Desidog, did you get an extra zero on that "480 grains" part or is that correct?
If that IS the right number can I be your friend too? That would be hellishly fun to see in action! ! !
I'd never turn an enthusiast away from cannon play; shoot me a PM next time you're in CT.
That pic above in post#13 was a shot with 480 grains of Hodgdons Pyrodex RS (the FFg equivalent), some corrugated cardboard discs cut to size with a compass and scissors, for use as wadding, and a t-shirt patch wrapped around the golf ball. We were using some cannon fuse so that no one's hand would be around the touch-hole, but you could also use some priming powder and slow-match.
My particular cannon does not have an undersized chamber drilled behind where the ball is seated. This means that in order to get an even powder-burn in the chamber, you need to have 1.75"diameter x 3.14"for area x____amount of height of propellant...making a cylindrically shaped charge to propel your projectile in a consistent manor so that you can achieve a degree of consistency and accuracy...or at least as much as possible with a smooth bore.
Since the cannon is not loaded in a vertical position, it is hard to get all that loose powder into a tightly-compacted and evenly distributed cylindrical shape - hence, the cardboard cutouts...black powder and imitators make a bigger boom the more compacted they are. Then, since the cardboard holds the charge in place, but doesn't really help with your accuracy at all, the rag wadding around the ball takes up the spare space so that the ball isn't bouncing down the barrel as it exits.
Since there aren't any sights on my swivel cannon, our gunnery is not "precision" per say; but it has proven accurate enough to keep competition going....although i have a spare 10/22 weaver rail around, and a p.o.s. ncstar holographic sight; which i might end up mounting if ever i get around to getting the proper tap and die...but if i had the tap and die i'd probably just put a nail on the front and file a nick or paint a dot on the barrel band.
But i digress. 480gr gets you a big boom....i like to hear echo....then silence.....then cautious laughter...then uproarious laughter. (works every time!)
That powder load, as you can tell from a look at the picture, doesn't get entirely burned up in the barrel, where the magic happens as far as the golf ball is concerned...but a few, say 8-12, extra feet of muzzle flash and ensuing smoke cloud is always a crowd pleaser.
They're a lot of fun; and if you look around hard enough you can find one or someone willing to make you one for a good price. Mine was made for me by a guy in PA for about 500 bucks, IRRC.
