BP Golf Ball Cannon

K

klaus enuff

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
I am making a black powder cannon for golf balls. So far I have a tube 13" long with 3/8" walls. It is hydraulic tubing or something close to it and the bore is sized perfect for a paper towel patched golf ball. I will be making the breech plug next but am unsure how big the powder charge chamber should be in terms of volume. Any suggestions or tips would be great.

Thanks
 
It doesn't take much powder to propel a golf ball, I would taper the plug a little so the golf ball sits nicely on top of the powder chamber and .750 dia. by .750 deep should be good enough, you don't need a lot more than 100-150 grain of powder to get a nice sound and see that golf ball fly in all directions.
 
if you want the cannon to look authentic, turn some discs of 1/4" plate and weld a 5" one for the breach and a 4" for the middle and the muzzle. Build up the diameter between discs with rope then cover that with Bondo, rasp out the lumps and paint mat black. I also welded pipe sockets for the trunions to the middle disc and barrel then made the trunions with a tight driven fit into the sockets. The barrel would not clear the bed of my lathe with the trunions attached, at I used the lathe (in lowest back gear) for wrapping the rope and for rasping and filing the Bondo smooth

cheers mooncoon

 
Mooncoon is becoming somewhat of a TV personality, I was watching my local Shaw TV station last week and there he was demonstrating the fine art of black powder shooting to two nice young ladies.
 
Al Flipo said:
Mooncoon is becoming somewhat of a TV personality, I was watching my local Shaw TV station last week and there he was demonstrating the fine art of black powder shooting to two nice young ladies.
Click to expand...

I guess after all of these years I have become a chick magnet :>) :>)

cheers mooncoon
 
I have had some experience with black powder cannons.
In Regina, about forty years ago, we called them citrus cannons since we shot oranges out of them.
A 25 grain charge was enough to throw an orange 100 yards. Pop cans ful of water were the same size and the 25 grain charge was adequate.
Start with a small charge. It's never nice to blow up a project that has taken a long time to build.
jclayton
 
4140 [barrel steel] DOM
Threaded breach, 1"x1.25" powder chamber
1.750" bore x 14" barrel length
Pressed trunion sleeve, welded 1.5" trunions.
Cannon carriage built by a Shipwright copying early ships cannon, douglas fir.
Haven't been able to track a golf ball beyond 300 meters as they disappear from sight over the tree tops at the range. Judging from the trajectory looks like it makes it out beyond the 500 meter mark.
Average powder charge is 200grs. FG, proofed with 300grs+ FG. Should be able to chronograph velocity of golf ball later this month when the weather turns to spring. Have to figure out a ballistic coefficent to determine maximum range.
Next will be the same material [4140 steel] with 1.25" bore perfect size for 1lb Halibut fishing weights [Round ball].
Any other questions that I haven't answered feel free to ask.

RC
 
RockChucker said:
4140 [barrel steel] DOM
Threaded breach, 1"x1.25" powder chamber
1.750" bore x 14" barrel length
Pressed trunion sleeve, welded 1.5" trunions.
Cannon carriage built by a Shipwright copying early ships cannon, douglas fir.
Haven't been able to track a golf ball beyond 300 meters as they disappear from sight over the tree tops at the range. Judging from the trajectory looks like it makes it out beyond the 500 meter mark.
Average powder charge is 200grs. FG, proofed with 300grs+ FG. Should be able to chronograph velocity of golf ball later this month when the weather turns to spring. Have to figure out a ballistic coefficent to determine maximum range.
Next will be the same material [4140 steel] with 1.25" bore perfect size for 1lb Halibut fishing weights [Round ball].
Any other questions that I haven't answered feel free to ask.

RC
Click to expand...

That is a nice build. now I know how those golf balls keep ending up in my yard LOL
 
There's a whole forum dedicated to these on graybeard outdoors. The real serious users use very small charges and try to get the golf balls into a bucket at 100 yards.
 
This is my 50mm mortar I made many yrs ago .
Works great with golf balls ,among other things ;)
PICT0009_zps55226c60.jpg

PICT0008_zps9b3a2aeb.jpg

PICT0007_zpsf902bf6a.jpg
 
A couple years ago I had just bought a welder, and had a really bad game of golf so I decided I needed a welding project. I thought I was gonna make a little mortar, but it morphed into this.





havn't quite finished but getting there.

GC
 
Here is the one I am working on. Its a original Can m5 mortar mount with a new barrel being made. The top barrel will be the firing barrel and the one locked in the mount is just a display tube..

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom