beer can mortar?

[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.

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 - 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.