Author Topic: I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO GET SOME PICTURES OF MY FIRST CANON (Read 971 times)

Two Bears · « **on:** July 06, 2005, 10:45:39 AM »

Well here it is "Ironsides" This is my first canon that I made one day that I had no plans to build from, I just decided to build one one day and this is what I ended up with.

It has a barrel length of 14"
And is 2.5" wide
With a .75" bore
It's over all width is 12.5"
And is 31" in length
It has iron wheels and a rope to pull it with.

I would like to re-do it and have the barrel bored out to a golf ball size bore and would like to know if would have enough wall thickness to do it.
Any Ideas would be great
Hey even film canister size would be good to if it would work

Thanks
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/album_pic.php?pic_id=935
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/album_pic.php?pic_id=934

CAV Trooper · « **Reply #1 on:** July 06, 2005, 11:16:18 AM »

Two Bears,

Don't know what happened to the picture but it doesn't show up. Love to see it though.

The answer to "would I have enough wall thickness if I rebored it to golf ball size" could actually go either way.

The bore size needed to shoot a golf ball is 1.723" and your gun tube is 2.5" in diameter. If you rebored it, you'd be left with a .3885" wall thickness which is just over 3/8". That's not really enough metal for safety if the gun is bored full depth.

However, if it you went the Mountain Howitzer route and only drilled it out part way so that a powder chamber was left (.75 by maybe 1.5") then it could probably be OK.

Lets see what the other guys have to say.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #2 on:** July 06, 2005, 11:59:04 AM »

Another NEAT toy!

I have a .50 cal long barrel cannon with very similar wheels if I read the picture right. Any idea on where the wheels came from?

Two Bears · « **Reply #3 on:** July 06, 2005, 05:47:30 PM »

I believe they came out of GRANGER supply.
I got them from my work as they were not going to use this type any longer....FREE is always good, But I think that they go for around $15 to $20 each

Any other Ideas as to changing the bore diameter to "film canister" size?

Is there enough wall thickness?
I would like to use 400gr of black powder or Pyrodex.

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2005, 12:46:40 AM »

Without looking at the wall thickness etc. my recommendation is to use Fuji film canisters. The Kodak has a lip on the outside and is tapered more, where the Fuji's are straighter and have the lip on the inside.

GGaskill · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2005, 09:40:27 AM »

I agree that this could be safely rebored for golf balls (as long as you only use golf balls) by leaving a portion of the original bore as a powder chamber, maybe 1.5" long. Golf balls won't require a very heavy charge; 220 grains of Fg would be plenty. Figure out how much length that needs and make the powder chamber fit that.

Blaster · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2005, 04:01:25 PM »

Hey Two Bears. Thanks for posting those pictures. They are always appreciated. Just as a suggestion, when posting pictures like these, you may want to include perhaps a powder can or maybe a beer/pop can right next to the gun, just for scale. Keep em coming. Blaster (Bob in So. CO)

CU_Cannon · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2005, 05:13:30 PM »

Good looking work!

I would be wary of boring it out to golf ball size. I'm sure that it would work fine but I am just cautious. You have to look into the future of the gun also. At some point someone inexperienced may use the gun. An overloaded gun with thin walls is a bad combination. I would go with film canister size. Another option would be using copper or pvc pipe filled with something like concrete or epoxy.