Would you gentlemen mind helping me ?

[Jim, West PA]

I am tryin to find a value and maybe any information known about this cannon. I would sincerely appreicate any help you would be willing to offer.
Demensions are 6.5" Bbl with 4" .36 bore.
Overall length is 9" with a 4" wheel base.
The entire carriage and wheels are  made of solid brass and precisely machined.
It has adjustable elevation which is also percsiely machined and fully functional.
It is a heavy fully functional projectile firing cannon.
The bore is a bit 'dark' but has no pitting or scale and is smooth.




 

Thank you for any help/advice you can offer.
 Jim

[KABAR2]

To me being a modern cannon of no historical design which is shootable with a rather small size and bore I would price it as I would a reproduction black powder USED pistol .... revolvers are between 150.00 and 200.00 a single shot percussion pistol may be between 75.00 and 150.00..... hope that helps....

[flagman1776]

There are a lot of similar sized cannons listed on ebay as 'signal cannons' or 'salute cannons'.  Note:  Ebay requires sellers to state they are not for shooting projectiles even if they will.  I have never seen one exactly like yours but pricing similar items will give you a range.  It is more of a stylized piece than an exact scale replica. 

[de_lok]

Can you take a picture of it upside down? I would like to see the detail of the elevation device. If there are no stampings or Manufacturers ID on it it is most likely a "one off" made by a good craftsman. If it is not a collectable cleaning, polishing the brass and refinishing the barrel should make it bring a better price. If it is a collectable you may not want to do anything to it. I believe one thumb short recently had this situation where first comments were not favorable to his cannon and it turned out to be a valuable collectable.
Dewayne

[Jim, West PA]

To me being a modern cannon of no historical design which is shootable with a rather small size and bore I would price it as I would a reproduction black powder USED pistol .... revolvers are between 150.00 and 200.00 a single shot percussion pistol may be between 75.00 and 150.00..... hope that helps....

Thanx KABAR2, that's a start.

[Jim, West PA]

There are a lot of similar sized cannons listed on ebay as 'signal cannons' or 'salute cannons'.  Note:  Ebay requires sellers to state they are not for shooting projectiles even if they will.  I have never seen one exactly like yours but pricing similar items will give you a range.  It is more of a stylized piece than an exact scale replica.

Thanx Flagman,  I  tried that and in other various sites and the closest i could find was mmmmaybe someones rendition of a Yorktown and they were all pushin the $300 mark be they kit or finished and again, all wood carriages.Of course, they are all new also.
I can't find any listinbgs of anything used. I spect folks jist don't part with thier artilary regardless it's size 

[Jim, West PA]

Can you take a picture of it upside down? I would like to see the detail of the elevation device. If there are no stampings or Manufacturers ID on it it is most likely a "one off" made by a good craftsman. If it is not a collectable cleaning, polishing the brass and refinishing the barrel should make it bring a better price. If it is a collectable you may not want to do anything to it. I believe one thumb short recently had this situation where first comments were not favorable to his cannon and it turned out to be a valuable collectable.
Dewayne

Here ya go Dewayne,there are no markings at all on it anywhere.The Bbl did have a high polish on it when i bot it over 30 years ago. In fact, the entire cannon did.


 
Elevation has about 1 9/16 travel at center bore.
 

[armorer77]

Nice looking elevation mechinism , I'd say hand made and well made . Ed

[flagman1776]

There are lots of new made & vintage signal cannon on ebay.  If you can't find them, you're not searching properly. 
Today signal cannon has 86 results, salute cannon 30, brass cannon 376, black powder cannon 177, iron cannon 371  Yes, it takes a lot of looking & comparing.  In the end an item is worth exactly what someone else is willing to pay for it.  There's no other way to know for sure. 
 
 

[Doc Brown.]

Hi Jim. Fellow Southwestern PA'er
 
I would say since the vent is placed really to far from the back of the barrel that the cannon isn't worth much. I just wouldn't want something that was made by someone who started boring it out and got tired and quit half way. Stranger more the trunnions are right at the breach wall.  Is that a steel sleeve in the vent or just a washer in a recess?
 
I know fleabayers pretty good. I recently had a guy offer to trade me an ashtray for something on there. 
 
They would go as high as 150 or and ash tray and a can of green olives.

[Jim, West PA]

Nice looking elevation mechinism , I'd say hand made and well made . Ed

Ya know Ed, if i'm not mistaken. The feller i bot it from told me it was homade.
The workmanship is indeed good quality.

[Jim, West PA]

There are lots of new made & vintage signal cannon on ebay.  If you can't find them, you're not searching properly. 
Today signal cannon has 86 results, salute cannon 30, brass cannon 376, black powder cannon 177, iron cannon 371  Yes, it takes a lot of looking & comparing.  In the end an item is worth exactly what someone else is willing to pay for it.  There's no other way to know for sure.

Thanx Flagman.
I'll hafta go take another look.

[de_lok]

Jim, thanks for the pics. The trunnions and the elivation are machined into the barrel, this may be the reason the bore is shallow. The guy designing this little cannon may have been doing it for himself , liked his elevation idea, and not considering that one day guys like us would be scrachin' our noggin' trying to figure out what its worth! ha ha. Very simple little cannons made by Traditions are selling for almost $300 bucks now. Do you remember what you paid for it?

[Jim, West PA]

Hi Jim. Fellow Southwestern PA'er
 
I would say since the vent is placed ridiculously to far from the breach that the cannon isn't worth much. I just wouldn't want something that was made by someone who started boring it out and got tired and quit half way. Stranger more is the trunnions are right at the breach.
 
I know fleabayers pretty good. I recently had a guy offer to trade me an ashtray for something on there. 
 
They would go as high as 150 or and ash tray and a can of green olives.

C'mon Doc, the Bbl's 6" and the touch hole is 4" from the muzzle.That's 2/3ds. At least give 'im that lol
In my nieve thinkin i thot the thing was short bored to make the breech stronger.
You obviously know a lot more 'bout these than i ever will but then i s'pose that's to be expected with ya hangin out in a cannon forum 'nall.
Since we're neighbors, maybe i should pack it full tomorrow and touch 'er off and see if you can hear it.
 
"fleabayers" lol Now if that don't sound south hills.
Do ya do fleachrakets ?
I don't think i would ever try to sell anything on fleabay no matter what color thier olives.

[Jim, West PA]

Jim, thanks for the pics. The trunnions and the elivation are machined into the barrel, this may be the reason the bore is shallow. The guy designing this little cannon may have been doing it for himself , liked his elevation idea, and not considering that one day guys like us would be scrachin' our noggin' trying to figure out what its worth! ha ha. Very simple little cannons made by Traditions are selling for almost $300 bucks now. Do you remember what you paid for it?

 Yer very welcome Dewayne.
Whatever his ideas where, he still did a dang good job machinin the pieces parts. He also made it strong. I can't tell you how many times i've packed that Bbl to the muzzle and touched 'er off.
 I've seen those other $300  cannons on a handfull o' different sites and just can't figgure how they can be worth that kind o' money ?
It's been 30 years ago that i got this thing and if i'm not mistaken, i think i traded the guy about a $100 worth of gun for it. Of course i was a dealer at the time and that was a retail price.
 

[Doc Brown.]

Its probably short bored because the lath that bored it was small.  If the trunnions are pressed in at that location then the guy really messed up. What goods 5 inches of breach wall with a 1/8" wall at the place the pressure is the most at.

[Double D]

I would like to see a picture of this cannon with a powder can sitting behind so I can see how big it is.

After you post that picture, I will make you a cash offer---off line of course and in the range of what is being mentioned heremost likely.  If you clean the gun, that is fine.  If you polish any thing on that gun,then my offer will reduced by 50% and most likely will be withdrawn.

The patination is what gives this gun its character.   Polish it up and it is just become another homemade cannon with no heritage.

If it is 36 caliber that probably was as deep as the drill would go that the maker had when he made the gun.  Nothing wrong with that!

Oh, did I say I like this gun

[one thumb short]

Jim Are you trying to sell it ,shoot it,shoot it for noise om holidays and have fun?I went thru the same thing on my cannon.If you are trying to sell it you and only you know how much you have in it,are you trying to make a proffit or just get rid of it.The value is what some will pay for it at the time you are ready to sell it.
     I like your cannon I would not touch your cannon .I like the character of your cannon it took years to make it look like that.If it is what you want just go out and have fun with it.
     I was told to take the tube off and make a different carriage ,change the cast steel wheels ,I deceided not to polish it ,I love my cannon as is,I finally found the daughter of the man who built my cannon and said it was the dirty on .He had built my cannon as a shooter an built it with the cast steel wheels so he could take it out on the dirt roads to shoot it.he built it in 1952 i, it is a bronze tube .He built others that were very pretty and fancy ready to be put in movies etc.They all went to the grand kids that still own them.The daughter got upset whenI told her I had just bought a cannon with her dads name on it,she thought one of grand kids had sold on e of the other cannons.She then asked what it looked like and she said her dad had built it as a shooter.She finally got tired of having it around and sold it to a antique dealer who sold it to the man that had it consigned at the gun shop that I bought it from with no info on it.I joined he and they helped me find a lot of info.
   Hope this helps you on your cannon,I hope you find out more info as I did keep it and shoot it and be safe AND HAVE FUN WITH IT.one thumb short

[Cannoneer]

Hi Jim,

I've seen more than a few (usually small) barrels that have the bore ending in front of the trunnions, and I think the reason for some is that the makers either didn't have the know-how, or simply didn't want to bother with the effort of attaching the trunnions properly, so they just drilled through the tubes and inserted solid rods.