Author Topic: Flippin NIGHTMARE! (Read 1045 times)

claypipe · « **on:** June 02, 2006, 07:48:08 AM »

Being touted as The World's Smallest Authentic Firing Cannon, on one of the gun auction websites.

Quote from: The seller's description

This cannon is in a greatly reduced scale form, but exact replica of the 6 in., 24# troop carried coehorn mortar style that served in much colonial and U.S. battle action from 1760 through 1865. This unit is composed of a

:blaster:high grade pewter alloy:biggun:

and constructed entirely by hand from a craftsman located here in the U.S. Truly, a very unique and well made piece designed to last a lifetime. This actual firing cannon comes complete with a 3 man artillery corps; each man is hand poured of pewter and unpainted, of either colonial-Revolutionary War era or of a Civil War artillery corps. The set also includes a ramrod, a cleaning rod, instructions for loading & firing the cannon and a cannon charge packet for 30 firings. Extra charge packets are available for $2.00 ea. The entire set comes in a very nice red velour pouch for ease of handling and to keep everything together. Please note; this unit is very small in that a dime will almost cover the cannon sideboard.

PEWTER, NO MATTER WHAT THE GRADE, IS NEVER TO BE USED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A GUN BARREL OF ANY SORT!

nUFF sAID!
cp :excuseme:

Double D · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2006, 08:04:06 AM »

Claypipe,

Wait a minute now, we don't know what they are firing in it.

Can you post the link.

Rickk · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2006, 01:43:33 PM »

I remember being given a pewter beer mug awhile back, and tried to figure out what "pewter" really was. Seems that the recipie varies wildly. Some versions contain lead, so I ditched in in the trash.

Anyway, "pewter" is a wildly varying metal alloy. It may be mostly tin, it may have no tin in it. It may be up to 20 lead, or contain no lead at all. The no-lead versions usually contain copper. There are almost always a few other metals thrown in. All the metals are typically on the soft side.

Your milage may vary considerably

GGaskill · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2006, 01:53:16 PM »

The Wikipedia definition of Pewter. Probably could have kept the stein.

intoodeep · « **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2006, 02:20:24 PM »

Here's the link.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=49686134

Cpt Ed · « **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2006, 02:44:25 PM »

AND IT IS ONLY $22.00 WITH FREE SHIPPING.

WHAT A DEAL?

? :toast:

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2006, 03:54:50 PM »

SO?

So has ANYONE here bothered to respond to either the individual or to the board about this? Seems to me that's where one could make a difference.

Double D · « **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2006, 05:25:39 PM »

I sent the seller an email asking what the propelleant is. Looks like sparkler powder of some sort. I don't think its even a firecracker cannon.

The sparks come out the vent and nothing out the muzzle

Double D · « **Reply #8 on:** June 03, 2006, 04:03:14 AM »

Okay, Claypipe now I'm scared...

Here is the response from the seller:

Quote

Hello, I state in the ad that this is the world's smallest 'authentic' firing cannon. As such, this unit fires the original material which is black powder. I use 3FFFG grade as it works best in this small unit and even using this finer grade, the unit will only take about 3 grains to function properly. Other propellents do not work as well, such as pyrodex, because they are designed to react with forced impact, as in percussion units. This small cannon is authentic as it's means for ignition is fire. All cannons utilized this process until about 1862, when union artillery ordnance developed a means to fire cannons via percussion by using a nipple on the cannon touch hole, placing a cap on the nipple, and hitting the cap with a spring loaded hammer that was tripped when a lanyard was pulled. I thank you for your interest. Sincerely, highbanks.

As small as the powder charge is, it is this kind of misquided "wisdom" that gets people in trouble. This is an accident waiting to happen. Just wait for the guy who comes along sees how FFFFG he can get in!!!

I am tempted to send the seller a link to this thread.

Squire Robin · « **Reply #9 on:** June 03, 2006, 12:35:42 PM »

Quote

this unit is very small in that a dime will almost cover the cannon sideboard.

How big is a dime? Perhaps the bore is smaller than a .22 LR case in which case I would say it's quite safe. Even if you decided to load a lump of lead there wouldn't be enough space left behind it for a dangerous amount of the black stuff. With no projectile it won't even go bang.

I can't imagine anyone in a litigous country would sell a thing like that if there was the slightest possibility of failure, I bet they've even tried it with smokeless because you can be sure their customers will :roll: