Cannon barrel, what steel to use?

Done, damn thing weighs 140lbs, went with 12L14. Machined by .... , does great work, for a price. Quarter in the pic for scale, it's big. 1.75" bore (1lb ball). Ran the ballistics on it, still has 3 tons+ of energy at 1000 yards. And ~20 tons of muzzle energy...
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You are a braver man than I am, Posting a picture of yourself with the "home manufactured" cannon, and posting the name &address of the machinist that done the work for you. You might want to reconsider using his name unless you have his permission. I know that I would not be too pleased.

It does look very good.
I am not trashing you - just voicing my 2 cents.
 
acoilfld said:
You are a braver man than I am, Posting a picture of yourself with the "home manufactured" cannon, and posting the name &address of the machinist that done the work for you. You might want to reconsider using his name unless you have his permission. I know that I would not be too pleased.

It does look very good.
I am not trashing you - just voicing my 2 cents.
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Nothing brave here, just sharing with other enthusiasts; what this entire board is about. The machinist makes cannons professionally, and out of smaller diameter stock typically too. This one is above spec, not to mention turned out of 12L14 steel. Prrretty sure he's OK with it. How the city and province of a cannon maker qualifies as his address as well you'll have to explain to me...

Forgive me if I have a tone, I have just zero patience for net nannying and litigation mongering. Like the other 9/10ths of the people on this board, I'm just out to have a good time, safe, well prepared time. Now back to the subject, no need for reply.
 
Forgive me if I have a tone, I have just zero patience for net nannying and litigation mongering
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Yes you do have a tone. I was not and am not trashing you or your work. Last I heard manufacturing of functioning cannons was not legal. I was just trying to warn you of the potential problems that you or the machinist could encounter by posting too much information on a public forum. You seem above that kind of advise and secure in your position.
Do as you wish - I was just making a comment - which is what I thought a public forum was about.
 
acoilfld said:
Yes you do have a tone. I was not and am not trashing you or your work. Last I heard manufacturing of functioning cannons was not legal. I was just trying to warn you of the potential problems that you or the machinist could encounter by posting too much information on a public forum. You seem above that kind of advise and secure in your position.
Do as you wish - I was just making a comment - which is what I thought a public forum was about.
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...mind sharing where "you checked last"? There's probably, oh, 500 cannon owners on this very board who'd sure like to know. :) It is not, and has never, been illegal. There are hundreds of cannon owners and makers on this very board. Below, is a link to a legitimate, legal Canadian cannon manufacturer. Enjoy, and in the future, look into something before proclaiming to know. Cheers!

brasswithclass.com
 
Ardent is correct on legality but maybe a little low on the cannon ownership. I'm sure that there are quite a few people who own cannons. I own a little .177" cannon. It would be interesting to put up a poll...
 
Ardent said:
Making a field gun carriage for it, bought some Amish made 24x2" wagon wheels. This thing turned out to be big in person though, should have opted for 30x2" or 36x2"...

Gatehouse, I'm in BC... could be arranged
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If you feel like a trip to Pemberton,let me know....

Actually, now hat I think about it, the Pemberton shooting range woudl be perfect for a cannon- There is a mountainside that can be shot at, and I think the hits would be visible.
 
Ripstop said:
Ardent is correct on legality but maybe a little low on the cannon ownership. I'm sure that there are quite a few people who own cannons. I own a little .177" cannon. It would be interesting to put up a poll...
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I'd bet the ownership number's dead close. There's what, ~40,000 members here? At least 500 of us have cannons, heck I know of a good number of folks here who are in cannon clubs and go to cannon shoots as well. 500's not much of a stretch at all.
 
Ardent is correct , cannons typically do not have a lock (mechanism), that's why they are not classified as fireams.
BTW my son made the barrel for his cannon when he was in high school :D thanks to an understanding shop teacher.
Cheers nessy.
 
Ardent (my almost fellow cannoneer);) have you given any consideration to making a ball mold for your new cannon?
A golf-ball is hardly a preferred projectile, every shot will be in a wildly different direction. But, with a tight fitting lead ball (no more then .015" less then the bore and with a .020" patch) you might just be able to hit a 4' x 4' chunk of plywood at 100 yard. The commercially available handles are usually too small for these big molds, so you may end up fabricating the complete mold, like the one I did for my 1" bore cannon.
Couple hours of ball making will give you enough balls to last a few years.:)
BTW...Excellent job on the new cannon so far.
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Al Flipo said:
Ardent (my almost fellow cannoneer);) have you given any consideration to making a ball mold for your new cannon?
A golf-ball is hardly a preferred projectile, every shot will be in a wildly different direction. But, with a tight fitting lead ball (no more then .015" less then the bore and with a .020" patch) you might just be able to hit a 4' x 4' chunk of plywood at 100 yard. The commercially available handles are usually too small for these big molds, so you may end up fabricating the complete mold, like the one I did for my 1" bore cannon.
Couple hours of ball making will give you enough balls to last a few years.:)
BTW...Excellent job on the new cannon so far.
[

I have a 2" bore , and after a sighting shot or two can hit a 5 gallon pail at 100yds 4 out of 5 times , a 4'x4' should be a gimme....:D

also , in a pinch there are fishing weight molds available in several diameters.
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nessy357 said:
Ardent is correct , cannons typically do not have a lock (mechanism), that's why they are not classified as fireams.
Cheers nessy.
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Um, not sure I understand that one nessy...... ;)
My last cannons all had reproduction cannon locks (flint-style), that were tripped using a lanyard. Parks Canada inspected them all (over time) and still they remain non-firearms according to them.

There are others that use friction igniters (al-la Civil war guns) that remain classed as antiques, and still others have some level of percussion, (brass with class even sells those) and they still remain non-firearms.

After years of building, selling and firing cannons, I can tell you that in my opinion, there are no clear regulations. For whatever reason they are left outside the scope of defined firearms, (although all homemade cannons fall within the specific definition of a firearm according to the Criminal Code of Canada).

Their legality is a constant subject of speculation, because no one can actually understand/believe why you need to register a .22 single-shot Cooey, when you can build a field howitzer that shoots golf-ball sized lead at 800fps or more. :runaway:

IMO we'll enjoy this situation, until someone either tries to use one illegally or gets badly hurt.......then you'll see the regs!
 
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