Cannon Project Questions

[WobblyHand]

Just a safety feature for abuse testing. A test unit survived fully packed with black power but 14 grains is enough for a pop. No projectile intended or tried.

Where's the fun in that I have a small cast cannon with a 50 cal bore. Overall length 10". Heavier construction. Unfortunately it was stored in the garage for 30 years and is a little crusty. I need to clean it up and restore it.

 

[WobblyHand]

The cannon has a simple cylindrical bore. It is in the style of a Parrott gun with a thick breech. Kept the cannons from blowing up. Think the civil war Parrotts were rifled cannons.

I remember proof charging it, but that was 3 decades ago. Gee, can you get the fuse stuff any more? I'd only shoot it with a very light wad these days, a 50 cal round ball would have a pretty long range, and probably a whole lot of recoil. With effectively no sights, it would be hard to predict where it would go.

I don't even have any black powder these days, can you use pyrodex interchangeably?

 

[talvare]

Yes, you certainly can still buy the fuse cord for your cannon. www.cannonfuse.com

Yes, you can use Pyrodex, but it is not directly interchangeable in terms of weight/volume of the powder charge. There is conversion information available on the web.

Ted