Cannon barrel, what steel to use?

Ardent

Ardent

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Going to make a BP cannon, what steel would you guys use? Mild steel sufficient? I see no reason why not, given all the brass cannons out there, but always good to check. Any suggestions for a decent high tensile steel that can be had in 6"/15cm roundstock just to he overkill and for contemplation?
 
cannonthunder.com for some ideas

3" 4140 is readily available in 340 ish brinell hardness. I have some but not in long pieces. Perfect for golf balls but if I was to go through the effort to make a cannon, I would design it for pop cans. :evil:
 
Took a look on that site but couldn't find anything... Still wondering, what's the consensus on mild steel for running pretty decent pressures? I want to shoot lead cannon balls and golf balls from a 1.75" bore, I'm going to go very heavy and turn out out of 6" stock, likely about 4" at the muzzle and the full 6" at the butt.
 
Lead balls are going to be pretty heavy. Quite different from a golf ball.
I would think that clean mild steel would be fine; would avoid leaded screw machine steel like 12L14. 4130 is great steel, might be overkill for a ml gun.
I have a piece of 4 1/2" diameter stock for a can mortar, but am going to have to improvise a steady rest to finish boring it. It is too large to fit the steady that I have.
 
First I think you are in the wrong forum. The 'Blackpowder and Antiques' cover BP cannon and you should be able to get some great advice. I have made cannon from plain low carbon steel with no problems but I always prove the gun with an over charge load to ensure the load I fire is safe to others around. Cannons are lots of fun but potentially very dangerous, so get lots of advise from people who play with them a lot
 
I remember a guy that threaded a breach plug into a 5 foot chunk of old drill stem. Got to be pretty tough if you can run a half a mile of the crap into the ground. I think his reason for the drill stem was that he was only going to shoot it a few times a year and used drill stem was CHEAP! Black powder by the pound was NOT cheap. We finally figured out that we could charge it with Acetylene and oxygen. Get the torch burning like the dickens, snuff it out and fill the barrel. Pop cans filled with pea gravel makes a good expanding round and I assume would be legal for hunting. We filled a few with cement and made FMJs. They were heii on old cars but probably illegal for hunting. On top of that you run out of beer before the cement hardens in your ammo. :eek:) Rod
 
Be careful, stiff steel might be more likely to shatter at heavy loads. Brissance is the quality that governs this. One of the most clever ideas that I have seen is a brass or bronze barrel with a sweat fit stainless liner.
 
I have 2 cannons in the works useing old hydraulic cylinders. Both are .75" bores, 14" deep, one is 1.5" and the other is 2" o.d They both work fine. I'll be shooting the 1.5" with .715" lead balls this week. The fit well with a Winchester shot cup. I'm expecting a working load of about 100gr of
Pyrodex RS.
 
Anyone know of a good heat treater for 4130/4140 chrome moly who would have an understanding of the qualities I'd need in a cannon barrel? I'm likely going to pick up a chunk or large diameter (5-7") 4130 or 4140 and turn the cannon out of it, then have it stress relieved and heat treated to gun barrel spec, I don't have the facilities or equipment to accurately heat treat a 200lb barrel however.
 
Hey monkeycanada,

where did you see DOM 4130 seamless tubing for sale, do you have an website of address? I'd like to try it on a smoothbore flinter. Does anyone know where to get some???

sharpsguy.
 
Why do you go to all that trouble, or listen to advice from people who do not know what they are talking about.
Use regular mild steel 1018 or 1045 and you will never blow this thing up, guaranteed!

Ardent said:
Anyone know of a good heat treater for 4130/4140 chrome moly who would have an understanding of the qualities.
Click to expand...

Here is a small one made from 1045 with a rifled barrel.
Picture415-1.jpg
 
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Ardent said:
Anyone know of a good heat treater for 4130/4140 chrome moly who would have an understanding of the qualities I'd need in a cannon barrel? I'm likely going to pick up a chunk or large diameter (5-7") 4130 or 4140 and turn the cannon out of it, then have it stress relieved and heat treated to gun barrel spec, I don't have the facilities or equipment to accurately heat treat a 200lb barrel however.
Click to expand...


The steel used in rifle barrels is stress relieved. It is not hardened and tempered after stress relieving. Can't see any point in even considering heat treating a ml barrel; the steel in machinable condition as received would be fine.

Sharpsguy - w ww.aircraftspruce.ca
Just got a piece 1" OD x 5/8" ID x 36" to experiment with. Have also bought tubing for sleeving ml shotgun barrels after reaming them to .750".
Not very many muskets had cylindrical barrels. I will taper turn it.
 
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