An Extremely Rare 16th-17th C. Wood-Cased Grape Shot

[steelcharge]

Few more of strange/curious model guns:

3 barreled 8 pounder, probably not the most practical of weapons, but I'd really like to have something like this in miniature:
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=292&FP=8440520&E=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&SID=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&New=T&Pic=93&SubE=2C6NU0Y9AKZI

Multi barrel mortar:
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=292&FP=8440520&E=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&SID=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&New=T&Pic=112&SubE=2C6NU0Y6SU7Y

6 barreled 1 inch volley gun, another one I'd like to have:
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=292&FP=8440520&E=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&SID=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&New=T&Pic=138&SubE=2C6NU0Y6S74G

[cannonmn]

Steelcharge, need help with that museum site.  I was going to look some more and now the link you gave
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchT.aspx?Round=2&Total=292&FP=8440520&E=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&SID=2K1KTSGQZ8J46&New=T&Page=1
only goes to pages which are mostly black.  I'm guessing like many museum or library sites which have a search feature, a given search goes dead after a certain length of time.  If that's what happened here, would you be able to refesh the search and perhaps give us a new link so we could continue to view/download those pages?  Thanks again.
 

[steelcharge]

I'm not sure how the site exactly works but I'd think that links to single items would stay the same even if searches go dead..?
 
Heres a link to a random cannon model, in the bottom of the page you fill find the keywords for this item and by clicking any of them will automatically search for all items listed for that keyword. So by clicking "petit model d'artillerie" you will find all the 292 images of cannon models again.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=500&FP=1001020&E=2K1KTSGQT8RVF&SID=2K1KTSGQT8RVF&New=T&Pic=455&SubE=2C6NU0BQ93FB

[cannonmn]

Steel, thanks, that does work!  I took the "copy shorcut" from that keyword phrase and got this which works now, and hopefully will continue to work, but who knows.  If it doesn't, use your method, which should work anytime.
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/Search_New.aspx?KE=2C6NWHEIP92B

[seacoastartillery]

      Any Infantryman knows what cannonmn’s Cantar represents, it represents perfection in enemy artillery.  A gun for all seasons, all reasons, all conditions and all ranges.  It’s capabilities remind me a lot of that old Bob Dylan song, “Rainy Day Women”, from which I borrowed and modified a few lyrics.
 
With their cannon at 1,800, they’ll stone ya when you’re trying to be so good
With their cannon, they’ll stone ya when you’re at 1,200 and trying to get to ‘em
With their mortar, they’ll stone ya when you are young and able and behind the hill at 600
With their gun, loaded with grape, they’ll stone ya at 300 and say you are brave
At 75, they’ll stone ya and set you down in your grave
TK
 
 

[GGaskill]

The problem I see with that design is what kind of carriage are you going to mount it on???  If you can get enough elevation to use the mortar, why not use the gun?

[Artilleryman]

Well the mortar part already has some elevation to it so the artillery barrel wouldn't need to be elevated a whole lot.  The bigger problem might be in loading the mortar.  If the concept was any good I think they would have adopted it.  That's where howitzers come in as a cross between a gun and a mortar.

[Cannoneer]

Good find, steelcharge, thanks for posting the link.

[cannonmn]

I'd really like to see Gary make one of these, even if he "Garynizes" the French design, as long as it has at least one cannon and one mortar barrel in one casting, that'll work.  And of course I want to see a video of it firing both barrels, not necessarily simultaneously though.  In fact, I'd like to see one of those built and fired so much I'll buy the powder to shoot it a few times.  Where's Gary these days anyway-casting cannons I hope.
(following photo link stolen from Mr. Zulu; thanks Zulu!)

 

[Artilleryman]

Besides the other design flaws, it just occurred to me that, in a full size piece, firing the mortar would probably deform the artillery barrel so that at some point it couldn't be loaded. 

[cannonmn]

deform the artillery barrel

Norm, how do you figure that would happen?   

[Artilleryman]

The mortar on firing puts a lot of downward pressure on the platform as they recoil rearward.  I believe that sooner or later the bore under the mortar will be crushed to some extent keeping a projectile from being loaded.  What would happen if you took a sledge hammer and hammered the top of the barrel long enough and hard enough?

What made me think about this was that several years ago we shrank a trunnion ring on an Ellsworth barrel we were building that already had the bore done.  Afterwards when checking the barrel it was found the bore was constricted under the trunnion ring.