my handgonne

[powder und ball]

I have made my hand gonne its made from 4140 steel hollow bar and 1 inch bore in your sytstum and 1/2 thick i proof tested it in our german proffing system that we put 4 times the normel use pressure through the barrel and i saw nothing that indicated that the barrel was stressed or the breech was stressed.  For saftey the first 10 normel shots were testes from a distance of 50 yards and still no sings of stress.

[BillinOregon]

Sounds fascinating, P und B: haben Sie fotos?

[Cat Whisperer]

P und B -

What do you use for projo's; what range do you get.

My 'gonne' is in golf-ball caliber.  One to two 45acp cases of FFFg chuck one or two golf balls 100 to 200 yards.

My current project is taking a scrap 2" diameter x 6 or 7" long piece of 4140 and boring it to 1.25" for Fuji film canisters and I'll probably do a mould too.

So next is to do a 1" bore, probably a bit longer as well.

Let us know if you have trouble posting pictures.

[powder und ball]

for now im using .98 lead round ball then patched.  Im not sure of the range of it yet ist but im getting 612 fps on the crono.  I dont have a camera of my own im trying to get one from elsewear so i can post pics.

[Cat Whisperer]

How does the one-incher kick?

I'm now done roughing out the bore and about to do some finish cutting.
 
This one is going to kick more than the golf-ball hand-gonne as it's smaller and will have a heavier boolet.  (about 1-1/4" bore with film canister filled with concrete or perhaps a lead sphere)

[powder und ball]

the recoil is not bad i have the barrel attached to a woden rod and that absourbs most the recoil.  Im using 75 grains fffg clean shot.  and im going to attach a simple seat to the pole as well that will lower the slowmatch onto the priming powder.

[Cat Whisperer]

Cool.  What method do you recommend for attaching the pole to the iron?

How do you like CleanShot?  

(I found that Pyrodex is very tough to ignite.)

Adapter for slow match is a good idea too.

[powder und ball]

i just inlet the barrel into the po;e if you have the machine

[SLEEPY BEEPER]

A hand gonne to shoot golf balls. I love it. Looks like I have another project. It's got to be a thrill lighting that thing with it sitting in your hands. What barrel length would you recommend for a golf ball gonne? Would a 3 foot stick behind it be long enough? Or should it be longer?

[powder und ball]

A 3 foot pole sounds good the pole i have ist 4 feet with a sear that i fabricated on the side that holds the slow match.  im in the proces of making a golf ball mortar now and a matchlock musket.

[Cat Whisperer]

A hand gonne to shoot golf balls. I love it. Looks like I have another project. It's got to be a thrill lighting that thing with it sitting in your hands. What barrel length would you recommend for a golf ball gonne? Would a 3 foot stick behind it be long enough? Or should it be longer?

http://www.hunt101.com/img/142411.jpg

http://www.hunt101.com/img/086602.jpg

http://www.hunt101.com/img/086605.jpg


The top picture is of me, firing the mortar for the FIRST time.  Didn't know how much it would kick (it doesn't kick more than a 38).  It weighs about 7 pounds and the golf ball only an ounce.

The bore is just a bit over 2 calibers long.  When you fire two, one goes 20 yards further.  One to two 45acp cases of FFFg will send the golf ball(s) 100 to 200 yards.

I've finished boring the film-can caliber mortar.  Next comes dressing it up on the outside so it'll look good.

[powder und ball]

I wish i hade ein boring machine then i would not have to worry about brecch plugging.

[Cat Whisperer]

I wish i hade ein boring machine then i would not have to worry about brecch plugging.

It's simple lathe work.  Not too big in either diameter nor in depth.  Check with a local machine shop for a price - you might be very surpirzed!


I had made at a local shop a 5" diameter x 24" long tube bored 18" deep for 16-20-24 oz soda-pop bottles.  Cost $200 including the 4140 steel.