Shoot, or Don’t Shoot?

[Speedo66]

Just picked this up at a garage sale, they said it came from Old Williamsburg, exorbitantly priced at $1.

Cannon is nicely machined from solid brass, carriage appears heavy enough to be cast iron. Total weight almost exactly 1 lb.

The barrel is not drilled all the way through, nor is the touch hole. I could remedy that with my drill press.

So, what do you think, strong enough for a little black powder and some wadded up paper for the 4th? Or just enjoy it as a decoration?

 

[Eutycus]

I use firecrackers in mine. Haven't tried the blackpowder and wadding yet.

 

[.38 Special]

I'd be tempted to load it up for real and see what happens - from behind cover, of course.

A pinch of powder and a scrap of paper are just about guaranteed to be fine.

 

[bluejeans]

Send it!

 

[Speedo66]

I use firecrackers in mine. Haven't tried the blackpowder and wadding yet.

Is it bored through to the touch hole?

The bored portion on mine is between 3/16 & 1/4”, how many grains in a pinch?

 

[Speedo66]

double post.

 

[Eutycus]

I didn't think you could still buy anything that when "bang" for a $1.00.

 

[Eutycus]

I can't seem to locate a more accurate measuring tape. It is bored through with looks to be 3/8 at the muzzle and 5/8 at the other end. Mine is a little different from yours.

 

[Jim Watson]

Drill it out. Blanks only.

 

[Eutycus]

Looks to be some thin walled brass. I don't want to create a pipe bomb on wheels.

 

[aaaaa]

Best to install one of those spring-loaded flags that pops out and has BANG or POW written on it. A cap at the rear to make the sound would be a nice addition too.

 

[Ethan Verity]

I would be nervous... obviously, not being drilled through means this thing was just meant to be a display piece, who know what quality that brass is.

 

[troy fairweather]

I'd fire it, start with maybe a 22lr case of black and some toilet paper wad. What caliber is the barrel.

 

[Patocazador]

I've got a 12 gauge Napoleon cannon. I load it with a regular charge of 50 gr. of 2F and a patched .690 ball. Shoots great with no problem.
If I had your $1 "cannon", I'd drill it out, drop in 5 gr. of 3F and ram some bread in there. It will pack in and seal it. Put in a fuse, light it and get away. If it doesn't blow up, you have your Independence Day noise maker .. for a year or two.

I have a small decorative cannon that has no bored touch hole. If yours works, I may try to do the same thing. Mine is very tiny, ("he told her.")

 

[troy fairweather]

Not having the tuch hole not drilled probably helps making importing them easier.

 

[hawg]

I'd worry about the cast iron frame before I'd worry about the barrel. It's not going to take much abuse.

 

[.38 Special]

how many grains in a pinch?

5.3 - no more and no less.

 

[Some_Mook]

I'd call that a trinket best left displayed on a bookshelf. The breech is probably simply screwed onto the threaded barrel with all the care, accuracy and metalogical quality one will get from Asian made 'souvenirs'

If you want to play games with black powder, get an anvil and see how high you can get it off the ground.

 

[WestKentucky]

I'd call that a trinket best left displayed on a bookshelf. The breech is probably simply screwed onto the threaded barrel with all the care, accuracy and metalogical quality one will get from Asian made 'souvenirs'

If you want to play games with black powder, get an anvil and see how high you can get it off the ground.

That has always seemed like it would be fun.

 

[Eutycus]

I'd worry about the cast iron frame before I'd worry about the barrel. It's not going to take much abuse.

Just out of curiosity see if a magnet sticks to the wheels or carriage frame. It looks like it could be made out of that zamak (zinc alloy) stuff like Hot Wheels toys.

 

[Speedo66]

I'd fire it, start with maybe a 22lr case of black and some toilet paper wad. What caliber is the barrel.

The opening is just a little shy of .25”.

 

[Speedo66]

I'd call that a trinket best left displayed on a bookshelf. The breech is probably simply screwed onto the threaded barrel with all the care, accuracy and metalogical quality one will get from Asian made 'souvenirs'

If you want to play games with black powder, get an anvil and see how high you can get it off the ground.

The barrel is one piece.

 

[Eutycus]

How much powder does you average firecracker have in it?

 

[Speedo66]

Just out of curiosity see if a magnet sticks to the wheels or carriage frame. It looks like it could be made out of that zamak (zinc alloy) stuff like Hot Wheels toys.

I tried it, the carriage sticks to a magnet. The wheels do not.

 

[Speedo66]

I've got a 12 gauge Napoleon cannon. I load it with a regular charge of 50 gr. of 2F and a patched .690 ball. Shoots great with no problem.
If I had your $1 "cannon", I'd drill it out, drop in 5 gr. of 3F and ram some bread in there. It will pack in and seal it. Put in a fuse, light it and get away. If it doesn't blow up, you have your Independence Day noise maker .. for a year or two.

I have a small decorative cannon that has no bored touch hole. If yours works, I may try to do the same thing. Mine is very tiny, ("he told her.")

I had a 10ga. Winchester signal cannon for a while, $10 yard sale item. They were using it as a door stop. I was told it had previously been used by a yacht club to start sailing races.

It took 10ga shotgun black powder blank shells, talk about loud!