sorry, that's a safety procedure; encasing it in tin foil. Sponged and worming probably snuffs any embers, and covering the touch hole helps too, but the foil not only adds one more safety measure to keep embers away from the powder, hopefully long enough for the rammer to get his tool out of the muzzle before an AD, but also it protects the powder from the moisture left within the barrel from the sponging. Otherwise you run a huge risk of getting a misfire.

LD

 

[dmgunman]

thank you
but ive never heard of using tin foil before
would that get stuck in the bore?

 

[Wes/Tex]

I believe ole Davy was referring to wrapping the powder in tin foil rather than the traditional serge, felt or woolen bags like in the old days. This has become standard for most re-enacting artillery units. I've personally used this method for cannon shoots and it's as safe as any other method. You still have to use a worm to clear any foil remaining against the breech face after the shot. This method gives a good BANG with as much safety as other methods.

 

[dmgunman]

ok now i get the use of the worm
thank you guys very much

 

[tenngun]

Did they not have a scoop used to spoon powder back to the bore?I would not want to do that today but...

 

[Bon Sauvage]

A slow match and linstock, and a friction match were also used to fire off cannon.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

would that get stuck in the bore?

Yes it does. You worm-the-piece, which grabs the crud at the breech that is left over, then you sponge-the-piece, which wipes the bore and snuffs any embers with moisture, then you load with a powder cartridge wrapped in tin foil (the foil also helps keep moisture out of the powder in addition to other advantages over cloth). Then you ram-down-cartridge, which folks often think means really slamming the powder down, BUT that will rupture the powder cartridge when it impacts the breech. So a good Rammer knows to seat the charge against the breech, but not to do it so hard that the cartridge breaks open. Then the cartridge is pricked and then primed, and the piece is ready to fire.

LD

 

[dmgunman]

thanks dave and thank you everyone else for your inputs
i now have a better idea of shooting cannons
im wondering though what kind of cloth was used
and whats the best way to wrap it
also im curious on the cannons that some british ships had in the 1700s and 1800s where you pull the string and it sets the flintlock off
id like to shoot one

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Did they not have a scoop used to spoon powder back to the bore?I would not want to do that today but...

Yup, especially back in the days before "corned" powder, when you often mixed it on site or remixed it before the engagement because the ingredients tended to separate in transport. Use the ladle to measure the charge, run it in to the breech, rotate the ladle 180* to dump the powder, and withdraw. They were also used to deliver a loose or bagged powder charge into a smaller-than-bore powder chamber that was a feature of some early (and a few later) guns.

On ignition, no-one's mentioned quills yet. Strip the feathery bits off a the quill of a large feather, cut off the ends that you can't hollow out, and clean out the pith, so you wind up with a hollow tube some inches long. Coat the inside with glue then stick powder to it, so you have this hollow tube of powder that will flash down quicker than a burning powder train. Split the big end and stick in a rather flat blob of mixed glue and powder, kind of like the head on a nail. DRY THOROUGHLY. To use, prick the powder bag, insert the quill, and when ready to fire, touch the head with the slowmatch in your linstock. I think you could also use these with at least some of the flint gunlocks, although loose priming may also have been needed. By the way, on the flint gunlocks I've seen, there was a rather elongate "pan" with the cock and steel offset to the side of the vent, so the blast coming out did not damage them or the flint. IIRC, the gunlocks were not part of the gun, but separate and the gun had fittings that the lock would attach to. Nowadays, they're made of drinking straws, paper tubes, or rolled up sticky-tape.

If I recall correctly, the U.S. Navy did not use friction primers because of the hazards of flying bits of metal in a confined gundeck, so they used flint or percussion gunlocks until breech-loading came in. It would be useful if someone could confirm or correct this.

Regards,
Joel

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Missed the edit time limit: "Nowadays, "quills" are made of drinking straws, paper tubes, or rolled up sticky-tape."

Joel

 

[Poor Private]

Now the next big question. Are we talking full size cannon. Or are we talking those smale scale cannons such as those that fire a golf ball, or small round ball such as a .58 cal.? I have 2 small cannons. 1 fires a 58 cal ball- I just use the same blanks as I use in my Enfields and Springfields. On my itty bitty cannon it's by a empty 45 colt cartridge. I use cannon fuze for the larger, and smoke bomb fuze for the smaller. I use the same proceedure for loading and firing as I do when I am on a gun crew for the big guns.
before firing the first time worm to check for items in the barrel, wet sponge to clean. dry sponge to dry. Insert cartridge, ram, prick with brass prick, insert fuse, light fuse, stand back several feet to wait, and watch for combustion. BANG-- do the obligatory 3 minute wait then do the proceedure again. This is when I either life fire, or blank fire.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Do they have Darwin Awards in Scotland?

 

[mckutzy]

Thats not in scotland, thats in BC, Canada. At the Highland games.

 

[rupert]

What army do these guys belong to? The credits say one of them is a Lt Colonel???? Maybe Darwins Army

 

[Baxter]

:shake: baxter

 

[M. De Land]

Wadding is the cause of AD's in canonry as clean black powder alone will not leave hot embers. If it did no one could safely load a muzzle loading rifle,pistol or shot gun.
If one does use wadding than swabbing thoroughly between shots is crucial. Also the use of an offset rammer is a very good idea with the thumbs always pointed away from the muzzle.
I use a ball harness to lower bowling balls down the tube which is 27 inches long on my mortar barrel. This keeps one off to the side of the muzzle and a pull of the slip string releases the hole prongs that lower the ball onto the charge.
I also like to wait a minimum of five minutes between shots just to let any hot metal cool down. Hard to find a place to shoot even up in this country. Mike D.
P.S. I remembered another way I used to light my one inch bore cannons I made on a lathe in High School shop class. I would run a line of smokeless powder down the top of the barrel to the touch hole. That will give you several seconds to get clear and you don't have to by fuse cord. My projectiles were old spark plugs patched with cloth rags,wrapped to bore diameter.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

as clean black powder alone will not leave hot embers.

I don't know if that's true in artillery, but it is not true in muskets.

I have seen musket blanks containing nothing but clean black powder cook-off twice in my life, both during speed volley competitions, when simply pouring powder down the barrel, and no ramming of anything. Since the MSDS for GOEX powder shows the flash point temperature for GOEX in excess of 850° F, and since wood starts to burn at around 540°, and since the musket stocks didn't brown nor ignite, we can say the heat of the barrel was not in excess of 850°, so it was an ember and not the heat of the barrel that caused the cookoff.

LD

 

[buzz]

In big cannons one uses coarse powder and far greater ammounts then you use in muskets
Yes one gets red embers f6rom the larger corns of the powder
Or i should say more of a chance in larger bore then the smaller bores
One should never patch or wad a cannon ball

 

[Joel/Calgary]

quick reply, to no one in particular:
Not yet mentioned is another potential source of smouldering resuidua in artillery, the cloth container/bag the powder charge was generally contained in. I would expect that the aluminum foil generally used nowadays is less likely to produce hot spots, but I have no idea if it is impossible, and understand why worming and sponging continue to be prudent safety procedures.

Regards,
Joel