[icebones]

anybody ever heard of someone making a golf ball cannon, bowling ball cannon, or beer can mortar?

maybe its just me but launching a 20lb bowling ball through an old aboned barn would be fun as hell, or maybe launching a sand filled beer can into the next state:D

anyone ever have one of these? or reproduction naval cannon's, ect.?

i would love to hear about them.

[Bartkowski]

I know that there are a few manufactures of golf ball, tennis ball, and other size cannons. I don't know about beer can mortars though. A search on google should bring up the site.

[icebones]

i was thinking of making one myself, and before anyone tells me i gonna blow my hand off, i am a gunsmith and a machinist, i know how to work with metal, i can run a lathe and weld, and everything else.
i know how thick to make the steel, and how much it takes to hold back that much pressure.

by the way, if i did make one i would make it at least three time stronger than it needs to be, it never hurts to over do it!

and even then, i wouldnt stand next to it, i would light a fuse, run away and hide behind something thick and heavy, like an old tractor!

[QuakKillz]

so, what you want is a "spud gun" to shoot beers, bowling balls and golf balls......the bowling ball shooter might get you in trouble.....

[alemonkey]

Here you go:

http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html

[Wildfire]

Hey there:
This is not going to be exactly what you want to hear. But. The beer can is not accurate. In fact they are very un predictable. I know of a pair of guys that used to do this. Hopefully they have stopped by now. The last beer can went through a barn wall and pretty much so made it not worth fixing. The two would shoot the beer cans at each other and see where they landed. They most always fell 200 yards or so short. And made a big puff. They would giggle and that was it. The last one went through the barn and they were not giggling any more. The beer cans were filled with dry cemment. The two horse,s in that barn were not very happy. The bowling ball is really a bad boy. The cannon was burried in the side of a hill and fired at the side of another hill. The ball left a huge hole in the other hill. The greased up diaper used for a patch will catch things on fire. The smoke is hard to believe. And seems to just hange around. The cops did show up. There is really nowhere you can do this without being very heard. The bang is big. This rocks your world and any thing else near by. This was done on a very large privately owned ranch. The cops said it was still not legal. Not sure why. The key is to not over load so the ball does not crack in the cannon. Most of the balls were still in good shape till they hit a rock. They too are very un predictable.
But .... You did not hear any of this from me.....
Doesn't matter if you are the best gunsmith that ever lived and your machine work is perfect, this is still extremmmmely dangerous. After seeing one and hearing fisrt hand of the other I would not try either.

[dirtdog]

Here hold my beer kind of stuff .

[Wildfire]

After veiwing the post just before mine and the web site with the bowling ball cannon. This is not even close to what I was describing to you. The one I was telling you about went some where around 3/4 to 1 mile. The hole in the ground was not some dent. It was 3 to 4 feet in. They had an old car out there but could never hit it. Had that ball hit that car there would have been nothing left. I am not sure how much powder they put in but it was not 3 oz.
But I can say there were a lot of empty Pyrodex bottles laying around.
The beer can deal If I remember right seems that they started at 1/2 lb. These cannons were not chucks of pipe. They were much heavier made.
One would think the guy on the web site would have made some sort of stand so his pipe would not fall over and go off in a bad direction. I don't think our gun club would go for that.

[Perk]

Icebones – No disrespect intended. The posting stated a targeted goal of three times the necessary safety strength specifications, for the intended beer can mortar design. Have to mention that you might could be underestimating just how much metal would be involved in the creation of such a monster.

Then, too, there would be the effort of trying to move said creation into place – any place.

But, hey, if you’ve got the metal, machinery, property, time and enough friends - who are that strong - I’d love to see pics of the thing, in action.

Happy fabricating! :D

[salthouse]

Lots of videos on youtube covering the bowling ball cannon. I think the beer can version is the natural outcome. There seem to be alot of them being emptied in the bowling ball videos.

[NorthIdahoNeck]

we have a neighbor who for years has shot bowling balls from abluff on his property every 4th of July, the landing area is in a lake and the impacts are pretty cool. 1/2 to 3/4 mile, unknown velocity or ft lbs.

[Wildfire]

1/2 to 3/4 mile is more what I was talking about. Bet he don't use 3 oz. of powder.

[41magsnub]

Remember.. beer can MORTAR, not high-velocity beer can anti-tank gun.

[plexreticle]

I seen one made from a cut down acetylene bottle.

[TimboKhan]

At the .50 cal shoots, guys bring out bowling ball mortars. They get 600 yards up and out, and it is darned entertaining to watch. The first time I saw them light one off, I literally squealed like a girl, haha. It doesn't seem overly dangerous, either. I don't recall how much black powder was used, but it wasn't very much at all, then the bowling ball, then a percussion cap on a nipple underneath, then you pull the string. The guys with the beer can mortars had to fill the beer cans with mortar (no pun intended) in order to get a decent projectile.

Perk, I should add that they weren't big at all. Maybe 2 feet high or so. Easily moved by one person. The black powder doesn't generate as much pressure as you might think, and you really use very little of it. as I said, I don't remember the amount, but it was like a tablespoon or something. If one were to try and use smokeless powder, I think that might be a different story.

Notice, I keep bolding the words black powder. There is an excellent reason for that!

[Pancho]

I just went to Youtube and there are some crazy SOB's out there. I can see using schedule 80 seamless pipe like the Doc did but some of those mortars were just gas bottles and they're using between 3 and 4 oz. of powder.

[icebones]

nope already have 2 'tater cannons

and yes, i also saw the one made form an old acetylene bottle, thats what started this whole idea!!!

the guy on the link several posts above had at least a good 1/2'' thick steel on his bowling ball cannon, but look at some of the older naval cannons, some examples of pre civil war cannons are made of brass or bronze, much softer than steel. and look how thin a shotgun barrel is, and some fire 3.5'' magnums shells, although the steel barrels are made of (chrome-moly mostly) is too expensive and too hard to get, regular high carbon steel would work, if thick enough.

weight or size is not a concern, i have a 3/4 ton pickup truck, and a hitch rated for 24,000 lbs (gooseneck tandem-axles are awsome!)

i think (for a bowling ball) at least 3/4'' thick steel, a barrel at least 3' long for a cannon, but thats way too big to fire around the farm, i wouldnt that bowling ball to land right in the middle of the court house in the next county!

im thinking about somewhere along the lines of "hey yall watch this"
and launch the beer can across the corn field about 200 yards away.

for a beer can mortar a 8'' barrel at least 3/4'' thick, will work, this thing will be made form a solid piece of cold-rolled steel turned and bored on a lathe. i think a beer can is about 2.5''-3'' in diameter, so a 4'' piece of round-stock will do nicely, with this there will be no breach plug, just a one-piece, solid cannon. and i can get it at work for free...

the mount is a diffrent story, i need something strong enough to mount it too and not fly off like a rocket when fired maybe a section of old railroad or an 100lb anvil will work, and a end of an old truck axle or driveshaft with the universal joint for elevation adjustemnts... something to think about...

[DixieTexian]

Here hold my beer kind of stuff .

I ain't letting anyone hold MY beer near one of those beer can mortar thingies!

[icebones]

yep, dont shoot a beer out of anything if it still has drink left in it (thats alcohol abuse)

[icebones]

think i will either go with a beer can mortar or a bowling ball mortar, cannons shoot too far for my property... "i put in too much black powder and the wind caught it" worst-case-senario maxinum range of 500 yards would be about right, the only thing i want to worry about is hitting low flying aircraft!!!

now before i say this, let it be known that i play no sports especailly not bowling or golf, I dont have anything against these sports, and no offense to any golfers or bowlers out there, but i get a much better rush out of shooting, destroying old cars, shooting home appliances :evil: and riding off road,

so I only have one, very important question: where in the hell do you buy bowling balls?:D

[Pancho]

Yards sales or check around at the bowling alleys they've got to cycle through their alley balls.

[Misfire99]

and even then, i wouldnt stand next to it, i would light a fuse, run away and hide behind something thick and heavy, like an old tractor!

Well it sure sounds as if you are confident in your abilities. Hey go for it but take videos for us. Oh and have someone else run the camera so we can get to see them.

[TimboKhan]

I am no expert, and I am not an engineer, but after watching those guys at the .50 cal shoot cook off shot after shot after shot, I think you guys may be vastly overestimating the strength necessary for one of these things. Overbuilding isn't bad or anything, but it's not like he is setting off 4 pound charges or something. It really is just a very small amount of blackpowder, and as long as the ball isn't fit extremely tightly (which it shouldn't be anyway, as it's not a bullet) all that energy is going to direct upwards, not outwards. Again, I am not an engineer, and I am not an expert, but I don't think these are quite as dangerous as they are being made out to be.

My dad and his buddies built a blackpowder cannon back in the 70's out of junk they had laying around, and it is STILL FIRING at Ft. Lupton, CO football games every year. Granted, they aren't firing shells out of it after every touchdown, but my dad and his buddies sure shot a lot of stuff out of it before the fuzz made them get rid of it, haha.

the mount is a diffrent story, i need something strong enough to mount it too and not fly off like a rocket when fired maybe a section of old railroad or an 100lb anvil will work, and a end of an old truck axle or driveshaft with the universal joint for elevation adjustemnts... something to think about...

It's not going to "fly off like a rocket" if it's on the ground. The pressure will dissapate so quickly, that it is going to just drive straight back relative to the angle of the shot and thats about it. I suppose you could make some little posts or something to anchor it, but a 100 pound anvil is probably just going to end up being 100 pounds of unnecessary weight.

[TimboKhan]

Pardon my horrific art skills, but here is a reasonably accurate representation of whats going to happen upon firing.

The crappy picture I drew was too big to post here, so just click over to my blog if you want to look at it, it's the first post.

http://wideworldoftimbo.blogspot.com/

[StrawHat]

Not a beer can mortar but when I was on board ship I made a cannon to shoot the dead "D" cell batteries we accumulated.

A lot of smoke, splash and fun.

[Shawnee]

Hey Guys...

Interesting stuff but a depressing reality may be that we have moved beyond the days when some of this "innocent fun" can/will be viewed as "innocent fun".

Was recently a case in Dayton where some teens were dinking around with this stuff and one of them got killed. The boy who was leading the effort was charged with murder or manslaughter.
In the newspaper accounts the Sheriff over there made a blatant attempt to (further) terrorize the citizenry by making several statements that tried to cast this event as happening because the teens "may have had terrorist intent" or were planning to use the "technology" to do an attack on the school.
And in those same news accounts the Sheriff went a long way out of his way to make sure the Public knew the "bombs" were made with black powder - and he emphasized the black powder was "freely available because of it's use by people who shoot muzzleloading firearms". There was no mistaking the fact that the Sheriff was trying very hard to ignite a public howl for increased government restrictions on black powder and the "detonator caps" used by muzzleloader aficionados.

Stay alert, Gentlemen - this is a very different country than it used to be.

:cool:

[Cannonball888]

How about a beer keg mortar?

http://www.iphotocentral.com/Photos/VintageWorks_Images/Full/1393CivilWar.JPG

[plumberroy]

Wildfire
check out this forum ;alot of stuff on biulding there

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?board=88.0

[Wildfire]

Hey there:
That is good info. I'm glad to see that there are some sort of guide lines.
The guys iI saw doing this were NUTS. The beer can went around a 1/2 mile to a barn on the other road. One huge bang. I did not want to hang around .
I saw this guy put some where around 1/2 lb, of real BP in that thing.
He said it was safe. So I watched. Smoke went 40 plus yards. I told him he was NUTS and left. The beer can tumbles after so many yards and you can hear it buzzing.
That is why I mentioned the Dangerous thing. I my self , do not get involved with this type of thing.:eek:

[zxcvbob]

Bronze is the right material for making a cannon barrel (read about the problems they had with iron and steel barrels in the Civil War.) If you use steel, don't underestimate the strength needed so it doesn't break from the concussion.

I think it would be fun to make a full-scale mountain howitzer; probably about a 2 Pdr. (that would be big enough to shoot tennis balls filled with plaster, wouldn't it?) The next challenge would be casting actual iron cannonballs for it.

I have an old medical oxygen tank (tall and skinny) that would probably be good enough for a noisemaker cannon for firing blanks, but I'm not sure how one would proof it. I hope y'all meant a oxygen or nitrogen (argon, etc) tank instead of acetylene earlier.

[SDC]

I once saw a "Mythbusters"-type TV show out of England that showed a gasoline-powered beer-can mortar that seemed to work amazingly well; he would simply tip a tablespoon of gas into the barrel, slide a concrete-filled beer can down after it, and then press a button to complete a circuit through a spark-plug he had threaded into the bottom of the barrel. On the firings they showed, the can took a RIDE, at least 150 yards.

[Jamie C.]

You boys need to mosey over to TFL and have a look at this thread:
Beer Can Mortar (http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253961)

I think you'll agree, ol' Heinrich knows how to do one right.


J.C.

[Seafarer12]

My father inlaw has a small cast iron morter. It weighs about 70 pounds. One of those small v8 juice cans with a patch fits in perfectly. We usually get 6 to 8 shots per pound of black powder. We used a full quarter pound once, talk about loud. After you shot it a few times theres about a 10 ft ring around the morter that looks like you ran a tiller. The ground is all broken up from the shock wave. We did shoot a rock through a shed once but thats the only thing we have shot. Most of the time we just make a bunch of noise. I keep telling hem we need to cut the top off a juice can and fill it with cement and give it a try. He has a friend that has a long strech of land. I am just curious what the range is for it.

[Perk]

I should add that they weren't big at all. Maybe 2 feet high or so. Easily moved by one person. The black powder doesn't generate as much pressure as you might think, and you really use very little of it. as I said, I don't remember the amount, but it was like a tablespoon or something.

Was thinking along the lines of the Beer Can Mortar, which Jamie C. indicated, on TFL. Remember, Icebones had mentioned that he would Treble the strength of his creation, for the sake of safety.

Not exactly a project one might worry over CCW issues, about. :rolleyes:

I’m a big boy, but don’t think ‘D care to lug something of such mass around, by my lonesome. Even, having first had access to the contents of several too many of the projectiles, to be fired.

Now, with the help of a few friends, the task might not be so bad... Ammunition certainly wouldn’t be a problem. :D

Nice blog, by the way.

[icebones]

i think i could mount the mortar on a old truck axle, with the spindle and wheels still attached, like an old civil war artillery cannon, weld on a hitch and tow behind the truck or 4 wheeler, that way it would be very easy to move around, regardless of weight.

at least i wont have to worry about tailgaters:D

what would be really cool is if i could get the bowling balls to come out flamming, imagine that, firing one at night, and you see a giant flamming ball flying through the air, like giant tracer rounds...:evil:

also for a beer can mortar, if i cut the top off of a can, and filled it half-full with concrete, and loaded it with the concrete end coming out first wouldnt that stabilize it, simmlar to a heavy spear head stabilizing a spear in flight?

anyone ever seen that episone of mythbusters where they made a cannon out of a log, with steel straps around it for support.
and the thing actually fired!
they pad to plug up the barrel and overload it with powder to get it to explode!!!

[icebones]

if i do make a beer can mortar it wouldnt be that hard to make a mold for round balls for it, i already made a conical bullet mold for my muzzleloader on the CNC machine at work.

anyway round projectiles would be more accurate than cans,

[Iggy]

I have a replica Coehorn that shoots V-8 juice cans full of cement. You can lob a can a couple of hundred yards with 80 grains of FG powder. I also have a 3/4 scale sea service cannon that shoots plastic 35mm film cans full of cement or a 1/2 pound lead wad cutter that I mold up.. The lead projectiles will go clear thru a Chevy pickup at a 100 yards.

[zxcvbob]

I also have a 3/4 scale sea service cannon that shoots plastic 35mm film cans full of cement or a 1/2 pound lead wad cutter that I mold up.. The lead projectiles will go clear thru a Chevy pickup at a 100 yards.

Have you tried using a 1" (or whatever) ball bearing?

[Blackfork]

...and you will see all of this stuff you care to. I like the Civil War era stuff. Looks like great fun.

[walw]

I think the prices are kind of high but this place makes some very cool cannons and stuff. If I ever get enough land I'd love to have one of their naval guns. www.wildimports.com

[Iggy]

Have you tried using a 1" (or whatever) ball bearing?

No, the film cans were the recommended projectile.. I had a guy make a mold for the lead projectile.. It is pretty impressive and I just never went any further.

I haven't shot either gun in years. I probably should sell them.

Here's a link to some good ones... I got mine there 20 some years ago.

http://www.southbendreplicas.com/

[Beagle-zebub]

See, this is exactly the kind of stuff that you can't get away with in BosWash, and that guarantees that I will be moving out of Boswash.

By the way, golf balls = grape shot.

Do you think those bowling balls show up on radar?

[icebones]

golf balls= grape shot?

great idea man, more like several pounds of BB's and nails,

just the thing got shredding old microwaves (cue manical laughter):evil:

[icebones]

by the way what or where is BosWash? never heard of it...

[Macmac]

Boswash is that strip of land mostly city, from Boston to Washington DC.

I hope you study hard, and build a gun of historical nature. Any fool can weld a plug in a pipe.

I have a 1720's circa barrel cast in bronze, made from a mold that was taken off an original gun.

When I get done, one day, it will have a number of carriages. I am working out a pine navy carriage which will be converted to oak once the details are completed.

The next will be a correct yoke, for a swivel mount since the gun is only 26 inches long, and weighs 45 pounds (just the tube).

The next will be a sled carriage for winter, which will be like the rest as exact as I can make to originals, and I will drag to winter events.

Last due to the problems in making wheels will be a field carriage, probably twin beams, but at this point in time I am not sure of proper terminology.

A eary tail had two beams, not one. I do living French and Indian War re-enactments, so so my wants are based on this.

With your metal skills, you should consider investing time into building a copy of something that was used, and is still real.

[icebones]

good idea, i could make a few easy bucks in my free time by selling scale repro cannons (nonfiring of corse) i dont want to get sued because some guy blew off his face with a cannon i sold him...


but sorry to dissapoint, i was just planning on making the cannon just for the heck of it...

so are you involved with war reproduction events or something, seems like a interesting pastime...

[scrat]

How about a beer keg mortar?



Whats crazy about that cannon is that its on a wood plank deck.

[Harve Curry]

I have a 5" inch diameter X 9 feet long section of solid round stock tool steel.
What could be made with that?

[sharps59]

why not play safe join an artillary assoc. join a unit. learn the right way. shoot for trophys. the body
parts you save maybe your own:banghead:

[scrat]

you guys are so wrong. First you get me into shooting a 50 cal. then i get a cap and ball now i have 3 with a 4th on the way. now im looking at buying a cannon.

you guys are so wrong.

http://www.wildimports.com/44_cal_napoleon.htm

[icebones]

golf ball cannon?

dont know, it would be really hard to make that thing with a barrel over 2' long.

you would use a step drill meathod on a lathe, to open the bore up, then use a boring bar to bring it up to size.

btw is it cold or hot rolled steel?

[bigjohnson]

Contact Paul Miller at Cannon, Ltd. in Coolville, Ohio. He make the best cannons in the US. He has rifled guns, howitzers, and morters. They're not cheap, but excellent quality rarely is.

And by the way: The N-SSA holds artillery and mortar matches at it's spring and fall Nationals at Fort Shenandoah. Next ones are the weekend of May 17th.

[theotherwaldo]

Look up Lyle guns. These were the line-throwing mortars used by ships and the Coast Guard between the Civil War and WWII. Most had a 2 1/2'' bore, fixed azimuth, and a sledge base. later models, like those carried on Liberty ships, ignited using .22 blanks. They come on the market occasionally, but they're expensive now.

Plans should be readily availiable.
I picked up three in San Pedro, Ca. in the late '70's and sold 'em at rendezvous in Oregon, after giving a few demos. Easy money.
Ammo: concrete-filled tomato cans, wrapped in black tape and well-powdered with flour for a tracer effect. Vary the range with powder load, but I maxed out at 1/2 pound of shotgun powder.

YouTube: Lyle gun firing a blank round. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9rZleVI8O0)

NOTE: Being older and saner now, I'd probably max out at 6 oz. of powder.

Fun guns!

[Harve Curry]

What could be made of a solid steel shaft 5 inches wide by 9 1/2 feet long?

Maybe two 1/2 scale mnt. howitzers?

Are there any machinist in southern New Mexico?

[scrat]

you guys are so crazy i still want to see these finished cannons.

[theotherwaldo]

For a real rough-and-ready mortar it's hard to beat a motor gun.

My buddies and I used to take the pans and crankshafts out of ruined engines, sawzall the piston rods, pull the plugs and either add gas or some other propellant, put the plug back in, hook a live coil, distributor, and battery to this mess, and fire it by spinning the distributor.

Results may vary!!

[JNewell]

Sissy stuff. Look into anvil firing.

[theotherwaldo]

Anvil firing -A grand old 4th of July tradition (http://www.cannon-mania.com/anvil.htm) - among blacksmiths.

Are you a smith?

[DutchmanDick]

"Somewhere" I have a set of blueprints for making a beer-can shooting mortar from a solid piece of 6" diameter by 12" long steel shafting, with a smaller diameter piece of shafting welded to the back in a machined groove crossways for trunnions. I believe Paladin Press sold them. You'd need access to a good engine lathe, or know a decent machinist, to do this one, though. One thing about the Paladin Press mortar is the powder chamber is a smaller diameter than the main bore, just like on original muzzle-loading Coehorn-type mortars.