We managed to extract these frame captures today along with cleaning equipment, etc., etc. Before we get into captions and explanations of what you are looking at, I want to point out that MikeR C had the finest looking mortars there and we meaning including ours too. Although diminutive in size, they exuded quality with perfect metal, wood and paint. He knows all about attention to detail and we considered it a pleasure to view them close-up!
Later we will post a series of six action shots featuring George Gaskill's 30 mm rifle. It took quite a while, but, yes, we did find the projectile in flight!
Regards,
Tracy and Mike
This is the BLAST that sent Ernie's bowling ball someplace far away. Cat Whisperer has an image of it crossing the Blue Ridge in Virginia and DD mentioned he saw it just prior to it entering the Stratosphere, (He has real sharp vision!), and Allen, I believe, guessed Mars. I was way too close to see anything, but I did feel the heat from all that incandescent gas! One and a half pounds of 1 Fg provided the power.
This series is RocklockI's Dom Confederate Parrott in action as he attempts to hit a Gong at 500 yards. He came darn close and kept up a bombardment for more than 45 minutes. Look very carefully and you can see his steel golf ,ball in flight, advancing in each frame about two feet ahead of the smoke.
Ernie helps a young bystander get into the action after Double D got his father's permission and our western moderator was kind enough to give him that very projectile after they went downrange to find it. Talk about proof of his experience!
Tracy puts a friction primer in the Monster Mortar's vent. DD was nice enough to give us one to try. Fired on top of a cut-down quill, it worked perfectly.
This projectile base really was on fire as it left the Monster's muzzle. It was a successful test for our double disked, Baltic Birch sabotted, round. Even with one half pound of BP, it's plastic skin was unbroken.
This is the high velocity "Navy" projectile that we thought cannonmn would appreciate, but sorry to say it's ballistic nose cone folded under the dynamic forces of firing with a full half pound charge. All the plastic skin shredded and a large chunk hit on of the block and tackle ropes and forced it away from the mortar.