I need help with my mini working mortar (pics)

farmerbob

farmerbob

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
75   0   0
Hi All

My friend inherited several mortars from his father who passed recently. They have been fired. The inside diameter is 1 1/4 inches (31 mm) and the length of the barrel is approx 2.5 inches (66 mm). The powder chamber (probably not the correct term) is rather large, about as big around as my finger and about 1.25 inches deep.

It has a little label on it that says " British 10" Land Mortar 1780 " I'm assuming its a scaled down version of a real mortar from 1780.

What I would like to know is the following, your answers are greatly appreciated as neither of us know anything about these things.

1. what powder should we use
2. how much powder should we use
3. what kind of fuse should we use
4. what projectile should we use
5. suggestions for 'wadding' would be great assuming we will need that

Anything that I've neglected to ask would be great too.

I'll be reading my life insurance's fine print while I figure out how to shoot this thing :)

Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.

mortar1.jpg


mortar2.jpg
 
Search "Coehorn mortar" and find out all you need.

Nice little rig!

There have been a few guys selling cannon fuse on the EE.

Powder. Black of course. Fg or coarser, of the top of my head. Finer powder will be more 'lively'. Measure the size of the powder chamber, and compare to the loads given on various sites.

No pouring powder directly from the can or a powder horn!

Safety glasses!

Fun!

Cheers
Trev
 
Wow is that ever Cool i like it :)
I never knew they had stuff like that.
What a hoot to lob stuff with that.
I like it better than them BP Canons its very neat! lucky you...
 
I used to have a full size one used to be a gunner in a Rev war reenactment group....what a beast it was made the ground shake. beautieful piece play safe!
 
1. what powder should we use

Cannon grade for a full scale. 1F should do for your mortar.

2. how much powder should we use

Your mortar has a powder chamber: never use more powder than what it can hold. Mortar range is determined by the amount of powder you use. If you use a full charge in your scale gun, the projectile will travel several hundreds of meters! That can be dangerous unless you live way out in the country! Start using a very small amount. I used to play with a full scale 24 pounder Coehorn and, using a 24 pound ball, I could adjust the range from 2 meters using about a tea spoon worth of powder up to the maximum (I think about 5000 m) with a full powder load. Too much powder can also result in an explosion and death. Use small amounts.

3. what kind of fuse should we use

Any kind of fuse will do. Or no fuse at all if you pour powder down the touch hole and use a portfire. I prefer quickmatch as it is instantaneous. Be carefull as the very hot gas escaping out of the touchhole at very high pressure are very dangerous. Do not stand directly behind your mortar when firing. Do not have any part of your body near the touchhole when firing. Use a portfire or long match to light the fuse. Slow match is SLOW and you may get hangfires. Wait a LONG while before investigating a failure to fire as the fuse may still be burning and the mortar may fire unexpecteddly.

4. what projectile should we use

Use something that will not bind inside the barrel and cause dangerous pressure buildups. You could use wood or plastic dowels of the proper size for short range practice. Maybe a golf ball if it fits? Some kind of safe projectile like a rubber ball would be best if a house is near! A friend of mine had a nice half scale coehorn that could fire tennis balls... That was the best projectile as it could not do any damage to roofs... For country shooting, we used pop cans filled with plaster or ciment.

5. suggestions for 'wadding' would be great assuming we will need that

DO NOT USE WADDING. It may increase pressure. Most wadding will catch fire and be propelled downrange. The resulting fires will be annoying.


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