Another Newbie to Cannons

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

My Golf Ball Mortar will arrive on Friday.  I have been trying to educate myself prior to diving into this new adventure. 

I have seen where a charge is put in a plastic bag, inside an aluminum foil cartridge.  Is this the method I should be using to launch my golf balls?

[GGaskill]

Unless you live in the benighted Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you should not use that technique for loading mortars since the barrel is short and highly elevated.  With a piece as small as a golf ball mortar, just dump the charge into the chamber and set the shot on top.  Be sure to load from a measure with a handle or dipper, not the whole can.  In the remote chance the charge fires prematurely, you won't have the can blowing up in your hand.

You still have to damp sponge and dry sponge the bore after each shot to try to prevent premature discharges.

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

I found one manufacture recommended a maximum load of 140 Grains FFG for their golf ball cannon.  (Their cannons looked pretty thin).  I read on another site that 656 grains for a 1.5 inch bore would be the maximum load.  Big difference.  So is their an established guide on this?  I have lots of FFG in stock.

When cleaning between shots do you use something like Birchwood No. 77 Black Powder Solvent?

[Double D]

Yep there are sane recommendations.  Go to the safe loads stickies at the top of the board and look for the  graph for loads under 2inches.

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

So I go by the diameter of the powder chamber to determine the size of the load.  Intresting.....

Now this applies when I'm shooting golf balls.  Does the load stay the same when using for salute?

[GGaskill]

Mortars are not efficient noise makers.  Even with a heavy shot, you get more of a pop than a boom.

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

When swabbing between shots do I use a BP cleaning solvent or just water or??? 
Do you use two different size swabs? One for the bore and one for the powder chamber.

[flagman1776]

Many people use a cardboard tube (non-sparking) to get the charge into the powder chamber.  It's also possible to use a foil cartridge if the chamber is pretty straight.  There are stickies at the top of this board with too much information to repeat here.  You will need an appropriate sized brass (non-sparking) vent pick for clearing the touch hole.  Because the tube has such an angle, the vent is pointed dangerously towards spectators & crew.  You need safe distances, crew should retreat on the diagonal.  Many crews use a suitable piece of plate upright close to the gun to stop flaming debris.

[Double D]

Swabs can be made from  Paint rollers.



Powder funnel from copper tubing and fittings




Linstocks from balusters




You will find descriptions of these and other this you can make and might need in the stickies.

Clean with water and wipe dry.

Something you will find here is a collection of creative minds. Ask how to  do something and you will get half dozen different answers, all good.

We have tried over the year to preserve those ideas in the stickies,  so look through them and get you own ideas..,

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

After shooting some binary targets, blowing up stumps and ant hills.  Playing with some homemade smoke bombs.  Melting steel drums with homemade thermite gernades.  We shot off the cannon.

We started shooting at a target about 200 yards away.  Got to within 5 yards of it and ran out of golf balls.  Will zero in on the target next weekend with a bigger supply of golf balls.