Make a Handgonne????

I see that many of you make your own handgonnes.

How do you do it? What tools do you use?

Is it just a matter of turning one out on a lathe?

If so where do you get a metal turning lathe and what's the cost?

Also what type of steel or brass/bronze do you use and where do you aquire it?

Sorry for all the questions, but this seems like it would be a fun project!

Many Thanks!

 

[benvenuto]

Lathes...

HUGE topic...

You can go from your basic chinese made model (new, but cheap) to your heavier american/british/european made models (south bend, sheldon, myford, colchester, emco - affordable if they are second hand) to your small precision lathes

check out:
www.lathes.co.uk

and theres more links on my website:
On ye Art and Mysterie of Turning

Materials?

Get them from any reputable steelyard
for a steel gonne go for somthing you can trust like 1055 - mild steel(1020, 1025, 1030, 1035) would be good enough but theres a lot of junk classified under that label coming out of dodgy chinese steelmills so make sure your steel comes off a bar with some kind of marking on it saying exactly what it is.

Bronze - I forget what the US coding is but what you want is around 90% copper 10% tin - "gunmetal" or "navy bronze". We've had a big long post on this before so have a search of past topics.

If you are a begginer I would recommend you start with a bit of thick walled commercial gun barrel for safeties sake. With a vice and a file you can taper the barrel by hand and leave a "cannon mouth" at the muzzle (very HC). Then I'd use a commercial breechplug, remove the tang and braze on a socket to fit to my pole-stock.

If you were machining from scratch, the chief difficulty is drilling a long accuate hole then reaming it smooth. For the outside, you could use square bar, machine off the corners then file the corners flat leaving an octagon profile (using a filing jig on the lathe).

Or you could buy "hollow bar" (precision ground round bar with a hole drilled in it at the mill) and play around with that, but you'd have to fit a breachplug as in my first example.

good luck!

 

[rifleshooter2]

I was going to add a reply but benvenuto covered it pretty well. The only thing I can add is that I got my lathe at an auction selling stuff from a school that closed it machine shop. if your thinking of buying a lathe just for making a handgonne thats going to be a heck of an investment but they are great tools and open up a complete new hobby.

Andy

 

To answer your many questions, I am going to follow the practice of divide and conquer.

I see that many of you make your own handgonnes.

How do you do it? What tools do you use?

Is it just a matter of turning one out on a lathe?

Most are made by means of lathe. But, I have also seen some made by means of shadetree mechanics using an electric drill and files.

If so where do you get a metal turning lathe and what's the cost?

Well, there are many ways to acquire a lathe. The simplest, read most expensive, way is to purchase one of the home hobbyist multi-function mill/lathes. The least expensive is to seek out a used machine locally or on Ebay.

Also what type of steel or brass/bronze do you use and where do you aquire it?

I highly reccomend that steel for use in the making of handgonnes be 12L14, 1137 or 4140, steels all used by well known barrel makers such as Getz, Colrain, Green Mountain and others.

For brass/bronze:
Traditional gunmetal, leaded red brass alloys such as:[url] http://www.anchorbronze.com/c83600.htm http://www.anchorbronze.com/c84400.htm[/url]
Not only are these safer, it should cut down wear and tear on tooling as well as save production time.

Cannon LTD uses this for their cannons.[url] http://www.anchorbronze.com/c90300.htm[/url]

Acquistion can be made by seeking out your local metals supplier, or through dealers on Ebay.

Sorry for all the questions, but this seems like it would be a fun project!

Many Thanks!

No need to apologize, this is what the MLF is for. To tap the collective knowledge of the members of this sport and its way of life. The only dumb question is one that is never voiced. Be sure to check out the Pre-Flint Links, as well as my profile, where you will find websites dedicated to handgonnes.

Something to remember. My rule of thumb is 50% of bore equals minimum wall thickness. So a one inch bore has a wall thickness of half an inch and a total diameter of 2 inches.

 

Thank You all for the info! Hopefully, I will get one made soon. I'll post it when I do.

 

[Leonredbeard]

claypipe,
I have a 6 inch section of a Green Mountain barrel I cut off back in '90 to make a shorter flinter for my daughter's orthodontist. It is .54 rifled and is 15/16 across the flats. Would it be appropriate for a handgonne with the right breechplug/socket? I could figure out how to ream the rifling out of it.
YHWH bless.
volatpluvia

 

Well, you're coming up a tad short for a standard pole gun. Most small gonnes measure in around 8-12 inches. Three inches of that being taken up by the pole socket and breech plug.

However, all is not lost! you could breech plug it and ream it out to .58 using a hand reamer and a padded jaw vise. Then you could make a Swiss Gonne and even add a serpentine matchlock. Below is a picture of two Swiss gonnes and the "Tiber" handgonne. The middle gonne is what I would suggest you try to emulate. I have a short piece of .58 barrel, and, hopefully, will be doing a similar project soon.

Here's hoping that Benvenuto won't take offense to me linking this picture from his well written and documented Handgonnes and Matchlocks webpage.

 

[Leonredbeard]

Thanks Claypipe,
I will note this down as a future project. I have been thinking about it for a while, especially after I saw your video firing yours. :bow: It looks like a lot of fun! :grin:
YHWH bless.
volatpluvia

 

[cavscout]

If any of you want to make me one of these, send me a PT and we can talk specifics. I know some of you sell these. I have wanted a gonne since i first came across this forum. thanks

 

[Bartek]

I never made hangonne, but my friend did it. He bought brass cylinder, 2" diameter. The barrel channel made with leth. Rest of work - files and grinder

 

Your friend did a superb job and has a very nice gonne in the Tannenberg style.

 

[benvenuto]

someone might be able to do something with these:
http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=585040&chrSuperSKU=&MC=

 

I don't know about shotgun barrels, the walls are kind of thin.

CP

 

[benvenuto]

I was figuring cut it down at the muzzle a bit, fit a breechplug, machine up a ring (like a fat washer) as a "cannon muzzle" and carefully braze it on, and pin it to a "beam" stock. oh, and you'd braze on a small priming pan as well.
Then you'd have something like the 2nd gun from the Armeria Real I have on my page.
These are nitro-rated barrels after all, as long as you don't try magnum loads they should be OK...

 

[coehornboy]

Ok...lets here everyone's opinions on this one...

I have seen matchlock fowlers made from barrels like these. The person who made them tapped the breech section (thicker than the barrel section and unchambered) with a 3/4 tap. The breechplug was a standard 3/4 bolt, threaded in approximately 2", with a smaller powder chamber hogged out of the 3/4 bolt. He has only used them with shot as a fowler. However... :hmm:

There are modern shotgun "deer slugs" that are available. Why are these rounds ok to shoot, with smokeless powder (greater pressure) in a barrel that is the same thickness?" Having never seen one of these rounds "pulled apart," are they plain lead slugs or do they have some sort of sabot?
Would you not be able to shoot a round ball in a shotgun barrel w/ a BP load?

 

[Leonredbeard]

I once shot a BP load in a modern pump shotgun. I knew it was a BP load because of the lower pitch boom. Not a problem.
YHWH bless.
volatpluvia