Memorial Day Shoot

[gunsonwheels]

Here's a link to a shoot held over Memorial Day.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu7vKTLYFBs&feature=youtu.be
 
GOW 

[brokenpole]

I loved the volley.  Where was this shoot held?
Thanks for the video. Love smoke and projectile.

[Cannoneer]

This is the same vid that "moose53" posted.

[moose53]

The shoot is held on a large ranch by Smith Rock State park  close to Terrebonne which is close to Redmond Oregon. They found that a fire at will system after the range is open has worked very well . You let the guns next to you know when you are ready , and no one is rushed . With the number of guns it would take a long time to fire one at a time.

[gunsonwheels]

Sorry for the duplication of posts and thanks to moose53 for the added info.  Dan McClanahan who runs the Casper, WY shoot (by the way it is on Father's Day weekend this year) sent the link out to those of us on his list.  I thought there was a Lone Pine in Wyoming but the terrain in the vid was way too green for Wyoming.
 
Thanks again moose53.  By the way... did you attend this shoot?  Looks like a VERY good time.        

[moose53]

I was sick over Memorial Day so I missed out . Another shoot is planned for this fall , will try to make that one.

[BoomLover]

I've been to the Lone Pine Shoot both Memorial Day and Labor Day...Great event! One time I got to crew Chuck's full scale "Napoleon", that was quite an exciting time! BoomLover

[Double D]

Moose tell them when you go in the fall, that fire in the hole is for blowing explosives in the mine, fire is to shoot a cannon!

[moose53]

Yes , I too use" fire ". I found the other " fire in the hole " to be a bit odd.

[gunsonwheels]

DD said:
 

Moose tell them when you go in the fall, that fire in the hole is for blowing explosives in the mine, fire is to shoot a cannon!

Might be wise to ask WHY do the explosive foks yell that phrase??  And the same question for the burning fuse shooters??
 
One of the key differences between "friction fuse shooters" and the fuse sold by:
 
http://www.cannonfuse.com/store/pc/Fuse-All-c2.htm
 
is the first can be accompanied (or prefaced) by the shout "fire".  The latter is/can only be accompanied by some shout warning all the folks that might show up there is a "fire in the hole" (a lighted fuse actively burning) and it IS going to go off sometime soon. The 25-30 second/foot variety in a thick-walled mortar is debateable about the "soon" part... I use a faster burn rate for that guy personally.
 
My own experience has been with Mountain Men sponsored shoots where most all use slow burning fuse and shout "fire in the hole".  Further, my own experience has been to observe that that shout focuses attention on the piece being fired, people walking about DO NOT approach the lit piece and most folks close by who are not plugged have time to cover their ears with their hands.  THOSE OBSERVATIONS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THOSE SEEN AT EXPLOSIVE SIGHTS WHERE FUSE (in lieu of electric caps) IS BEING USED. 
 
I see advantages to "fire" and friction fuses (no time for some fool to approach or go out in front of the piece) but the "fire in the hole" folks are accurate in that there truly is a "fire in the/their hole" (least that IS what most of my vents appeared to be last time I looked...).
 
GOW/George
 

[Double D]

 
http://www.cannonfuse.com/store/pc/Fuse-All-c2.htm
 
My own experience has been with Mountain Men sponsored shoots where most all use slow burning fuse and shout "fire in the hole".   
 

About what I would expect from that group,  George.  And from that group, is probably more accurate.  I separated my self from those guys very early in my cannon shooting days...they are scary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_the_hole

A more credible reference is from the American Artillery Association.  http://www.americanartillery.org/aaa/marty.html

X Fire the Gun

    The person designated to ignite the charge calls out "Ready to fire" in a loud voice to alert other crews on the line that a gun is about to fire and to notify the gun captain that the piece is primed. At this call, any open ammunition chests are immediately closed. The gun captain makes a quick visual inspection of the range forward of the muzzle to make sure no one is in danger and then commands "Fire". The time between "Ready to Fire" and "Fire" should be at least five seconds. The primer is then ignited.

At my matches I instruct everyone to yell "firing"  pause five seconds and then yell "fire".  Any who sees or has an unsafe condition is supposed call out "hold fire"  and then "clear" when its safe when they hear firing.

Fire in the hole on a  firing line is amateurish.  If I hear some one use it, I watch them very close to see what else they don't know.

[gunsonwheels]

DD:
 
So with the "yells"...   I assume if slow-burning fuse is being used as the ignition source, it is lit when they yell "fire"??  And then some seconds later when the fuse flame actually hits the powder charge the gun actually fires??  And as I mentioned with 25-30 sec/ft. fuse and a thick-walled mortar that might be up to 30 seconds later??
 
As a former range officer, I really DO NOT like the unknown delay between "Fire" and when the piece actually goes off.  But I guess as long as everyone understands what the condition is after yelling "Fire" then it all works.
 
Or are you saying any ignition source (e.g. "cannon fuse") other than a friction primer is what's scary about the mountain men folks because of that unknown delay?
 
GOW/George

[Artilleryman]

When I give the command to fire I want it to happen as quickly as possible.  I stopped using fuses as the burn time was too long.   Quills are a lot better, but sometimes are difficult to light.  On the heavier pieces I prefer friction primers because from the command to fire and the gun going off is usually less than 2 seconds.

The NSSA does not require crews to indicate when they are ready to fire and sometimes the only indication that a gun is going to fire is the command to fire.  I always give a very loud "1st SC ready"  pause "Fire".  Members of my crew frequently will tell the crews next to us "fire on your right"  or left as the case may be.  When I am sighting my crew tells me if a gun next to us is going to fire.

[Double D]

DD:
 
So with the "yells"...   I assume if slow-burning fuse is being used as the ignition source, it is lit when they yell "fire"??  And then some seconds later when the fuse flame actually hits the powder charge the gun actually fires??  And as I mentioned with 25-30 sec/ft. fuse and a thick-walled mortar that might be up to 30 seconds later??

I have never seen anyone with a mortar that big firing anything but friction primer.

Long fuse can be a problem with new shooters, but we work with them at the shoots and get them to cut there fuse shorter.  The smaller cannon don't work well with friction primer. I use quill and fuse, prefer quill on the small guns.  For the SAMCC shoots, I use powdered vents.

George, get your self a little gun and your perspective will change.
 

Or are you saying any ignition source (e.g. "cannon fuse") other than a friction primer is what's scary about the mountain men folks because of that unknown delay?
 
GOW/George

It is the mountain men with their massive overloads and poorly built cannons and their just careless attitude that makes me steer clear of them.    They seem more intent on seeing how loud a bang they can make than shoot the gun.   They are a scary group when they get the cannons out.  This has been a continuing theme with them over the 30 some odd years I have been shooting cannons. 

[gunsonwheels]

Might be better to not "tar all MM with the same brush" used for the less safe and less responsible ones.  I've known some who ran a pretty tight/safe shoot (although they (the shoots) were usually punctuated by some folks being disallowed to shoot and/or sent home).
 
That guy east of Missoula has some fuse that works well for the heavy mortars (burns around 6"/ft).  A shooter would need to keep good control of it if he/she were also shooting a smaller tube/length-of-fuse.  It would tend to react like quill.
 
Speaking of quills... do you know where a person can purchase paper straws?
 
GOW/George

[moose53]

Paper straws are available as Artstraws   http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chenille-Kraft-Company-Ck-9030-Artstraws-1800-1-6-Inch-/400293595697?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d335b8a31

[Double D]

Source for paper straws and friction primer found in the cannon link list at the top of the of the board.

The Ron-day-voo type I types encountered in Southern Oregon and northern California ran a real tight ship in all their shooting events.  When they got out the cannons they got real scarey real quick.