Ring in the Spring

[Double D]

Click on the picture.

[GGaskill]

Evil Dog and I rang in Spring at the Desert Marksmen Rendezvous at 11:01 AM PDT with a ringing shot from my 1" bore 24 pounder.  That was followed by a number of shots from my golf ball Coehorn, the first of which was a chamber full of FFg that lost the iron golf ball used as a shot.  Subsequent shots used 25 grains of FFg and 20 grains.  The points of impact were much more uniform using the iron shot than using golf balls.  And the shot is easily visible in flight.

We also launched a couple of bowling balls, 6 oz of Cannon grade in each shot.  The two shots landed within 25 feet of each other 500 yards down range.  Unfortunately, the bowling ball cracked into several large pieces after the second landing so there were no more shots with the bowling ball mortar.

No snow in the air, no snow on the ground, 75° F by the afternoon.  All in all, a great day, even without pictures.  But I am going to have to get one of those one hand propane torches.

[Ex 49'er]

I am going to have to get one of those one hand propane torches.

The handheld propane torch w/igniter is a great way to light fuzes. Before I started shooting mortars I watched people try cig lighters and matches and lighters for barbecues. When it was windy the guy with the torch that had the igniter was the only one that got a consistent light. The people I've loaned mine to have let me know that it 'gets 'er done'. They cost a little more, but they are worth it.

[MikeR C]

Not to be left out, I participated in the "ringing in the spring" shoot. I was hard at it loading shotshells when I remembered i was supposed to be making noise at 12:00 noon. I put 60 grains in my golfball mortar along with a roll of a hundred firecrackers, took it out into the front yard, and at 12:00 lit the fuse. it made quite the noise! Unfortunately I did not take any pictures.
I chuckled to myself thinking of all the poor "cannon souls" living in metropolitan areas, unable to join in the fun.
So after watching the smoke drift away past the neighbors house I picked up my mortar, no Sheriff, no Police, neighbors didn't even step out of their house, and went back inside and back to my shotshells.


Happy Spring to everybody,
MikeR C

[Double D]

I am going to have to get one of those one hand propane torches.

The handheld propane torch w/igniter is a great way to light fuzes. Before I started shooting mortars I watched people try cig lighters and matches and lighters for barbecues. When it was windy the guy with the torch that had the igniter was the only one that got a consistent light. The people I've loaned mine to have let me know that it 'gets 'er done'. They cost a little more, but they are worth it.

Quill and linstock much more fun!

[Double D]

So we went out to ring in spring yesterday.   Wife and I brought fried chicken and potato salad.  John the gopher welder and his lovely wife Mary joined us. We all met up at Southpaw and Joan's farm. 

We got the line set and attached all the cannons together with fuse Southpaw got from www.cannonfuse.com.  You can see that in my first video.

We were going to shoot our ring in the spring volley and go have lunch.  We ate at 2. 

We found that none of the loads from last summer shoot worked very well at 50 degrees.  The effect of the lower temperature was dramatic.

We missed the one great photo op!  Southpaw can made a gigantic smoke ring!.  We all stood there camera's in hand going ooh ah, ooh ah as it slowly drift off over the Sweetgrass hills.

We finally tore the line down at 5PM.

I had so much fun yesterday, that I didn't get out of bed this morning until 9!

We should make this an annual event...gotta get a hold www.cannonfuse.com and order up some white lightening fuse--1/2 second per foot.

[GGaskill]

... white lightning fuse--1/2 second per foot.

Poor man's primacord, eh?

I actually had some slow match but I held back on the nitrate when I made it so as to not make fuse instead of slow match.  Next piece will get more nitrate.

[Double D]

Another shot.



Click on the picture below to see the video.

This shot was a blank firing test.  It was also a test for dispersing cremains.  350 grains of Cannon, cardboard wad, full box of Cream of wheat-28 oz box, cardboard wad.  This load gave the loudest bang and greatest concussion, and the least recoil. The cream of wheat was well dispersed. We could not find any trace of it.  Both wads were found.  The over powder wad smoldered and finally burned.

This test was to see how well the cream of wheat dispersed as next month we are going take Mr. Rudy,  Mom in Law's late companion ashes and spread them.



That's not a ball flying out there, that is the top card wad. I'll bet you guys shooting salutes, could set of the car alarms with this load.

[Cannoneer]

The original in-place barrel is 2.5 so I fitted it with a removeable 1.75 sleeve. Now I can do tennis balls and golf balls too

Richard "The All American Sportsman" 

Thanks, Rich, now I see the light at the end of the liner.

We should make this an annual event...gotta get a hold www.cannonfuse.com and order up some white lightening fuse--1/2 second per foot.

DD,
I was going to ask you about that stuff; that is some loud fuze!



Thanks to all of you for your efforts, at least I got to experience some fun, even if only vicariously.





 

[Double D]

The fuse we used was 5 seconds a foot, fast burning yellow artillery fuse.  White lightning is 1/2 second a foot. 

[RocklockI]

Those tape and 4 f quills at 16 inches......go bang right now . I've never seen anything quicker .

Gary

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

This is what we use - almost as fast as prime (probably burns a little faster than the 3s/m, closer to the white lightning):

GN1205 Paper Fuse, Super-Fast
Gray, Chinese made, 4 mm diameter paper-wrapped black powder fuse. Burns at about 3 seconds per meter. Gives and takes fire without priming. Throws a tremendous amount of fire. Makes a very visible burning fuse, useful in movies and special effects filming. A shippable replacement for quickmatch.
http://www.skylighter.com/mall/ignition.asp

During off time, we sometimes amuse ourselves with a little bit of some of the more crackly types of fuses.

[Double D]

The fuse is to light the quills. We strung the fuse between the cannons and taped it to the quills.  We set the guns up close together for the ring inthe spring volley.  They were 3 to 4 feet apart. That's 15 to 20 seconds between shots. As you saw in our video 20 seconds is a long time. With 1/2 fps fuse that 1 1/2 to 2 seconds between shots.  Much more dramatic for film.

Ouch the skylighter fuse is almost twice as much as the same stuff from WWW.Cannonfuse.com

[Double D]

Just testing out my new video edit soft ware. The is a big file and will take a bit to open.  You might not want to click on it
 

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

Worked fine for me!

[1Southpaw]

Wow , Very nice .  cool software .
Is that something I need to invest in ?