Howdy fellers!

I'z build meself a 1/3rd scale 6 pounder with a 1.015" bore 'n' shoot a 0.998" cast lead ball with a 1/2 Ounce (about 250g) of FG powder.

I'z had Little Booms (me cannon) out to the range a few times now 'n' put about 25 rounds down range.

I made a set of sights fer it 'n' tried "target shootin" last weekend.

At 25 yards, two shots printed within 3" of each other. :D

At 35 yards, two shots printed 12" high and 18" apart, one on each side of center. :(

At 50 yards, one shot printed 18" low and 18" right and the next shot went right over the target - about 24" high! :mad:

I AIN'T happy 'bout that!

The cannon folk get real spooky when I talk about patching the ball but it seems ta me that it ain't no more than a over-sized front-stuffer.

What do ya'll think? What would ya recommend fer patching material 'n' "grease"

Were you able to get behind it and watch the ball as it flew or did smoke obscure it? Smoothbore fired ball projectiles tend to knuckle-ball and waver all over the map beyond ~50 yards - at least down to the .69 cal fired in the Brown Bess. I'll bet the old timers practiced some neat tricks to improve performance that have just been forgotten. Anyways, remind me not to come mess up your yard!

Reqd this a day ago...waited until I had a chance to talk to a guy who would know. He belongs to a reinactment group and together they have a 6 pounder (actually it's an original and got sleeved to a 6 pounder). While some frown on it, it doesn't seem to hurt so long as (1) it's not too tight a patch (2) there is wadding under the patch (they ALWAYS burn though if not).

These guys are more about dressing right and getting the drill coordinated, but they do shoot at ocasional cannon-meets. Don't know him all that well...more a friend of a friend...and there was some reason they wanted it sleeved (besides safety) to the size it is. Two of the group are into the oil/heavy equipment side of things in the Gulf...whatever, they seem to have a good supply of steel ball.

Fred: Nope, can't see diddly from behind it 'cept a big cloud of smoke.

Sleeving a cannon barrel is a requirement of the N-SAA 'cause there's no way to test the cannons fer integrity of the barrel. The sleeve is designed to take the force.

OK...gald you know, I'd no idea...seemed like a good practice for old ones.

So, can you help on this one? Do remember a (bronze) line throwing naval cannon...modern (at least WWII...would guess the bore about 2 1/2 to 3"... tossed a cylindrical weight with a long rod and eye. Ideas seemed to be that a thin line was atached, fired over a ship, the thin line used to haul progressivly larger lines. Know it was US made, fired by way of a .32blank, and road on a non-wheeled steel carrage. Memory is tricky...been about 20 years...had original powder "bags" (seemed to be silk...or treated fine weave cloth) in 2 1/2 oz weights. X-mercant marine had it and occasionally shot it.

Back to your original questiuon about wadding...in the above, he'd cast cement into cans of about the right size, and use wadding to take up the slack to the bore. Accuracy of a tumbling cement filled can is about what you'd think it would be.
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Know from shooting a 10ga. percussion with round ball that if the ball is a loose fit to the bore, tends to bear on one side or the other as it exits...basically imparting spin and deforming (slightly) the ball at bit...and the result seems to be much like a knuckle-ball in baseball. So, even without rifling, patch the 10ga. to (1) take any slack out of the system and (2) to assure the round ball stays seated on the poiwder charge.

I gotta ask - what cans work best, chicken noodle or cream of mushroom?!?!?

Bet you don't want to be downrange when one of those impacts!!!!!!

Oh I just remembered. A few years ago in G & A, there was an article on a homemade smoothbore cannon. As I recall the bore was about 2 inches and the carriage of the gun served as the trailer (bet nobody tailgated). For projectiles, the shooter had the option of a round ball of some sort, or a tennis ball filled with shot and soaked in vegetable oil. Loads were several ounces of black, as memory serves.

No word on accuracy as I recall - will have to see if I can find it.

NO...I didn't have a hand in loading that bugger...did notice they seemed to be cans that once had lables, but the paper was removed, so no clue to what they once held.

Was more of the redneck, "Hay ya'll...lookie here" kind of thing. Once you hear that, you pay attention...becasue 9 out of 10 times, you'll be have to remember for the deposition.
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Did a search...this time with a differnt engine...came up with a match under the general catagory of "Lyle Gun". Many varieties (and evidently made until 1952), but the 2.5" bore and 15 pound weight seem right as does the firing unit and steel mount.

So...what cans come in a diameter of about 2.5"?

I gotta ask - what cans work best, chicken noodle or cream of mushroom?!?!?

Bet you don't want to be downrange when one of those impacts!!!!!!


Baked Beans......nice and solid....come down heated
Paladin

I have noticed from casting my own round ball that the diameter of the ball and consequently the thickness and the weave of the patch have more to do with accuarcy that almost anything else.

What's more, according to Sam Fadalla, lube is primarily suppose to keep the fouling soft and only acts as a seal secondarily.

Considering you shooting down range you have two different problems; one is uneven pressure(the high and low shot)and the other is accuracy in general.

With all that said, Have you checked the differences in weight and diameter of each ball? If you want to improve accuracy down range and insist on using patches, then maybe consider using thinner ones. Also, just like other muzzleloaders the powder charge may change for the distance achieved.

This is just food for thought.

strongarm

Been too durned cold up here fer cannon shootin, but if it ever warms up, I'z gonna try a newpaper wad.

The balls ain't the best Strong; thar's a very slight mis-match twixt the mould halves. I ain't weighed 'em, but I will now!

I wonder if you could rig up a conical for it. I've seen shotgun slugs with coil-like grooves on the surface that give them a spin like rifling would. That would be cool for that.

Not that there's a whole lot of people making stuff for muzzleloading cannon.