Bowling Ball Mortar Update

[CAV Trooper]

Well, Last weekend turned out to be perfect. On Saturday, there was a light wind from the east and a bright blue sky.

The mortar was set up near the lake and aimed towards the West between two small islands. I rechecked the tube and verified that it was at a 60 degree angle. Loaded 3 oz of cannon grade BP and 10 pound ball, lit the fuse and got back. The thing went off with a very satisfying boom with the tube ringing like a bell. Having never seen one of these before, the crowd that was watching went wild. 

The ball seemed like it would never stop climbing. Of course it did and there was an extremely satisfying splash when it landed just inside the far shore of the lake. Once again, the crowd went wild.

Using a distance measuring app on my iPhone, we estimated that it flew approximately 500 yards. WOW!!! I'd heard that these things could really chuck a ball but to see it first hand is a whole different thing. I'm sure glad that the tube wasn't set at 45 degrees because there's an interstate highway 350 yards farther downrange.

A review of a video my wife took shows that the ball was in the air 14.3 seconds from firing to splash. Does anybody know the math to calculate the altitude the ball reached as well as a more accurate distance?

The shot on Sunday was 2 oz of cannon grade and a 16 lb. ball. That got about 200 yards, was a whole lot easier to see in flight and was exactly what I was looking for. Again, the crowd went wild.

Now all I have to do is get LOTS more ammo! 

[GGaskill]

There is no simple ballistic computation that will give accurate range based on height or time of flight without an accurate ballistic coefficient for the shot (and even with it, the computations are not simple.)  A tape measure or laser range finder would be much more accurate.

[The Jeff]

A review of a video my wife took shows that the ball was in the air 14.3 seconds from firing to splash. Does anybody know the math to calculate the altitude the ball reached

It's been a while since I've done much physics, and I might be completely wrong, but here's my guess. Your ball should climb for 7.15 seconds, then fall for another 7.15. The distance something falls due to gravity is d = .5gt^2, so d = .5(9.81)(7.15^2) or 250.5 meters. That works out to around 822 feet.

Again, I'm not sure how accurate that is.

[GGaskill]

No critcism intended, but that is the high school or introductory college physics approach which usually starts out problems of this nature with the caveat "Ignoring air resistance, ..."  Unfortunately, air resistance is a greater force than gravity in ballistic calculations (and on top of that, it is non-linear) so ignoring it causes gross deviations from reality.  That is why I said there is no simple way to calculate from the given data.

All that aside, it sounds like everyone had a good time.  Flying bowling balls are great fun.

[Winger Ed.]

Does anybody know the math to calculate the altitude the ball reached as well as a more accurate distance?

That's way cool.

I think we should form a foundation, and research this question further.
Maybe we could get some ga-zillion dollar govt. grant to do it with too.

[brokenpole]

Wait...your wife shot video and there are no pics are movies posted here???   I mean really.  We all live for those smoke and flame pics and movies are even better.

I think we should get a commission together to get a method of putting that wonderful smell blackpowder gives off when the cannon or mortar fire. 

[BillinOregon]

CAV: By all means, photo support is indicated!
Did you hear the "shrieking from hell" as the wind caught the finger holes in those balls?

[oltom]

next time you get her out to shoot....make a simple little azmith/altitude tracker with a wal-mart plastic protractor.....model rocket web sites will show you how~
someone watches and tracks the ball to it's 'top' and locks the angle....then measure the distance of your base and A+B=C type stuff, high school math stuff...and that'll be close!

p.s. anyone ever shot a bowling ball mortar level?...... wonder how much the ball would skip and mow down???

[Cat Whisperer]

...
p.s. anyone ever shot a bowling ball mortar level?...... wonder how much the ball would skip and mow down???

I've shot my 4.5" at VERY LOW angle - 15 degrees or less.  It slides back a ways, so be prepared.  Time of flight is short at 100 yards.  We were firing one mortar at high angle (75 degrees or so) and waiting to light the other fuse to see if we could get both to hit the same point at the same time at 100 yards.  (I've seen it done a couple of times - at much greater distances - with 105mm howitzers with ONE cannon.)

[Winger Ed.]

I think we should get a commission together to get a method of putting that wonderful smell blackpowder gives off when the cannon or mortar fire. 

I'm with ya on that one bro.

However;
I hope you have better luck than I did on the idea of 'Getting rich quick' with such a wonderful idea.
In years past,,,,, I floated the idea of making men's 'co-loan'......
How do ya spell that word anyway?
I've seen it,,,,,, and the word looks like it should be pronounced, "Ka-log-ne".

I always thought it'd be a great idea to market a men's after shave,,,, or 'ka-log-ne',
that smelled like either burnt gunpowder, or Hoppes #9 cleaning solvent.

[GGaskill]

Lots of people (gun writers, mostly) have speculated about selling a cologne that smells like Hoppes #9.  Since they have removed the benzene from the formula, you could probably use it as is.

Might attract more men than women, though.

[Double D]

next time you get her out to shoot....make a simple little azmith/altitude tracker with a wal-mart plastic protractor.....model rocket web sites will show you how~
someone watches and tracks the ball to it's 'top' and locks the angle....then measure the distance of your base and A+B=C type stuff, high school math stuff...and that'll be close!

p.s. anyone ever shot a bowling ball mortar level?...... wonder how much the ball would skip and mow down???

There is a you tube video on a cannon that shoot bowling balls.  The gun is supposed to have a ATF letter and as soon as we get a copy of the letter we will allow the posting of the links to that cannon....look for it on you tube and see what it doe to a pick up truck. 

[Cannoneer]

I've seen more than a couple BB cannons on You Tube, one of them had a souped up carriage that had elevation gears, transversing mechanism, and car tires.

[GGaskill]

A bowling ball cannon (howitzer, at least) wouldn't be much different from an 8" howitzer and there were several muzzle loading versions of that.

[smokemjoe]

While you are figuring up the time and lenght of travel, Figure this out, I just got a Kiddie ball- about 8 lbs. with 4 oz. powder how far will it go at 55 Deg. and time, Thanks