Advise on a Civil war cannon model

[Latinrascalrg1]

Cool project. I Especially like the wheels and axle setup, Outstanding

Is it setup to fire any blanks or caps or anything? Nevermind I see you are discussing different powders so I think that answers my question!

 

[toad1163]

Latest update.. The cannon is coming along nicely I just have some finish fitting and need to find some more jewelry . Decide weather I want to blue the barrel or just polish it up. Perhaps I will start on the limber after the holidays. It kinda got away from the civil war reproduction looks more "french " to me .. I'll have to see if it goes La-boom when it reports.

 

[toad1163]

And some more questions. I am now in the process of making the implements while I realize these will not be exact replicas , I do not want to make something totally inappropriate. Mostly I need to know lengths. I see pictures of the rammer. sponge, and wormer that when stored are protruding in front of the muzzle. other pictures show them stored and they look shorter. So how much longer that the empty bore should my rammer be? Is rammer on one end ,spong on the other of one pole OK or is a different combination more appropriate like rammer /wormer? How long were the handspikes?

Lastly , I see on some displays cannonballs stacked in a pyramid shape [3 sided] but my research so far is saying that was not done . That on naval vessels, it would have been to hazardous lending ,to loose cannonballs rolling about the deck . In the field I would think they would be kept in the ammunition chest. Perhaps this was used when a semi-permanent placement like in a fort? Or was this pyramid stack something made up in Hollywood?
I was going to get some 9/16ths steel balls and make one but if its a tinsletown prop I do not think I will . Thanks for all the help so far, and Happy Holidays

 

[derf]

I couldn't find anything in print about the length of the rammers and sponge, but according to my notes I took a Shiloh, they were aprox 24" longer than the barrel. The rammer had the sponge on the opposite end, and the worm had a brush on the opposite end. I don't think there were any hard specs on these implements as I've seen many variations.
The hand spikes on a full scale 12 pounder are 4 ft long.
The balls stacked in pyramid was strictly an inspection/exhibition protocol, and these were solid shot. In the field artillery shells were mostly used and they were stored in the ammo chest. Artillery shells were banded to a wooden sub base to orient the fuse towards the muzzle. The flames licked around the sub base and the shell to ignite the fuse from the front end, otherwise if it would explode from the propellant charge.

 

[toad1163]

I couldn't find anything in print about the length of the rammers and sponge, but according to my notes I took a Shiloh, they were aprox 24" longer than the barrel. The rammer had the sponge on the opposite end, and the worm had a brush on the opposite end. I don't think there were any hard specs on these implements as I've seen many variations.
The hand spikes on a full scale 12 pounder are 4 ft long.
The balls stacked in pyramid was strictly an inspection/exhibition protocol, and these were solid shot. In the field artillery shells were mostly used and they were stored in the ammo chest. Artillery shells were banded to a wooden sub base to orient the fuse towards the muzzle. The flames licked around the sub base and the shell to ignite the fuse from the front end, otherwise if it would explode from the propellant charge.

Thanks so much for the information it will help me to get the implements to a reasonable scale.