Artillery Ammo Boxes

[Cannon Cocker]

For years I have been carting all my artillery related stuff around in milk crates and 5 gallon buckets, etc.  I decided this year to make some better containers that would match  the authenticity of my guns and carriages.  The picture that has 4 artillery boxes that are the same size were the first ones I made.  They are duplicates of originals that I found in photos.  The measurements are the same as are the font and technique of using a stipple brush to paint the lettering with a stencil.  I then decided to make some other boxes (not proven to be period sizes) to contain things like my spotting scope, tube sight, and related items I bring when shooting.  I'm even planning a box with a heavy liner to use as a cooler.   Not only do they work better for organizing my stuff, it just feels a better to be surrounded by "period" items.  I think the turning point for a decision to make the boxes was when I was taking a picture of my gun and carriage one day and realized I had to keep moving plastic injection molded items out of the field of view. 

[moose53]

Your ammo cases are a nice touch , not that much different from more modern wood ammo boxes . Is the brown color period or something you had on hand ?

[Cannon Cocker]

Thanks.  Yea, I've got some WWII boxes, and you're right.  With the rope handles and overall look, they're not that different.  The actual color is more greeny than they look in the photos.  They are a little more brown than the newer army green.  There is a lot of dispute and opinion about what the actual civil war colors were.  At our competitions I see everything from lighter chalky olive tan, to deep green and browns.  They even argue about the the color found on the original carriages by stating that it changed over time.  Some guys make paint from original formulas, only to be told that the ingredients are manufactured differently now.  Here are some different guns (all 2.25" mountain rifles though).  Notice the color variation 

[moose53]

The Artilleryman magazine did two good research articles on original paint colors. First was Vol 6,No 1, The final word on correct Civil War cannon field artillery carriage color  and second was Vol 16, No 1, Great paint debate revisited. First article has a color patch that can be copied by a paint store if needed.

[Leatherneck]

I like this idea alot. Since Im working with 1/6 scale guns I even made 2 gabion baskets for mine to give it more of a siege theme 
 
Anyone know fixed and semi fixed ammo was transported during the Napoleonic era?

[Victor3]

 Those look fantabulous. 
 
 My cannons are small, so I generally use 30 or 50 cal ammo cans. Can't fit the long tools in them though.
 
 Our local surplus outfit gets various wooden milsurp boxes from time to time. I think I paid $13 for this one, some kind of Swiss optical device case IIRC. It's got neat latches and handles. I took all the blocks out of the interior, and when I'm done fixing it up it'll be my general "cannon stuff" box...
 

 

 

 

[Cannon Cocker]

Moose,

Just looked.  Started my subscription around 1999 volume 21.  If the formula is easy could you post it.  I assume there must still be some debate about that data too because a lot of these guys have been getting Artilleryman from the beginning and still there is the variation.  Because there are so many different colors I feel justified using what I like (within logical parameters), rather than worrying about if it's exactly what would have been used.  It would be nice to find out that what I like is what Artilleryman says is correct though.  All this said, may carriage is made by the company that make the top gun in the pictures I posted which is more like a dark army green, and I wanted the boxes to look like that but they came out a little more brownish green. 

[Artilleryman]

It was pointed out to me once that the paint was mixed at various locations by people that had various skill levels (and soberness) with materials that varied in quality so the color of course would be varied.

[GGaskill]

It was reported in The Artilleryman that paint mixed to the original formula using pre-20th Century materials found in old hardware stores produced a greenish olive color not unlike Army Green of the 60's.

If you look at the colors used to make green paints today, you will note that the pigments are similar in color to those in the original formula.  There is a thread here at GBO discussing paint mixing from 2005 that gives the modern mixtures for comparison.

[Zulu]

I too make ammo chests.  Here are a couple of mine.  They are availible on my website at www.jmelledge.com but are pretty expensive.    I have a lot of time in one but I truely believe they will be around in 300 years. 
You can see the complete build of these two chest on this thread.
Zulu
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,204408.0.html
 
 



 

[Cannon Cocker]

Zulu,  those are really nice.  If I bought one of yours I'd have to have a chest for my chest, and I would demand that you don't try so hard on the outer.

[moose53]

Here is The Muzzleloading Artilleryman article from Vol 6 , No 1 , Winter 1984 inside front cover by D. E. Lutz . Color is very close to real color.

[Cannoneer]

Thanks for posting "The Artilleryman" article, Moose.
I think there's a typo in the first sentence of the ninth paragraph: "Modern paint formulation is an exciting process. This was not the case during the Civil War." Now this is just a guess on my part, but I'd tend to think that mixing pigments and binders in the CW era was a heck of a lot more adventurous than it is today, though it's probably true that it wasn't as exacting a process.

[buzz36]

i been thinking to biuld a correct box i been using a small chest i bought at a yard sale
i been designing what i want for a while now but sure nice see what others are using
 
i

[Legio3arty]

I've been building CivWar era ammo boxes and crate coolers for years to store and carry my reenactment gear. Since I bought and rebuilt my A&K .62 cal 6-pounder I decided it deserved a more period style carrying/display case. I knocked together a pine box @ 32x18x12 with rope handles and a removable lid which is painted on the outside, but stained to match the interior of the box on the other. Flipped over, it serves as the display base for the gun. To keep the piece from banging around or rolling off the lid, I hid captive furniture nuts in the lid and bottom of the box. To lock the gun in place I soldered a section of threaded rod into the brass pommel of an artillery short sword that I had in my scrap box. The threaded rod goes through the steel lunette in the trail of the gun and screws into the lid or box holding it firmly in place. The pommel, which serves as a sort of thumbscrew even has a nice eagle and shield on it. Once I gather up all my acoutrements I plan to make interior holders and boxes for eveything that I need to go shooting so this will also serve as a range box when I go out to play.  The exterior has been given a coat of medium gray paint and stenciled with Springfield Arsenal markings. The lid also has hand painted lettering for my CivWar unit, the 15th Mass, which has been around since before the Revolution. If anyone has any suggestions for details or features I could add I'd love to hear them.

[flagman1776]

The ammo boxes are out of my time period but I like them!