sighting

[GAWI]

Fired my 1/2 scale Napoleon last weekend. Fantastic. Problem is i cant hit anything. Using 3oz cannon powder and shooting 12 1" steel bearings in cardboard tube. Sounds great, looks great, but at 100 yds 2ft square plywood, hit 1 hole out of 3 shots. Was sighting down barrel. What type sighting should i be using for 1/2 scale napoleon cannon? Thanks.

[Rickk]

I was on a cannon team for the first time last weekend, and got to play with a full sized field cannon.

It had on it sights like this :
http://www.cwartillery.org/chapman

I was in awe at the resolution of it. I had no problems knowing that it was off by 1/2 inch or so at 100 yards

[Artilleryman]

I have found that in firing canister in a full scale Napoleon that I get a 25 foot spread at 120 yards.  With 27 inch and half balls in the canister we were able to get at least one hit each on 8 life size figures.  The canister was made up like the originals and came apart as it left the muzzle.  I aimed low to flatten the pattern and improve the density of hits in the target area.  The ground in front of the target area was hard and flat which helped with the ricochet. 

GAWI did you have a backstop that indicated where your rounds went?  Have you sighted in with solid shot?  Are you able to hit a 2 foot square at a 100 yards?  If so you need to aim lower than you would with solid shot.  You said that you fired the rounds using a cardboard tube, how was it constructed?  Since your gun is 1/2 scale that would put the muzzle closer to the ground and change the trajectory.  You might need to shoot at a closer range to get a better idea of what is going on.

[GAWI]

Next on my shopping list is a mold for it. Still looking. So have not fired solid shot yet. Had good backstop, slope behind target was covered with hits, maybe scattering too much? Loaded up some .50 cal round shot next 100 per shot maybe ill hit something. Who sells molds for 2 1/4 bores? Thanks

[Double D]

Actually sighting in a sightless cannon isn't that difficult once you learn the skill.



Just look down the barrel adjust windage and elevation and fire.  Here is the first target I ever fired using this technique.



Okay so it isn't that simple. Here's a little more explanation.

In order to aim the tube use the alignment of the front muzzle ring with the rear  cascabel ring.  Align the two rings so their 12 o'clock positions align with  your aim point for elevation and the 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock position points to your windage aim point.



Here's a better illustration of what I am saying.

Lets say just for discussion you have never fired your gun before and you need a starting point.  6 o'clock  on the black is always a good aim point to start so align the the 12  o'clock position of your muzzle and cascabel with the 6 o'clock position on the bull.



Now look at the 3 o'clock position of your muzzle and cascabel  and align them with vertical center-line of your target.



Now verify you haven't moved your elevation and fire.



To adjust, look at how far below horizontal to the bullseye  your shot hit.  You new elevation aim point is now the same distance above 6 o'clock that your shot hit below the bull.



For windage your new aim pot is the same distance to the left of the center line as you your shot hit to the right.



Recheck windage and make sure you didn't move it and fire



Extreme accuracy is possible using this sighting method.  Of course you will have to have a good load also, but that is a whole other discussion.

[Rickk]

Last week the team I was on won the canister contest.

The projectile was a juice can that had 4 slits down the sides.

The shot was held in place by filling the can with Parrafin wax.

The charge behind it was "stiff". All the canister shooters were using really stiff charges.

The cans came apart reliably at a about 45 yards We were shooting at 50 yards.

[Artilleryman]

Rickk, What do you mean by stiff charge?  Was this a charge greater than that used for a ball load?  For the 12 pdr gun the service charge is reduced from 2.5 lbs to 2 lbs. 

I am somewhat surprised that the canister would come apart when assembled with paraffin.  It would seem to me that it would clump together.  What was the targeting for the canister contest? 

[Rickk]

The charge for the canister was double that for a concrete filled, lead tipped juice can. (4 ounces verses 2 ounces)

I suspect the canister weighed more than the concrete solid did.

I noticed that other teams seemed to have way more smoke and recoil when shooting canister, so I think that increased charges are the way everyone there was doing it. Most of the teams had problems getting their "canister" to open up, and there were lots of targets with a single oddly shaped hole in them.

Be aware that parrafin absorbs water over time, so if you make a round that is tight fitting to begin with and store it for a year or two, it will give you grief when you try to load it.

Here is canister target:

[intoodeep]

Here is a past discussion showing a few different types of sight systems.

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,57555.msg348374.html#msg348374

[GAWI]

Thanks intoodeep for that shortcut on whats already been discussed about sighting. Gives me ideas about to how go about it.