Another practical demonstration of why we have to take safety seriously

[Cannoneer]

Here's the title and description of this video. "Medieval cannon accident: Cannon misfire at a demonstration of ancient cannons the Austrian army museum."

The vid is only 10 seconds long, and I've now watched it more than a few times (stopping the action), but I still can't say if the crewman in front on the viewer's side accidentally ignites the charge, or the man tamping the charge down caused a spark (if the mortar and part of the rammer head are made of ferrous metal).

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

Scary. 

[Ranger99]

my god the guy has smoke rolling off
of him as he stumbles away.
i guess he's lucky to move at all. . . .

[Doc Brown.]

I think the guy who's job it was to light the cannon thought the guy ramming its time was up. I see him use a torch to light it then hand the torch to his buddy who takes it off camera to dispose of the murder weapon. That's what I see.

[Victor3]

"Another practical demonstration of why we have to take safety seriously."


 And also one showing why we should stay far away from those who refuse to take safety seriously. Not saying the guys in the video were careless (who knows what happened there) but we've probably all known folks who disregard basic safety rules while using firearms. The problem is compounded when a pound of BP and a cannon is within reach of such people.

[cannonmn]

I can't get that video to run, so I have to run another one.
"OK let's load a cannon that might never have been intended to fire with an artbitrary amount of powder, then look down the bore at the projectile, then light it with a quickmatch while our head is not far from the vent, how fun!  Hahahaha I almos' blew my empty head off!  Hahahaha!"

[KABAR2]

The 65,000.00 dollar question is what is on the other side of the woods the cannon shot went over  in the last vido?
 brings up BE SURE OF YOU BACKSTOP!!!!!

[Ranger99]

no safety glasses or anything
in the last one.
        

[steelcharge]

That was a terrible game of "russian roulette" to play with such a nice lantaka.
I always feel a bit terrified when people fire lantakas very casually, like they were some newly made steel ones. I have nothing against firing original pieces, I hope to do that when I "grow old", but only if you know what you're doing and you know that the piece can handle the firing. Lantakas are so obscure in their origins and manufacture methods that I wouldn't ever fire one.
If that one really came from the Bannerman Arsenal, it must've been captured during the Moro Campaigns and should be in a museum or in some appreciating collectors hands, not used for dangerous games that might leave the gun destroyed and the player dead.

[Cannoneer]

"Another practical demonstration of why we have to take safety seriously."


 And also one showing why we should stay far away from those who refuse to take safety seriously. Not saying the guys in the video were careless (who knows what happened there) but we've probably all known folks who disregard basic safety rules while using firearms. The problem is compounded when a pound of BP and a cannon is within reach of such people.

I agree with you, that unless one of the crew tells us what caused this nasty mishap, we're not going to know, but one of the things that stands out for me in this vid, is the way the guy is ramming the charge.
Some of us have seen this practice in videos before, so I'll make the observation again.
Why do so many of the Europeans who also enjoy our pastime, feel the need to pound the heck out of the charge when seating it?   

[Victor3]

...one of the things that stands out for me in this vid, is the way the guy is ramming the charge.
Some of us have seen this practice in videos before, so I'll make the observation again.
Why do so many of the Europeans who also enjoy our pastime, feel the need to pound the heck out of the charge when seating it?

 I assume that most are going for maximum effect with a blank, so they're probably ramming a substantial wad of some sort on top of the charge.

[Cannoneer]

It would have to be a substantial wad, it's a danged mortar. I've seen many vids where they do this same routine even with live fire. In fact, there are videos of miniature cannon target competitions at ranges, where they ram the heck out of the charge before seating the projo.
In all fairness, I've seen vids of Americans doing the same thing, but not as many.

[Cannon Cocker]

I'm sure he was familiar with the dangers of having an air space between the charge and the ball.  When the camera looks down the bore you can see that it was seated.  If not completely, then within a few feet at the most... which is okay, right?

[Cannoneer]

I've read posts here where someone claims that in a cannon, space between the charge and projectile is not that big of a deal, and I've read/heard others who claim that the resultant increase of pressure in the bore is extremely dangerous. I don't spend a whole lot of time worrying about which outlook is more realistic, because I always make sure that my projectile is seated on top of the charge, and I've yet to experience a situation where I couldn't accomplish that goal. 

[Double D]

The presence of air between projectile and charge is not a problem. 

The presence of an airspace between a powder charge held in place by a wad or cartridge and a projectile that tightly fits and seals the bore may cause a problem.  Paul  Vieille wrote extensively about the phenomenon when he was developing  nitrocellulose smokeless powder in the 1880's.

You will be hard pressed to a find a more misunderstood subject than this airspace subject.  Most information put out is myth and wives tales...but it is myths and wives tales based on a true issue.

For a modern dissertation on the subject,  from an informed and thorough test perspective, read Wayne Schwartz and  Charles Dells,  "The Modern Schuetzen Rifle"

In a cannon if you have windage and observe proper loading techniques you should never have a concern with this issue.

[Cannoneer]

...one of the things that stands out for me in this vid, is the way the guy is ramming the charge.
Some of us have seen this practice in videos before, so I'll make the observation again.
Why do so many of the Europeans who also enjoy our pastime, feel the need to pound the heck out of the charge when seating it?

 I assume that most are going for maximum effect with a blank, so they're probably ramming a substantial wad of some sort on top of the charge.

I remembered this one from a past thread. Now that's what I call overkill.

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