Author Topic: Fabrication du Mortier de Monstre de Paixhans avec des Photos (Read 15907 times)

Double D · « **Reply #150 on:** August 03, 2009, 05:28:13 PM »

At 9 seconds a large piece of debris is seen leveing the barrel. Any idea what it is?

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #151 on:** August 03, 2009, 06:12:21 PM »

   When you have to scientifically pack a Suburban AND a 14' trailer, then you KNOW you have LOTS OF STUFF to Haul. Working until midnight again! Oh well, it was so much fun shooting those two shots today that it is really worth a lot of work.

   The two most memorable things that happened I believe were the way the one pound charge threw the trailer around. The recoil from that shot, which boosted our prairie penetrator rounds out to 400 yards, knocked down all but one of the timber stacks which supported the trailer's frame. The mortar flew a foot off the platform and came down cockeyed, at least 10 degrees out of alignment. Two or three more of those and our trailer would be destroyed! The video which is shown on this thread was a much more reasonable one-half pound of 1 F g powder. The range for that round was 175 yards.

   The second observation was that both shots produced a ringing noise very similar to that of a bronze, 24 pdr. Coehorn mortar. I expected to hear a thump as the those hefty chunks of concrete landed, but not like THAT! It will really get your attention! It's more of an energetic, WHACK !! rather than a dull Thump.

   Thank's Boom J for that Johnny Cash explanation of the "ring of fire" which chased the round as it ascended. I believe you are correct here.

   Thanks RocklockI for all your help on this project. You helped a lot to make today's successful test possible.

   Dan and Allen, yes we did block the trailer's frame up, but it was not correctly done. Tomorrow we will saw yet more timbers and create two, 5 foot long by two and a half feet wide timber cribs which will go side by side, directly under the mortar and support the trailer planks directly, allowing no flex of the frame or tire bounce. No tire contact with terra firma will be allowed at all!!

   George Gaskill, you better bring that BB launcher! We want to see your's and southpaw's to take a look at what we should have built if we were sane, which we can't possibly be. Bring it!

   Thank's for your kind comments, DD, Southpaw and Ex 49'er.

Wide smiles all around after that first KA-BLAM!!

Mike and Tracy

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #152 on:** August 03, 2009, 06:22:42 PM »

DD, that is a charred, black, piece of the water cooler jug plastic. The piece you are seeing came off near the bottom and the sides were all wrinkled, but it still fit the bore well, so we fired it with the one pound charge. All the plastic was blown off and a perfectly smooth, concrete duplicate water cooler jug remained! when Gary and I dragged it back from it's oversize prairie dog hole, 400 yards away from the Monster's muzzle, everyone noticed how perfect the edges were. None were broken, all were sharp! From 10 feet away you could not tell that the plastic was completely gone. Curious.

Tracy

Double D · « **Reply #153 on:** August 03, 2009, 06:33:10 PM »

Was stopped by a guy in the grocery store and asked about the shoot. Gave him all the details and told him if he had an old bowling ball he wanted to get rid of, to bring it out. He got a big smile and said he still has the ex-wife's and he can think of no better way to get rid of it.

You guys check out the weather at Cut Bank Weather. Besure to scroll down and read the Cut Bank News.

Ex 49'er · « **Reply #154 on:** August 03, 2009, 06:59:42 PM »

The forecast doesn't look very encouraging: Rain.

Nice write-up in the Great Falls Paper.

Double D · « **Reply #155 on:** August 04, 2009, 02:53:38 AM »

Rain today, partially cloudy Saturday....Monstre will roar over the prairie!!!

RocklockI · « **Reply #156 on:** August 04, 2009, 04:35:51 AM »

give me a nice cloudy day anyday ,for shooting cannons .

carronader · « **Reply #157 on:** August 04, 2009, 05:12:28 AM »

Congratulations on the test fire.............awesome!!!!!!!!!

KABAR2 · « **Reply #158 on:** August 04, 2009, 08:32:35 AM »

M&T

I think I know why the plastic is being stripped off the jug,

from the looks of the video you are getting gas blow by

you may need to stiffen your plywood Sabots they may have some flex

when fired which is allowing gas to blow by them, you may have to go to

4 or 5 layers to prevent this.

Frank46 · « **Reply #159 on:** August 05, 2009, 04:58:41 PM »

Mike and Tracey, congratulations guys. Looks beautiful. Oughta get you a sizemograph ( yeah I know the spelling's wrong) and just see what that baby does. Frank

Double D · « **Reply #160 on:** August 05, 2009, 05:23:29 PM »

Unless Mike and Tray have their laptop with them they can't hear you. They only made it as far Great Falls...2 hours short of Cut Bank. They ran into some weather south of here...

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #161 on:** August 06, 2009, 12:31:16 AM »

We fully expect to hear of strange reports of earth tremmors felt in California and the Montanna Air National Guard scrambled to intercept low-earth-orbit UFOs! Pictures at 10pm of course.

Frank46 · « **Reply #162 on:** August 17, 2009, 05:31:09 PM »

Mike & Tracey, just curious. Did we see the beginnings of another project in the picture of your lathe?. Those funny stepped
down things with the hole in the center. Could it be a recreation of one of those monster krupp cannons???. Curious minds wish to know. Frank

Double D · « **Reply #163 on:** August 17, 2009, 06:03:55 PM »

Do you mean the things on the right side of this picture?

RocklockI · « **Reply #164 on:** August 17, 2009, 06:34:57 PM »

future treble banded brooks rifles .

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #165 on:** August 17, 2009, 06:48:30 PM »

Frank, You mean those stepped thingages in front of a grinning, shade wearing "Minime"? Those are merely more work, real work, not play-work like the big mortar. They are "roughed-out" 1/6 Scale 7" Brooke Treble-Banded Rifles. We start with 29" long, 6" dia., 240 pound, 4150 ordnance steel 'rounds' and turn them down until they are 100 pounds using straight turning, taper turning and profile turning to achieve final dimensions. F. Krupp certainly had some great seacoast rifles among his wares. The visual impact of his large guns has always been that of 'Big Brutes' to us. We do not contemplate building any. Mike keeps reminding me, "Think smaller, Tracy, think smaller!!"

Regards,

Tracy and Mike

Cannoneer · « **Reply #166 on:** August 18, 2009, 05:12:51 AM »

Quote from: seacoastartillery on August 17, 2009, 06:48:30 PM

You mean those stepped thingages in front of a grinning, shade wearing "Minime"?

What are you doing?

Gentlemen, believe me when I tell you, you do not, I repeat, not want to rile the little fellow up, it's like unleashing a whirlwind. The only thing I can think of that might be analagous, would be the image of the "Tazmanian Devil" from the old "Looney Tunes" and "Merry Melodies," "Warner Bros." cartoons; and if it happens that he fires off a retaliatory post to you with the font color in pink, do not attempt to read it, (believe me, I know this from experience) for some scientific reason that I'm not going to pretend to understand, trying to read the pale pink print set off against the light green backround causes the human brain to overheat, with the end result being a splitting headache.

Frank46 · « **Reply #167 on:** August 18, 2009, 06:19:45 PM »

Mike and Tracey, yes those stepped down "thingy's" on the right side. More Brooks rifles. How about a scaled down krupp 100 tonner? Saw some engraveings somewhere and they were huge with a capital "T". Course you would need the assistance of your local railroad repair shop. they would probably be the only ones that would have a lathe big enough. The company I used to work for had bought such a shop and they had a couple humongous lathes. These were for turning the large stators of steam powdered generators. Think the bed length was something like 60'. Bet you could turn out a respectable krupp with one of those lathes. But how to get it home and set up?

'. Your little trailer ain't gonna make it. Frank

RocklockI · « **Reply #168 on:** August 18, 2009, 07:05:06 PM »

Quote from: Frank46 on August 18, 2009, 06:19:45 PM

Mike and Tracey, yes those stepped down "thingy's" on the right side. More Brooks rifles. How about a scaled down krupp 100 tonner? Saw some engraveings somewhere and they were huge with a capital "T". Course you would need the assistance of your local railroad repair shop. they would probably be the only ones that would have a lathe big enough. The company I used to work for had bought such a shop and they had a couple humongous lathes. These were for turning the large stators of steam powdered generators. Think the bed length was something like 60'. Bet you could turn out a respectable krupp with one of those lathes. But how to get it home and set up?'. Your little trailer ain't gonna make it. Frank

i think that you may get third on the 'to do' list ..... right after a 1/2 scale 18" rifle from the friggin Yamato battleship is done for next years shoot .

and after a full scale repo of the berlin wall is built somewhere out in the hinterlands . for no real reason .

i always liked Don Quotie's windmill chasing ..... it's not nearly as much fun as you might think in person .

mobey dick might be a better stretch but then theres the water thingy ........ 'how long can you tread water ?' (bill cosby)

who in the heck would play capt. Ahaahb (sic) hummmmmm

mike .... oh helI NO (i heard it from here .) hummmm who could it be

?? ta thump ta thump .....uhhhhmmm. right on the tip of my tonque T , , , T r , , a THATS IT ! Mr Tracy Kunze .....

Salute to you Sir , 'the world would be a much more boring place without you' ( some damn canniable ). i dont think i could even pick up the fuse for the 1/2 scale .....but i'm in for sure ...!

mike GET TO work , i'm smiling and ready to duck at the same time ............

JMHO and i could be wrong .

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #169 on:** August 19, 2009, 07:36:36 AM »

Thanks for thinking about us, Frank, but as unique as the Krupp guns are, I think we are going to have to concentrate on our Confederate Brooke rifle coming out this November and also the pre-Victorian, British import, the 150 Pdr. Armstrong, 8" Seacoast Rifle which will be the third seacoast gun in our series. Say Frank, any chance of hosting a GBO Cannon Shoot in the "Sportsman's Paradise"? I did a whole lot of shooting in Louisiana when I was in the Army stationed at Fort Polk and we went all over the state chasing those "Turkey Shoots" and other fun shoots from Leesville to Lake Charles and from Alexandria to Baton Rouge. What do you think?

Gary, we just don't know what to make of your current ramblings, but upon the third read, we can tell you there will be no big Niponese guns, just the wrong period, that's all. The U.S. Government would not let us build a repro-wall where we really need one, so none will be built anywhere. When it comes to "tilting at windmills", I think we will leave that to Don Quixote. Remember our three-part saying relating to accomplishing goals of any kind, especially "Special Projects". Pay particular attention to the second line:

Pursue the Possible
Forego the Foolish
Do it, Do it, Do it!

About Melville's famous character who chased the Great White Whale, his motivation might have been wrong, but his methods yielded the desired result.

So, a great big salute to you, Sir, and remember the words of the determined Captain regarding the Great White Whale, Moby Dick, if you really have a special goal worth achieving:

Captain Ahab: "I'll follow him around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's
flames before I give him up."

And he did!

Tracy and Mike

KABAR2 · « **Reply #170 on:** August 19, 2009, 09:11:38 AM »

M&T How did your Sabots fair? I had posted while you were getting ready for your trip and noted Blow by on your original
video I am thinking the sabots need to be thicker so there is less flex, possibly 4 to 5 inches thick this would probably stop the plastic
from being stripped from the concrete also.

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #171 on:** August 19, 2009, 01:37:02 PM »

Allen, The experimental sabot we had on one of our full size projectiles did fine. There was no buckling of the plastic at all, and with the effective sealing of the central anchor bolt hole with gorilla glue, there was not a bit of high temperature gas intrusion into the interstice between the concrete and the projectile's polymer skin. The sabot had one purpose only, that of protecting the concrete of the projectile's base. Bore sealing was not a stated or intended purpose. In fact, just the opposite was true. We designed a very generous, total windage of .342" to both, allow blow-by gasses to easily go around the projectile, AND to further increase the delta between the Chamber Pressure (HI) and Tube Pressure (LO) as the projectile is guided out of the mortar by the tube. We found that two layers of Baltic Birch plywood performed very well, with only surface blackening, but no actual charring. This type of plywood is incredibly strong for it's weight and no cracks or chips were noted. It landed with the central axis parallel to the ground, and even this impact attitude did not dislodge or damage the sabot. 100% success was achieved with that shot, not so with others, as the movies clearly show!

How about an update thread on the Armstrong?

Tracy and Mike

KABAR2 · « **Reply #172 on:** August 19, 2009, 02:40:04 PM »

M&T I will be updating on the Armstrong in another week or two have not had much time to work on it

Glad to here the sabots worked out so well, did not know about the windage but understand.

Allen <><

Frank46 · « **Reply #173 on:** August 19, 2009, 04:46:54 PM »

Mike & Tracey, It's funny here. They shoot cannon next to a pre civil war (war of northern agression to you southern gentlemen) mansion and just about every day you hear someone shooting out in the stix. But never thought about just where one could shoot either a cannon or mortar. Definitely would have to go visit the sherriff on that one and get his opinion. Otherwise would have both the sherriff and the state police visiting my property right quick. Course the sherriff does have a rifle and pistol range but its near the parish jail. Every time I go they tell us to make sure the vehicles are locked. Just to prevent "unauthorized use of a moveable" by one of the inmates. the only cannon I have is the little CVA .45 caliber naval gun that they used to sell years ago. Frank

Frank46 · « **Reply #174 on:** August 19, 2009, 04:53:43 PM »

Rocklock1, thanks for the praise I think. Ah well one can only dream. But the 150lb armstrong gun sounds great. Course the 1/2 scale 18" yamamoto sounds even better. Only had the pleasure of being near 5"54's when they go bang. That will put a hurtin' on your ear drums. Frank

RocklockI · « **Reply #175 on:** August 19, 2009, 05:51:39 PM »

Mike of 'Seacoast Artillery' says the same thing . He served on a destroyer in Veit Nam . he's got some good stories on long term bombardments of uncle ho , and being bombarded back . Good Work .

something about being about 15 feet away from a 5" er , chipping paint , or putting paint on , when the turret swung in resopnse to a need for support 'in country' .

the gunners let them rip ! good gravy miss mavey i geuss ! i suppose you are supposed to get used to it ...tic , . tic , twitch ......and without a detached retna or ear plugs ... God Bless the Navy ...they can deliver the frieght when needed!

and cannons

Victor3 · « **Reply #176 on:** August 20, 2009, 01:55:16 AM »

M&T,

All I wanna know is, did that silicone goop stay where it was supposed to after all that blastin'?

seacoastartillery · « **Reply #177 on:** August 20, 2009, 02:31:24 PM »

Thanks Frank, It can't hurt to ask. I had the field artillery version of that same CVA gun. We had lots of fun with that little cannon and they must have been well made considering all the abuse we put it through.

Good question, Victor. We were not nervous as we fired off rounds in Montana, but that was after seeing no deterioration in the silicone sealing ring after two, maximum charge, test firings in Colorado. What we found, after ten shots fired, was that there was a loss of approx. 3 to 4% of the silicone ring to a depth of approx. .100". You must remember, however that the process of sealing with this type of material results in a two-part penetration of this medium viscosity silicone. The .006" gap all around, between the Chamber Piece and the Tube, is the first gap to be filled with the flowing silicone. Penetration is .125" to .187" deep all along the 34.55 linear inches filled. This is the high temp silicone that actually prevents gas or smoke leakage. The .25" X .25" annular ring on top of this narrow band provides a cushion or spring action against the gas pressure and allows flexture as the components of the tube are stressed during firing. Mike and I think replacement of this high temp., flexible, sealing material would be prudent after every 30 shots. The cost is moderate, only about $7.00 per application, 3 applications per tube.

Regards,

Tracy and Mike

This photo was taken after the tenth round, before cleaning. See for yourself.

KABAR2 · « **Reply #178 on:** August 20, 2009, 03:05:16 PM »

Looks like your silicone rings are holding up better than the ones did on the boosters on the space shuttle.

GGaskill · « **Reply #179 on:** August 20, 2009, 03:20:09 PM »

Not quite the same duration of exposure or low temperature operation here.