Found another Signal Cannon

[Road King]

Well, I found another Signal Cannon this week and thought I would share some photos of this one. It is made for 12gauge and well made on swivel base on ball bearings. In the photos you will see the safety and trigger mechanism. It has an elevation adjustment for reaching maxium distance. I was also wondering if anyone has seen a similar one to this type. I have a feeling this one maybe a one of a kind and possibly hand made.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

[Double D]

How big is that thing?

This is where the board custom of putting something in the picture to give it scale is called for.   The traditional item on the board is a powder can set behind the gun so it can be seen.  A can of pop will work as will any item of recognized scale.

[Road King]

Here is another photo and as suggested I have shown a powder can and an original Winchester Signal Cannon beside this one for comparison. Barrel length  is 16", base diameter is 9" and distance from base to barrel supports is 4".
 

[onegreatshot]

You state it has an elevation adjustment for maximum distance, are you planning on shooting projectiles with the blank cannon??? beautiful cannon must of been expensive when it was first sold.

[Road King]

You state it has an elevation adjustment for maximum distance, are you planning on shooting projectiles with the blank cannon??? beautiful cannon must of been expensive when it was first sold.

Sure why not, not convinced that it was built for just blanks. 

[cannonmn]

Sure why not, not convinced that it was built for just blanks.

Whatever it was made for originally, at this date only 12 ga. blanks can be used in it, since barrel is under 18" and overall length is less than 26".
 
I see no provision to handle recoil which is another reason I think this was made to fire blanks.
 
It is a pretty neat job however, especially the breech design.  The closure and locking aspects of the design mimick the Brown system, which was actually patented by Lavigne.

[Road King]

The base is designed to be mounted to something solid. You can see the screw holes around the flange. The base that the actual cannon is mounted to this flange by means of a center bolt and the bearing race is betwen the two. There is a wing screw that will lock it in position, should be no problem to handle recoil.
The whole unit is about 23lbs.
 

[GGaskill]

Since it has no sliding parts to spread the recoil forces over a longer period, the mounts will see higher stress which is probably not good for their longevity.  If I were to fire it with shot, I would set it on a smooth table and put a couple of layers of plastic garbage bag material between table and base so it could slide in recoil.  I would probably put a rope around it just in case it tried to slide off the table the first couple of firings.

Or build a secondary base with a recoil absorbing system for this to mount on.

[Road King]

In case anyone is wondering what the firing pin looks like. Here are some photos.