Black Powder Cannon

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S Peters

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I would like to get into Black Powder Cannons. I can't find anyone in Canada that sells them. Does anyone know of a company that does sell them? Also does anybody know if you can import them from the Usa? I would like one that will shoot golf balls.
 
I think that most people who have them, have made their own. I would suggest checking the scrap yards for seamless tubing with a wall thickness of 1/2" or greater. Also think in terms of having a machine shop thread the breach end of the barrel to be with at least 1" or more of thread

cheers mooncoon
 
There used to be company out of US "cannon mania" they would ship to Canada no problem. I'm not sure if they still exist I bought golf ball cannon from them in 2006. Fun toy. That thing had good range
 
There is a cannon manufacturer near Shilo Manitoba, Brass With Class, he has a website. Mortars too if you want to launch coke cans! Many styles and scales with or without carriages, brass, steel and SS Steel.
 
Dixie Gun Works shows cannons of various sizes in their catalogue. Big = heavy = expensive. You just might find a used one by an ad in the EE Forum here on CGN.
 
From what I'm finding on the web, a cannon firing loose powder is considered an antique firearm in Canada. Probably not a lot "cannon" manufacturers here though. But I guess its legal to commission for one to be built? The simplest build would be to have a drawn-over-mandrel (DOM) tubing cut to length as the barrel, than have a qualified machinist weld or thread a breech plug at the end and drill a touch hole. For a golf ball cannon, a tube with a 0.75" thick wall and an outside diameter of 2.75" would fit your bill, follow by a 2 inch length breechplug made of 1018 or 1020 carbon steel.

It seems most of the cannon enthusiasts down south either build their pieces themselves or have it commissioned at a machine shop. I remember a particular vid showing a cannon club casting their own 18 pounder out of aluminum over a DOM tube insert, great teamwork and craftmanship there. The Mythbusters at Discovery made one by just cutting the cap off a DOT nitrogen tank. From what I see, its not that hard, just need to get your numbers and materials right. Cannons and mortars fire larger grain powder, so the pressure developed is much lower than that in a small-calibre musket or rifle. Don't quote me on it but I think peak pressure using fg powder in a cannon is about 2000-3000 psi. The build I mentioned can handle about 32,000 psi with a 1026 DOM, according to my math. Read around the web a bit, a lot of guys doing this who share their expertise.
 
War Song said:
The simplest build would be to have a drawn-over-mandrel (DOM) tubing cut to length as the barrel, than have a qualified machinist weld or thread a breech plug at the end and drill a touch hole. .
Click to expand...

I would hesitate to use a welded breach. I think that a threaded one is far stronger over extended use. I think that welds leave a hard or brittle area and over many shots the weld or the area immediately around it can break. I think that is a far smaller risk for threaded breach plugs.

To save weight and to get better proportions you can weld 1/4" plates at the muzzle, breach and near the trunions, with their diameter that of what a real cannon should be in those areas. Then fill the bulk of the space in with tightly wrapped poly rope and cover that with bondo and paint it flat black.

cheers mooncoon
 
As I understand the Firearms Act, Cannons in Canada are "Prescribed Antiques" on par with a matchlock since both are fired by a fuse. Also, they are not designed to be fired from the shoulder or hand-held. Don't know if that status would change if you added a percussion ignition system using, for example, a percussion cap or an enclosed 209 primer.
 
Agreed, always go with thread if you can, but I think a weld would be adequate for a small calibre golf cannon as long as the weld is done both inside the bore and outside. For fill-ins, I see cannons with crafted wooden jackets, but I would definitely want a cast aluminum form if it was me and I had the money, like what these guys did: http://www.artillerysociety.co.uk/Barrel.html.
 
As far as I understand 'prescribed antique' status: flintlock, wheelock, or matchlock black powder reproductions, which includes reproductions of cannons, (including touch-hole ignition with or without a wick/fuse) is cool. Start putting percussion-locks on them and you're moving into the realm of non-restricted 'firearms'.

Hadn't considered this: might someone with more machining/welding experience comment on the idea of welding a threaded breech-plug in place? It may be a bit redundant as far as strength (not that that's a bad thing), but I'd think welding exposed ends of the threads, especially inside, might help fouling from migrating into threads in hard-to-clean or flush areas, where rust would be difficult-to-impossible to remove?

Threading a plug in is plenty strong enough, but might also welding the inside/front edges help longevity? Just a thought, and depending on barrel length I don't even know if or how it would be possible to weld that far inside, but how would the experts weigh in on the idea?
 
It would seem to me to be extremely difficult to weld a breach plug on the inside of the barrel and on the outside welding becomes superfluous. In fact it would be a major nuisance if you ever wanted to remove the plug in the future. A properly fitted thread installed with some form of thread filler should be more or less immune to fouling buildup.

On the subject of welds; think of shooting as a series of little pulses of pressure from each time the gun is shot. That, I think, can make the area brittle. that is not the same as on a welded pipeline for example which stretches and shrinks slowly from temperature changes. To give an idea of the effects of beating on mild steel, I make muzzle loading targets out of 3/8" scap mild steel. They last about 3 years by which time they have developed noticeable cracks or in many cases, chunks have fallen off. I don't think that the pressure "blows" from shooting a cannon would be nearly as great but progressive work hardening still is a risk, I think

cheers mooncoon
 
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Make one--golf ball size bore. Any good machine shop can do it.
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The reinforcements for the trunnions at the rear are not really necessary, nor is the lifting lug. However the lifting lug is easy to make and weld on, and makes it look a bit nicer.

There are lots of Mortar pictures on the Internet, and anyone with a small bit of woodworking experience can make the base.
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