Abiather Fales Potter's "Needle Cannon"

[cannonmn]

About 18 years ago I purchased a strange little cannon from a well-known antique arms dealer in New Jersey.  He had no idea what it was, and neither did I.  It is 26 inches long, 8 in. diameter at the breech, 4 in. diameter at the muzzle, has a 1.8 inch smooth bore, and a 1.8 inch hole in the breech which is a continuation of the bore.  There are two deep annular grooves cut in the rear of the bore.  The cast-iron cannon cannon weighs about 150 lbs. and is unmarked.

I never thought I'd be able to identify it but yesterday I was looking through old ordnance patents at the National Archives, photographing most of them for future reference.  One looked remotely familiar but I didn't give it much thought at the time. Today I was enhancing the photos on the computer, and looked at the one that had briefly caught my eye yesterday, then went to the basement to check the little cannon.  Sure enough there was somewhat of a "family resemblance" to the patent drawing of "Potter's Needle Cannon" ca. 1870.  Now armed with the inventor's name, patent number etc., it was simple to search online for further information.  One long entry in the "Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance" for 1872 explained a lot, and finding Potter's patent for the special projectile to be used in the cannon told me more. In fact another unidentified item I've owned "forever" may be one of Potter's unusual projectiles.  Some sketchy biographical information on the inventor turned up, but I'd still like to find out more about him, particularly his primary occupation if he wasn't a full-time inventor.

According to the article cited in the Report of the Chief of Ordnance, Potter made two of these cannons.  The smaller one, kept on the East Coast ca. 1872, is the one I have.  The larger one, which would have had a bore of about 3 1/4 inches, was in northern CA ca. 1872.

1. Where is the larger "Potter Needle Cannon" today?  If it survives, I'd expect it to be in some museum in CA, perhaps unidentified or mis-identified.

2. I'd like to have more information on Abiather Fales Potter, who apparently lived in northern CA from at least 1872 until his death at age 84 in 1901?  He was born in MA and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA.

3. Could the breech plug to mine be lying in someone's collection or some museum back room somewhere?  This object could be made of either bronze, iron, or steel, would be maybe 8-12 inches long, and the cylindrical body will be about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.  It may have a needle-like projection at the front end as shown in the patent drawing.  I know the chances of finding it are slim, but stranger things have happened.

Links:

Potter projectile patent:  http://is.gd/llF2

Potter Needle Cannon patent:  http://is.gd/llFP

Report of the Secretary of War, pages relating to Potter Needle Cannon:   http://is.gd/llHc

[BoomLover]

Very interesting, Cannonmn, thanks for posting this one...liked the pics and the info. BoomLover

[Ex 49'er]

Very interesting scavenger hunt you have started, Cannonmn. Thankyou for posting the pictures and information.

[shooter2]

Northern California eh?  I will be traveling through there from the 14th March on my tourist travels from OZ.  Along with Fort Point/Presidio I am always on the lookout for smaller museums, this gives me an excuse to explore further.

If I find anything of use I will report it here.

shooter2

[KABAR2]

Cannonmn, at least now with the patent drawing you could have a machinist manufacture an new

breech block to restore this tube, the original was probably long lost and tossed because no one knew what it was.

your shell looks more like rounds used in the pneumatic dynamite guns rather than those in the patent drawings,

I have something I'll have to dig out of storage and photograph for you, it looks closer to your drawings,

problem is I'm on crutches, storage is a mess and no clue which box it ended up in...........

http://www.spanamwar.com/dynamite.htm

[cannonmn]

Get well Kabar, what a knee problem?  My left one has me in the same predicament but they are supposed to "scope" it pretty soon here and that should fix it.

[dan610324]

really interesting John
but do you believe the cannon patent and the projectile patent  really are to be used with eachother ??

I dont .

on the breach  you have a needle that should penetrate the povderbag , that seem good for me .

but on the projectile you also have an axle in the center that the wings are atached to , there is just no space for the needle to go deep enough . or it would generate an massive volume of emptiness behind the powder charge . doesnt seem to match for me , at least as the proportions on the projectile drawing shows as the poderbag end shortly behind the wings .

much more possble that its 2 totaly different systems . or what do you think ??

[cannonmn]

Dan, good thinking, but in many cases the patent drawing is a general expression of their idea without details perfected yet.  And thanks for coming up with that problem, it may explain something about the brass projectile I have (see picture.)  It has a hollow tube about 1/2 in. inside diameter all the way through the tailfin area, so maybe that's a more advanced design where he allowed for the needle finally.  Of course he'd pack some powder into that tube, but the needle is kind of wasted if it can't directly ignite the main charge.  He does say you can have needles of varying lengths.   My projectile also has 4 fins, but the inventor only specified "3 or more."  If I were the inventor I'd have put holes in that brass tube center section so the flame could ignite the charge outside of it, like a modern mortar ignitor cartridge works.  Maybe he figured that out later.