Black powder cannon barrel cleaning

nutmik

nutmik

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Hi Folks,
I have a black powder cannon that shoots golf balls, it's really fun.
The problem is, I lent it to a relative for a while, just got it back and it doesn't look like he's ever cleaned the barrel.
I asked him when the last time he fired it was and he says over 6 months ago.
The inside of the barrel looks pretty crusty to me, and from what I can see of the powder pocket, it looks the same.
What do you all think is the best course of action ?
Should I just start cleaning it repeatedly and will it eventually come clean ?
There's a machine shop in town that I deal with through work, should I get them to touch it up/resurface the inner barrel and powder pocket ?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice, I'm not to knowledgeable in this area.
Cheers,
Mike
 
Don't panic and spend a bundle on machining right away. Start with a good cleaning. I bet a bottle brush or small chimney brush will fit and help along with flooding with a hose or something similar. It's winter and really low humidity many places so the damage might be much less than you think.
If there is some roughness or even minor pitting a cylinder hone will probably clean it up. Mooncoon did a write-up on a hone he made for shotguns if you look for it.
And does it really matter if the bore of a smooth bore cannon is perfectly smooth? It's not going to build up copper or lead fouling or shoot MOA anyway. Just going to be a bit more trouble to get clean.

Not sure what you mean by the powder pocket. Is it a depression on the outside of the barrel around the touch hole or a powder chamber inside?
 
Thanks,
I'll give that a try,
By powder pocket, I guess I mean powder chamber, inside the barrel at the base, smaller bore than the barrel, the touch/fuse hole leads to it from outside the barrel.
I'll get cleaning !!
Cheers,
Mike
 
I am not sure what they are called, but you can buy sort of cylinder hone made with abrasive cloth. Think in terms of a strip of cloth folded back and forth and fastened around in a circle. What I am trying to describe is like a fat wheel with the fold lines running parallel to the bore and with an axel in the center. You can fasten them to a shaft and turned the whole works with and electric drill. Use oil in the bore while you are using it. It won't remove pitting but it will smooth out surface rust

cheers mooncoon
 
I'd use a wooden dowel with a slot cut in it. Put some every cloth in the slot sticking out w gpbit and maybe run a screw through it to hold everything together. Figure a way to chuck it in a drill and go nuts
 
Go to your local "industrial" hardware and buy a wire brush built for cleaning boiler tubes and such ( will look like your mothers old milk bottle brush but have wire instead of plastic). Buy one that is just a bit smaller than your bore dia...if you buy even slightly larger than bore it will require a very substantial turning mechanism, these wires really bite. Thread-on rod extensions are available at the same place to fit your length requirements (prob $20 for the whole gizmo and you have it for subsequent cleanings for the lifetime of your cannoneering I would suspect).

No special solvents required, just a hose with an abundant water supply periodically between brush treatments will do the trick. Dry tube after cleaning by wrapping brush with abundant paper towel. As others have said minor pitting in a smoothbore cannon barrel is basically immaterial in the grand scheme of things.
 
Got some flue brushes and flapwheels, so far so good !
I would make the offender clean it, but he's a province away and NEVER touching any of my stuff again !
Thanks for all the help everyone !
Cheers,
Mike
 
a j cave said:
Try flushing and brushing in very hot soapy water. Emery cloth through a slotted rod might help too. Use a drilled golf ball as a bore guide. Good luck.
Click to expand...

On my mini cannon I very often am lazy and neglect it until the next rendezvous and clean it the night before. I find soaking the barrel with usual BP cleaning mix for a few hours helps before using abrasives. Seal the fuse hole with candle wax drippings then stand barrel upright and fill. Smooth bores seem to come out fine after all the neglect.
 
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