Help Size Bore For A Cannon.

[Terrywerm]

Wow! Now, I am afraid to fire my new Remington 1858 pistol! Seriously, a good discussion, and I appreciate every word. Thanks to Hobby Machinist and to all. For the record, I purchased a bottle of Pyrodex P, ~FFFG Equivalent. I hope that is correct.

No need to be afraid, Jim. I've got an 1858 Remington New Army, and they are a blast to shoot. Pyrodex P or FFFg is just the right thing to use. Tip: 22 grains of powder, topped with 22 grains of farina or cream of wheat followed by the ball is perfect. Here is the deal with revolvers: They were originally designed to use 45 grains of 2F powder. Back in the Civil War, you didn't stock one powder for pistols, and another for rifles, you stocked just one powder. Keep in mind that quality control back then was not what it is today, either. With 45 grains in the chamber, you could press the ball down directly on top of the powder and life was good. Now, with 3F powder, you don't need near as much powder, so you pour in 22 grains but now you have an air space between the powder and the ball because the loading lever is not capable of pushing the ball all the way down to the reduced powder volume. As a result, you need a filler material such as farina or corn meal. Once you press the ball home, it should stop just below flush in the cylinder. If it sticks up it might jamb up as it comes in line with the barrel. Just make certain that you have no air gap between the powder and the ball. DO NOT be tempted to try 45 grains of 3F. The pressures are too great, resulting in cracks in the webs between chambers. Once they are cracked, you'll get chain fires and they are REALLY SCAREY, lead goes in every direction!

I guess I'm on hold and just doing a little more research for a few more days, Unable to bend fingers makes it hard to machine and type. Thank god for spell checker. So I have a partial test barrel on the lathe. waiting for me to get back to it. Now just to figure out the bore I want..177 or .22

Personally I would go with .22 as small calibers foul up very quickly. The larger the bore the better, but you will still need to run a cleaning patch after every shot.

 

[cjtoombs]

On your first test fire, start with a light load and a slightly smaller pellet diameter. Take two flat steel, glass, or even kitchen knives and roll a pellet between them. Close the skirt on the back a hair, making for an easier fit in the bore. Will require less pressure to fire.

One of the projects coming up will be to build a miniature Naval style cannon, .177 caliber. Should be fun.

Reducing the pellet base diameter will not reduce the pressure, as the gun gas will expand the base to the bore size anyway. I wouldn't worry to much about over pressuring a pellet, as they have limited contact with the bore (to produce excess friction) and they would likely fail structurally under very high pressure loads.

 

[JimC27]

Terry:
Will do as you suggest (add Farina/cream of wheat), press the ball in tight, and I have made up a mixture of "Bore Butter" and beeswax to seal it all in. Thanks a lot!

 

[Terrywerm]

Jim, you could also purchase felt wads to use as filler instead of using farina, but $5 will buy you 100 wads. The farina required for 100 shots will cost you pennies.

 

[george wilson]

I do not recommend using pellets in a black powder OR smokeless powder gun,UNLESS you at least put a wad behind it. The head will blow right off the pellet,leaving you with the hollow body of the pellet way down in the breech of your gun. The head might blow off anyway,even with a wad behind it. The wad might get blown right through the hollow body of the pellet. It would be a problem getting that blown out pellet out of the cannon without hurting the bore.

When I was young,I used to shoot my .22 rifle in the basement once in a while,using a .22 pellet and a black powder .22 blank like used in starter pistols. It made a quieter sound. If I did not clean the bore after EVERY shot,the head would blow off the pellet. Even the slight dirtiness of only 1 shot would INVARIABLY cause the head to blow off the pellet. I knew a guy who shot .22 pellets in a .22 hornet rifle,using just the primer,when he wanted to shoot a quiet load.

If you want to shoot a very small caliber,like .22,I recommend you to buy .22 ROUND LEAD BALL shot. It is available for air rifles. You might have to order it,depending upon local availability. You won't be able to make round lead shot blow apart in your barrel.