The Sabots Worked !!!!

[Evil Dog]

I've been having a heck of a time up until today with my 2 1/4" bore half scale Napoleon.  With 500gr GOEX cannon and a nominally 2.25" cast zinc ball it was fun to play with but quite problematic as far as actually hitting anything you consciously aimed at.  Keep in mind that up until this point I had never actually had anything resembling a target board... the best guess I could make was to watch where the dirt flies.

Today was absolutely wonderful weather (meaning atleast it wasn't too cold and the wind wasn't blowing 50 miles an hour) so loaded up the truck and went off to the local range.  You know, it is absolutely amazing how there don't seem to be any tailgaters when there is a cannon in the back of the pickup... I wonder why that is?  Had 12 rounds made up and ready to go.  The sabots were made using scrap plywood, cutting them out with a 2 1/2" hole saw, gluing 3 of them together and then working them down to size on a lathe.  A depression for the ball to set in was made using a 1 1/2" flat spade bit.  2 single thickness wraps of 3/4" masking tape was used to secure the ball to the sabot.

Set a large cardboard box up at around 80 yards and let fly..... way too high.  It was at this point I discovered the sliding bar on my rear sight wouldn't move up or down. 



Will have to give some serious consideration to getting out a brass wire brush and getting rid of some of the rust on it.

The rest of the shots were all "aimed" by trying to look through the sight to get it centered left and right on the box.... elevation being by guessing how many turns or fractions of a turn on the elevation wheel.  3 more shots and I was finally on the cardboard !!!  That alone was a major accomplishment.... placing a ball on a target I actually meant to hit.  Fired a total of 9 shots today, 5 of them on the cardboard.  The hole in the white area is actually 2 consecutive shots.



I actually did manage to find 2 of the sabots down range..... way down range.  Somehow I had thought the ball would separate from the sabot pretty much as soon as it cleared the muzzle, but that doesn't appear to the the case.  These appear to have come loose when the ball hit the ground.



All in all I am quite happy with the day.  Now to make up more sabots, cast more ball and foil up more powder cartridges.  My next opportunity for any range time will be in 2 weeks.  Will go out to 125 or 150 yards next time.

[Powder keg]

Fun, fun, fun!!!! looks like you had a great time I wish it would warm up here a bit.

Wes

[Will Bison]

Evil Dog;

I agree on the weather, I'm in my Upland, CA office for the Holidays and the WX is wonderful.

I like the sabots you have made, pretty much along the lines I use. The laminated wood is the ticket.

Bill

[Rickk]

it snowed here in Massachusetts today (for the first time this year). It's 15 degrees (F) outside. I envy the pictures of the green grass !

[Will Bison]

Rick;

I used to teach at the Naval Academy in MD, I well know what the New England Winter is like.

Bill

[Evil Dog]

Green grass?  Actually they are backyard weeds.

[Rickk]

they are green and they arn't dead 

[Double D]

Way to go E.D.!!!   I like how you used a car to back up your  target.

Did you recover your shot?  Give us the details on your gun again.

[GGaskill]

Yeah, it was a little on the cool side here in Chino today.  About 68°F, going down to around 38°F tomorrow morning.  Looks like another 10K easterners will move out here after the Rose Parade.

[Evil Dog]

Ok... it's a half scale Napoleon.  The barrel came from Hern Iron Works, the wheels from customwagons.com  and the rest from the local hardware stores.  I built it a couple years back... no particular plans to follow, just what looked good at the time.  The carriage is actually Douglas Fir as the price of oak was way beyond my budget.  I will be replacing the cheeks fairly soon as the current ones are starting to cup a bit.  Have a piece of 2 1/4" thick oak to make them out of.  A blacksmith friend of mine made some trunnion straps for me so will be using those instead of that wood cap.



I used to cast the balls from wheelweight but have since switched to zinc.  The wheelweight ball would weigh around 2 1/2 pounds, a zinc ball just under 1 1/2 pounds.  I figure that equates to a little more zip for the same powder charge and somewhat less stress on the gun.  500gr GOEX Cannon is my usual charge.  This is the same barrel sold by Dixie and their catalog description lists a 700gr max charge.  I've always thought the barrel looked a little thin, but then again the original Napoleons aren't all that beefy.  500gr GOEX Cannon with the 1 1/2 pound zinc ball results in 2 to 3 feet recoil.

No, I really make no effort to recover the shot even though I figure they cost me about 2 bucks each casting them myself.  I have a mortar made to fire the same ball and will recover those.... usually have a 3 or 4 foot streamer attached to make them much easier to find.



In another 4 to 5 weeks I will be entering into the nano-mortar fray..... well, more like a nono-mortar on steroids.  Think 23/64" bore Dictator.  Should be just the thing for backyard fun.  A 1 gallon bucket at 10 yards?