'New Cannon'

[Dude]

She's seen cannon and motorcycle mishaps? I guess it's a good thing she hasn't seen BP mishaps.

The touch hole is now drilled 3/32". She's ready to fire and looks great. I've cleaned all of the rusty metal so now it's bright and shiny. Beautiful!

I think I'll leave it in the white.

Were all of the originals bronze?

Have any of you made sugar fuses for cannon use? Make a concoction of stump remover/sugar dissolved in boiling water. Saturate cotton yarn in the solution then dry in the oven.

My other question relates to the scale of these cannons. I'm thinking it's 1/5th scale, but that's just a guess. The Traditions site says they're accurate to scale, but doesn't say WHAT scale. And on that same topic, is the .69 Traditions a copy of the six pounder or 12? At 1/5th scale my .69 bore is slightly less than 20% of a six pounder. So that's my guess. It's 1/5 scale of a 6 pounder.

 

[Captndan]

Never used the sugar fuse. Seems it would be to limp to push down the hole. If it doesn't the stiff stuff is real cheap.

 

[Rich44]

2mm fuse. Might not last long.
https://pyrobuild.com/products/2mm-small-cannon-fuse-green

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Only experience I've had with cannons was back in the early '60's. The NSSA group I ran with had a fellow who worked at the Anacostia Naval yard. He got about 4' of 3" naval gun, made a breech plug and trunnions for it, and mounted it on a gun carriage. We shot beer cans full of concrete, about 1 lb of coarse-grained BP. Range was about 1,000 yards. It used a flintlock for a firing mechanism - fill the touchhole with FFFg, little pile at the top, and pull the lanyard for the flintlock.
Was a lot of fun at places like Ft. Meade, Camp A. P. Hill, etc. Was fairly heavy, and as we didn't have any horses, we had to man-handle it into the back of a pickup truck.

 

[Dude]

Never used the sugar fuse. Seems it would be to limp to push down the hole. If it doesn't the stiff stuff is real cheap.

Dan, here's a link to make the stuff. It appears to be pretty stiff.

2mm fuse. Might not last long.
https://pyrobuild.com/products/2mm-small-cannon-fuse-green

There's another site that has it too for a few dollars less. True, it's not that expensive ($20 including shipping), but if I can make my own with a little stump killer, sugar, cotton thread and boiling water - why not?

Craig - sounds like fun, and heavy work too. Did you shoot at targets? I've heard of bombarding old junk cars.

 

[appalichian hunter]

She's seen cannon and motorcycle mishaps? I guess it's a good thing she hasn't seen BP mishaps.

The touch hole is now drilled 3/32". She's ready to fire and looks great. I've cleaned all of the rusty metal so now it's bright and shiny. Beautiful!

I think I'll leave it in the white.

Were all of the originals bronze?

Have any of you made sugar fuses for cannon use? Make a concoction of stump remover/sugar dissolved in boiling water. Saturate cotton yarn in the solution then dry in the oven.

My other question relates to the scale of these cannons. I'm thinking it's 1/5th scale, but that's just a guess. The Traditions site says they're accurate to scale, but doesn't say WHAT scale. And on that same topic, is the .69 Traditions a copy of the six pounder or 12? At 1/5th scale my .69 bore is slightly less than 20% of a six pounder. So that's my guess. It's 1/5 scale of a 6 pounder.

She seen a lot in her career, from energency room nurse to flying with Maryland state police, volunteer ambulance, chief of a ambulance company. Some of the stuff we would talk about were very interesting. Perhaps not B.P. mishaps but enough shooting incidents.

 

[Captndan]

Why not indeed. Let us know how they work. Good luck.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Dan, here's a link to make the stuff. It appears to be pretty stiff.


There's another site that has it too for a few dollars less. True, it's not that expensive ($20 including shipping), but if I can make my own with a little stump killer, sugar, cotton thread and boiling water - why not?

Craig - sounds like fun, and heavy work too. Did you shoot at targets? I've heard of bombarding old junk cars.

We shot at 4' x 8' sheets of plywood. Managed to hit it about 1/4 of the time. Couldn't find any place to shoot at junked cars, but I was only 15 - all the other guys were "grown-ups". I was the "sponger". Did get to shoot my 1863 Springfield a lot.

 

[John May]

Never used the sugar fuse. Seems it would be to limp to push down the hole. If it doesn't the stiff stuff is real cheap.

Secret with cannon fuse is not to use a 6" plus piece, mine usually runs in the 1" range as I need to be fairly close by in case it decides to leap off the table! I use 60 grains of Swiss 1 and a tightly patched .695" RB. which makes for a lively experience!!

 

[Story]

I'll just leave this here.
http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm
You're welcome.​

 

[SOLANCO]

I really want a cannon, but alas the boss lady says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Even told her a little one would be O.K. she rolls her eyes at at me and says WHAT DID I TELL YOU.

Your problem is you asked first.

 

[Dude]

I'll just leave this here.
http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm
You're welcome.​

Thanks a lot! I've recently wasted a bunch of time there.

Did you read the one about hunting feral cats with a mortar?

 

[Dude]

Your problem is you asked first.

You know, this problem comes up a lot on motorcycle forums...

(not about cannons, though)

 

[Captndan]

Maybe this will help. As I said before buy the fuse first then measure and drill. Different brands of the same fuse will be different diameter.
Visco green 3mm 3/32 23-24 seconds per foot. (pre cut)
Visco red 3mm 3/32 9.5-10 seconds per foot.
Visco green 3mm 30 seconds per foot.
Visco red 3/32 2.5mm 60 seconds per foot.

Both of my Traditions guns are bored 1/8" and I use Visco green. The fuse actually measures 0.119 or just under 1/8 inch.

3/32=2.3813 mm
5/64=2.0 mm
1/8=3.175 mm

 

[Dude]

Thanks, Dan. I've drilled it 3/32, which looks perfect for 2mm fuse.

 

[JeffG]

You guys could use the old, “Boom and grin approach “. Order the little monster and set it off while she’s watching TV. When she runs to the back yard to find out what happened, grin, hand her the lighter and say… Your turn!!

 

[Dude]

I wish I could fire mine off in the back yard.

 

[nhmoose]

My wife of 51 years never balked on any guns, ML, Shotguns, Rifles NFA subguns NFA belt fed [she actually loved shooting that.],SBR SBS silencers etc. I came home from a shoot and said going back tomorrow to get the cannon I saw.

Wow never had any reaction from her like that before NO CANNON NOT NOW NOT EVER.. She meant it so no cannons for me.

 

[Captndan]

Sorry. But enjoy the guns you do have.

 

[Dude]

She must have a real bad experience with cannons!

I'm curious what could get her so riled up? Could you find out for me what would elicit such a negative response? I'd like to know.