Bowling Ball Mortar

what do they use for propellant?

I always wanted to build one especially after reading about hunting feral cats with a Civil War era Cohen bowling ball mortar. The page is hilarious to read.

http://www.buckstix.com/CoehornMortarHunt.htm

They’re catching on out west here. Used to be you could find cheap bowling balls around at Goodwill, pawn shops and yard sales. Not so much now. Folks are actively looking for them. Seems ammo shortages are having an ‘impact’ on everyone.

I've launched a lot of golf balls from a miniature cannon motor.......but never a bowling ball. The sheer thought of sending a 12 pounder 500 yards downrange puts a smile on my aging face.

Saw a bowling ball coehorn at a mountain man ronyvoo. He's shoot it and we'd go find the balls and dig them out of the soft meadow soil. As result I got a coehorn years ago that fired V8 juice cans filled with cement..
Lots of fun.

We used one similar to this one to blow the ashes of buckskinners that had "gone under" over the mountain sides.

Well. Those just seem to be the definition of fun. From my bowling league days, I know that bowling balls can come in weights that can vary from 8lbs to 16lbs. Is there a "sweet spot" for BB weight to get the best performance?

Shot a BPCR match in Mexia, TX one year and a guy should up with one. He'd fire it in between each relay.

Easily went past the 500 meter Ram berm and made a cool whistling noise due to the holes. We recovered some of the balls after the match and the penetration in the hard packed earth was kind of amazing.

Made this little guy a few years back. Shoots golf balls.....about 400 yards on the fly. Because a golf ball is light for its volume, 4F is the only propellent that works. About 30 grains. Have tried 3F many times with dismal results.

Best thing about it is golf balls are easier to obtain than bowling balls. The worse looking the better. The one's with big smiles sometimes whistle when you shoot them!

We use them as "Candy Cannons" for the kids at club events.

Load the powder, then stack in a couple automotive buffing pads (or carpet layers), add wrapped hard candy (ie: Werthers, Jolly Ranchers, etc) top it off with another buffing pad (or carpet layers).....and ignite. Then watch the candy rain down and kids chase after it.

Weren’t many cannons “12” pounders. Figured it referred to the weight of the shot.

rust collector said:

The 12 pounder had a 4.62" (117mm) bore. It was a British system, so no logic likely

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Hey there, be gentle. Just 'cause they can't make cars doesn't mean they can't make cannon.

A 12 pounder shoots a 12# cast iron ball. Just like shotgun gauge, but iron ilo lead.

Edited for speeling.

rust collector said:

The 12 pounder had a 4.62" (117mm) bore. It was a British system, so no logic likely

Click to expand...

I compute a bowling-ball-bore as around a 91-pounder (bowling ball is 8.5 inch diameter, iron around 4.55 oz/cubic inch). That would be a pretty serious piece of artillery. Fabulous page, by the way. I questioned the need to have that thick of a brass mortar if you’re only shooting a 2.5 pound baby bowling ball, but I imaging the esthetics are important too.

How do people fabricate the ones that shoot full-size bowling balls? Since the real 12-pounder weighed 350 pounds (per the page), simply scaling it up would be around 2400 pounds, which seems impractical unless you team up with the scale steam railroad guys. But it would be seriously cool!

<edited by taliv>

Thunderchicken said:

I compute a bowling-ball-bore as around a 91-pounder (bowling ball is 8.5 inch diameter, iron around 4.55 oz/cubic inch). That would be a pretty serious piece of artillery. Fabulous page, by the way. I questioned the need to have that thick of a brass mortar if you’re only shooting a 2.5 pound baby bowling ball, but I imaging the esthetics are important too.

How do people fabricate the ones that shoot full-size bowling balls? Since the real 12-pounder weighed 350 pounds (per the page), simply scaling it up would be around 2400 pounds, which seems impractical unless you team up with the scale steam railroad guys. But it would be seriously cool!

Addendum: it says I attached something but if so it was unintentional and I can’t figure out how to delete it. Maybe a moderator can fix it?

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Fabrication of the big ones almost has to have a steel sleeve. The pressure would be high and the hunk of brass massive and very expensive. I would think a brass casting around a steel sleeve at a minimum. That seems logical on multiple fronts... I can’t imagine any common freight carrier willing to move a 2 foot thick brass billet that’s about 3 ft long. That’s essentially a piece of brass the size of a 55 gallon drum. It’s not the truck that’s the issue, but having a way to handle it... like a forklift to move it, or a crane heavy enough to set it on a lathe, or a lathe big enough to take it. Brass can be poured fairly easily though and scrap brass isn’t hard to find, but it’s still kinda expensive. If they at least got the rough form done they could finish it much more easily than a billet.

IDK, seems kind of anti climatic

My wife thinks men are just big boys with more expensive toys, especially after reading all of this. Now I have the desire to build a golf ball launcher.

Trunk Monkey said:

IDK, seems kind of anti climatic

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Every time you post one of these, I am left wondering how it is that after firing a large number of rounds the crew is not flopping around like stunned carp ... or, perhaps they are.

The personal noise suppression equipment must truly be industrial strength.

How long after the firing stops does it normally take for y'all to feel "normal" again?

BTW, I love the pics of these impressive beasts. Thanks for sharing them.

GBExpat said:

How long after the firing stops does it normally take for y'all to feel "normal" again?

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I'm going on 18 years since the last time I fired a howitzer. When I feel "normal" again I'll let you know.

It's funny, I'm sitting here writing this post and my ears are ringing.

I still have issues with my balance.

It's almost impossible for me to use a telephone.

The closed captions are on on my TV by default.

I was sitting at work one day A couple of years ago. I was sitting right next to the fire alarm panel and there was a fault alarm on the panel. After about 3 minutes one of my co-workers looked at me and asked me "Do you not hear that alarm?" I told him "I thought it was my tinnitus"

I am going through a VA claim right now. When I went to get my hearing tested by an audiologist he told me that I have permanent, progressive and irreparable damage to my hearing and it is 100% related to noise exposure.

At some point I will go deaf

WOW! I am truly sorry to hear that.

I wish you the best of luck with your VA Claim and the future of your related condition(s)!