1 gal paint can mortar?

[Victor3]

 Ever since getting my Dom pop can Dictator I've tossed around ideas for a simple and manageable larger bore mortar. M&T's monstar mortar got me thinking about it again.

 Bowling ball mortars have been done, but what about one to launch 1 gal paint cans? I don't know how much bowling balls cost, but used paint cans are plentiful and free.

 Anyone ever made one?

 I wouldn't mind having a monster thunder mug I could toss into the trunk of the Honda for a day at the beach 

[Cat Whisperer]

Paint cans have the 'boss' onto which the bail attaches.  Might be good with 2-groove rifling.  New paint cans now have PLASTIC bottoms.  Life is changing.

Coffee cans are available in a variety of styles - old and new.

I've dreamed since HS of taking a cardboard tube from a carpet, burrying it deep in the ground with just the muzzle showing and putting a 'healthy charge' at the bottom and putting a paint can of cement in orbit.

[dominick]

One gallon food cans will work, no handles or plastic. I think they are around 6.5" diameter.  I built a few 4" mortars so it would not be much larger than one of those.  Here is a bowling ball mortar I built about a year ago.  A simple design for firing large projectiles. 

Victor, I not sure if you will be able to "toss" it into the trunk of your car.  Dom

[dominick]

Diagram of the plug area.

[Ex 49'er]

Something unique would be a mortar that launched bowling pins.
There's a picture on one on this site:
http://www.nmpproducts.com/rt07.htm
The pictures are from many years back at the one of the old Misery shoots. 1998 I think.

[Artilleryman]

Dominick were there any issues with the cavity around the powder chamber?

So do you think they shoot bowling pins at bowling balls?   

[bilmac]

I'm no artillery enthusiast, so this is probably a dumb question, but with these guns that shoot conical projectiles, don't the cans start to tumble and destroy any semblance of accuracy?

[dominick]

Dominick were there any issues with the cavity around the powder chamber?
   

No issues at all.  The force that propels the ball is the actual blast of the powder chamber against the projectile much like a anvil launcher. The blast is directed toward the muzzle and against the ball so while it does pressurize the tube to some degree, the speed and momentum of the ball exiting the barrel does not allow for full advantage of a fully pressurized expansion chamber.  The shorter the barrel and the larger the differential  between the powder chamber size and load / to bore size of the outer tube, the more applicable this theory is, to the extreme point where the outer tube acts only as a guide tube.  Projectile weight also is a factor in outer tube pressure.  It's a race against time between the ball leaving the barrel and the gasses pressurizing the tube while the ball is still in the barrel.  

[GGaskill]

...don't the cans start to tumble and destroy any semblance of accuracy?

Yes, the projectiles do tumble.  It has more effect on maximum range than accuracy.  With smoothbores (and especially mortars), you are firing at area targets.  An accuracy match is fired at a stake and the distance from the stake for a given number is shots is measured and totaled and the smallest total wins.  The advantage of round shot for this kind of gun is that it presents the same aspect to the air resistance while it is rotating.

[Victor3]

Paint cans have the 'boss' onto which the bail attaches.  Might be good with 2-groove rifling.  New paint cans now have PLASTIC bottoms.  Life is changing.

Coffee cans are available in a variety of styles - old and new.

 The bail lugs would be easy to remove on a belt sander or just hammer flat. I think either plastic or steel cans will be okay to hold concrete.

 My neighbor is a painting contractor. He's got a few cans he doesn't need 

 I also have a supply of 2# steel coffee cans available from the office. Slightly smaller in diameter than paint cans, but they'll work.

 Even new steel paint cans can be had fairly cheap from (surprise, surprise) "Empty Paint Cans dot com"...

http://www.emptypaintcans.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=32

[GGaskill]

They even have ones without the "ears" and handle for less!! 



And half gallon ones too.

[Victor3]

 

Victor, I not sure if you will be able to "toss" it into the trunk of your car.  Dom

 I think you're right; that one may be a little more than the 1/4" fiberboard trunk floor of the ol' Accord could take.

 However, a 1.5 caliber long paint can thunder mug of similar design shouldn't be too heavy, and it would have a handy handle on it 

[Victor3]

They even have ones without the "ears" and handle for less!! 

 From their web page...

 "Applications & Uses:
 Paint Cans are great for paints & coatings, crafts (altered paint cans), promotional marketing, and even some food applications (depends on liner being used. Only gold lined cans are FDA approved for direct contact with food)."

 If someone gets a paint can mortar made, we'll have to contact them to update this 

[BoomLover]

Dom, your bowling ball mortar is a combination of simplicty, beauty, and purpose! Your work speaks for itself. Saw it on your web site, too. Looking forward to the piece I'm sending you tommorrow to be "transformed"! BoomLover

[Victor3]

 Hey here's an idea. Put one of those disposable panoramic cameras in one of these and shoot it. Recover the can and develop the picture...

http://www.emptypaintcans.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=111

 Or.... stuff your cat into the can and ask her how the view was up there.



(This is my cat after being shaved. Some nice person doused her with green paint)

She's much happier now 

[KABAR2]

How about stuffing the nice person who painted your cat into a can and ask them how the view was!  

[Terry C.]

My sister has three Sphynx cats.

They always look like that (shaved pic).

[bilmac]

A paint can gun may not be too heavy for your trunk, but how about a hundred rounds of bullets?

[dominick]

Dom, your bowling ball mortar is a combination of simplicty, beauty, and purpose! Your work speaks for itself. Saw it on your web site, too. Looking forward to the piece I'm sending you tommorrow to be "transformed"! BoomLover

Thanks Boomlover.