At the fest Gnoahhh had a nice cannon on his table that I liked a lot. I have a small replica Napolean civil war era cannon at home that I like too but his was tricked out with a really nice carriage that he built. I had forgotten how much I wanted to upgrade until i saw his.

Well the internet is a great thing and when I got home from work today this was waiting for me.

18 inches long, weighs 33 lbs. bore caliber: golf ball. I kid you not, rated for 1,050 ft per second with 1,000 grains of Black powder.

I have to build a carriage for it but it should be a real hoot!



golf ball caliber



A box of shotgun shells for scale

Wahoo! That is sweeeeet!! That's next on my "cannon list"- a golf ball shooter. We played with a buddy's golf ball mortar last summer, shooting at crab pot buoys out on the Bay. We could get really close with my little gun but we couldn't get the range with the mortar- and then we ran out of golf balls.

What kind of carriage do you have in mind for it, Roger? Naval gun, coast artillery, or field piece?

oh man !!! this is the last thing i needed to see!
i live over looking about 3 miles of river. have been itching for 20 years to make a splash in it. what was that web site?
yeah i have to much time on my hands.

Gnoahhh, something very similar to yours.

I got it from coaches club cannons. It was the best deal by far that I could find.

http://www.coachesclubcannons.com

For you guys that are handy with a milling machine, this is a pic of my first car/gun/cannon, combo. Think you could knock out a copy for me, I'll buy the beer, it'll be good beer, Joe.

WWII M2 light tank. Not so hot against the Afrika Korps in 1942, pretty decent on Guadalcanal. The 37mm shells bounced off of German armor, made a mess of Japanese machine gun nests. It'll take a lot of beer.

That isn't going to help your golf game Roger.


Very cool cannon. Should be great fun.

I hope it got salvaged. It may have gone for scrap metal in the mid 70's, Joe.

I have some neighbors with barking dogs. Damn, that M2 would be most effective in making a persuasive argument in my favor. Especially with it idling on their front lawn!

Joe, you need to put a couple winches on the back of that thing,drag in some logs !!!!!

Or, "put a couple wenches on the back of that thing".

Gnoahh had some influential stimuli decades ago. He has a checkered past of leading unsuspecting.......never mind. Proof;


This ad from a 1978 American Rifleman mag contributed to his lust for explosive devices not normally found in general firearm enthusiasts arsenals. Tread with caution. He can be very persuasive. Before you know it, we will all have sweet little cannons shooting golf balls at things we have no business shooting golf balls at.

Don, I knew you would like that one. I'd give my left do-dad for that little tank, Joe.

Ha ha. Little do you know, Oh Ancientotter, that is exactly what turned me on to cannon shooting. I took my turns serving on gun crews back in my re-ennacting days. A 12-pound Napolean gun (original) for a while, when doing Civil War, a 3-pounder Grasshopper battalion gun, 6-pound field piece, and 2-pound Galloper when I did Revolutionary War. I went through the National Park Service artillery school- a requirement back then of all gunners who wanted to fire their artillery on Park Property.

The biggest one I owned personally was a little 3-pounder U.S. Mountain Howitzer, circa 1795- a repro of the very first U.S. designed and built artillery piece in U.S. service. Made to be broken down and transported on the backs of horses and mules. She made quite a "woomp" with a quarter pound charge of powder. Not as much of a woomp as the 12-pound Napolean gun did with its one pound powder charge. Might have played a role in my partial deafness...

Now I'm perfectly happy playing with my miniature gun, shooting at crab buoys off my buddy's dock on the Chesapeake Bay.

The most impressive demonstration we would put on was with the Napolean gun firing canister shot. 144 one ounce balls (.69 caliber) per discharge- one hellacious big shotgun. No wonder the casualty figures were so high in the Civil War.

I'll vote for wenches

Busty ones serving beer would be best...

Whats amusing about the vintage add is the cannons are made in Mt Clemens, MI but NOT sold in Michigan. Hows that for "not in my back yard" legalities. Can sell them to loonies out east to blow stuff up tho.

Well, I'm no craftsman but I threw a carriage together with scrap wood, a circular saw, and a cordless drill this afternoon.

Slapped on a coat of black paint to hide the mishmash of assorted wood and I'm in business until I can get some shop time with my buddy to make something nicer.

Time to make smoke!

That looks like it will work, have fun!

Dale

I've got a running enginge out of a AMC Pacer and a pile of scrap metal I'd donate to that project. Somebody must have one of those old Ithaca Mag-10 sitting around collecting dust somewhere........

Just be sure to go with the armor piercing rounds.....

Looks like your temporary gun carriage should work nicely, Roger. (I like the perspective provided by the Oatmeal Stout too.)

The stout gave its' life after the painting was done!

Twas a fun project but the boom might be too much for my meager 3/4 acre. The last time I shot off some aerial bombs the the local police paid a visit. (just 3 weeks ago) So I've got to pace myself in this regard.

I'm taking it down to my hunting club for the dove opener. It should give me master of ceremony status!

HA HA !!!

Load it with 2ounces of 8's, and remember to lead them.

I picked up a very nice slab of black walnut 2 inches thick and 14" X 48".

The carriage is going to be a nice winter project.

Nice!

Started on the cannnon carriage over Thanksgiving.

Got the axles turned in the lathe, and cut the wheels.

The rest will follow after deer season.

Measure it up



Run the first cut through the planer



Cut the 2X2 axle





Turn the axles



Cut out the wheels before turning.



The black walnut is way overboard for this project but what the heck. It is starting to shape up. I should be done in January.

That looks like all fun. Good for you Romac.

You might be on to something there.

Can it be modified for a post war R?

I was thinking a pair of R's side by side for when they open Drone season, Joe.

I think this explains the golf ball that my hunting buddy found where no golfer would tread during a coyote hunt last week end. I could not believe it was there.
Mystery solved.

Well, I had some time on my hands and me being a big kid and all....
My friend Tom had all the right equipment and knowhow and he made it so even I could not mess it up.

I think it came out OK for a first attempt.

A-OK I'd say!! Nice craftsmanship. I really envy your workshop.

Beautiful work, sir!

Now, all you need are some friction primers like these; [color:#3333FF]FRICTION PRIMERS LINK[/color]

And a few pounds of this; [color:#3333FF]GOEX CANNON POWDER LINK[/color]

Some of these; [color:#3333FF]USED GOLF BALLS LINK[/color]

And a couple of miles of open space...

Yes, I'm envious!

Ed

I have 20 feet of cannon fuse and plenty of powder for now.

I have been buying up open cans of powder at swap meets at my gun club for years. Probably have over 10 lbs still.

I like to shoot it with 600 grains of powder and use compacted tinfoil for wadding. It makes a big boom.

I bet!

That is a nice piece of work by the way. Bring it down and we'll have an artillery duel, shooting at crab buoys out in the Bay.