Postal Shoot?

[Cat Whisperer]

....
 Does anyone have any ideas on making some fairly sturdy adjustable legs?  

3 legs, not 4 - so it won't rock.

[Double D]

In case you guys haven't found it yet in the other post:

A shooting platform will help you shoot better. It gets the gun up off the ground onto a solid surface and more eye level when you are  laying on the ground.



The top is 24" x 18" and made out  3/4" plywood.  The top is a double layer of 3/4" plywood. The frame is 2 3/4" high.  The deck is covered with a heavy piece of dense indoor/outdoor carpet.  The back rail has a piece foam weather stripping as a bumper.

This platform has three adjustable height legs. Single leg in the rear, double in the front.



Here's the leg adjuster detail.  Threaded adjusters are about 1" in diameter and 6" inches long.  The adjuster feet are about 5 inches long and screw on the threaded adjuster legs.



To use.

Level the platform using one of those small bullseye levels



Adjust height so rear of gun is eye level. 

Check level and shoot!

This is one way to do it, not the only way.

Here's another, a stack of old phone books!!!

[Terry C.]

I just thought of another question.

Projectiles.

It would be assumed that all guns fired round balls. But did they?

Anyone shoot slugs (foster-style) or any other non-spherical projo?

Or do the rules call for round ball only?

What about attached sabots?

[Double D]

The club furnished powder, wad and ball.  We ain't furnishing powder wad and ball, shot your cannon make 6 holes in each targets, score it and send it to me.

[seacoastartillery]

     Although we can't find the time to actually do any work on the mystery metal round we will use to make the postal shoot gun, when we saw Carronader's recent post, we thought an update was necessary.

 Re: Postal Shoot?
« Reply #53 on: Today at 04:47:04 AM »
   
Seacoast, forgive me for sticking my nose into Corporate affairs...........but don't you guys have a certain (owing to the weather ) under employed Bronze caster hanging around your shop.............drinking your coffee............scaring the customers..........who could be rummaging around in the offcuts / scrap bin digging out a 50 cal. tube.............and making a contribution to the defence of the honour and reputation of the Corporate Enterprise.     just a thought.
  DD some (most ) of those carriages in your photos show a high level of quality in design and build.........are they self builds ?   or store bought   Impressive !
 And !   My pet subject.........in one photo ..........clearly shown...........the Beauty of a finely patinated Bronze barrel...........next to it............the horrendous """"""""""""""" BLING """"""""""""""""""" of a highly polished - totally ruined barrel................Brasso..........Marines...............Drinking...........For the use of.

     Tom,   The real reason we keep inviting him back is because he is so entertaining.  No matter how hard you try, you just can't put him into a single category, except coffee drinker.  His gold prospecting buddy, Bruce, also a sculptor, is the one who can be scary sometimes.  I asked my grandson about the regular shop visitors just yesterday.  He just turned three.  I asked, "What do you think of Mike?"  "NICE"  "what about Gary?"  He says, "I like him he's different."  What about Bruce?"  "He's SCARY."  All in all, a very interesting survey.  So Gary is right, I am the dumpster diver.  I find 90% of the mystery metal for little fun cannons around here and I have been busy lately.  Below are a few pieces I collected about 3 weeks ago.

FYI
Tracy and Mike

I always bring a small file to the surplus metal yard.  This "file the edge off test" can tell you a lot about these rusty rounds of steel.  I would NEVER take one home which displays no rust.  I have absolutely no interest in exotic alloys or stainless steel, all of which can cause you major heartburn unless you know Exactly what type they are.  After you drag it home perform a standard spark test and then you will know what type of carbon steel you have.  Check internet for spark testing tek and charts.




This 3.125"+ dia. round, 15 inches long, is my choice for a nice little 3/4" round ball gun for the postal shoot.  It checks out as a 1010, 1018, 1020, 1026 or 1030 piece of low carbon steel.  Way overbuilt, 35% over minimum wall to bore size standards, this little gun should be a lot of fun to build, and, if carefully reamed, accurate too.




I managed to find two of these for about $50 each (100 lbs. each).  At 30" long, they will make perfect, low pressure howitzer tubes of the same  24 Pdr. Flank Howitzer type as the smaller ones.  A 1/4 scale of the original 5.82" bore should put enough metal on target to throw up plumes of dust and make 500 or 600 yard shooting a lot of fun.  Bye the way, we buy new 4150 ordnance steel for our customer guns, all of them.


      

[RocklockI]

coffee drinker ...? two cups in the morning ...maybe . ...coffee ?  Boy ,some guys can tellem and some guys can't 

Now a Guinness early on in the morning is nice once in a while .

"Nice , but he's differant !"  Good boy Joey . I wouldn't settle for anything less .

[oyvind]

    Although we can't find the time to actually do any work on the mystery metal round we will use to make the postal shoot gun, when we saw Carronader's recent post, we thought an update was necessary.

 Re: Postal Shoot?
« Reply #53 on: Today at 04:47:04 AM »
   
Seacoast, forgive me for sticking my nose into Corporate affairs...........but don't you guys have a certain (owing to the weather ) under employed Bronze caster hanging around your shop.............drinking your coffee............scaring the customers..........who could be rummaging around in the offcuts / scrap bin digging out a 50 cal. tube.............and making a contribution to the defence of the honour and reputation of the Corporate Enterprise.     just a thought.
  DD some (most ) of those carriages in your photos show a high level of quality in design and build.........are they self builds ?   or store bought   Impressive !
 And !   My pet subject.........in one photo ..........clearly shown...........the Beauty of a finely patinated Bronze barrel...........next to it............the horrendous """"""""""""""" BLING """"""""""""""""""" of a highly polished - totally ruined barrel................Brasso..........Marines...............Drinking...........For the use of.

     Tom,   The real reason we keep inviting him back is because he is so entertaining.  No matter how hard you try, you just can't put him into a single category, except coffee drinker.  His gold prospecting buddy, Bruce, also a sculptor, is the one who can be scary sometimes.  I asked my grandson about the regular shop visitors just yesterday.  He just turned three.  I asked, "What do you think of Mike?"  "NICE"  "what about Gary?"  He says, "I like him he's different."  What about Bruce?"  "He's SCARY."  All in all, a very interesting survey.  So Gary is right, I am the dumpster diver.  I find 90% of the mystery metal for little fun cannons around here and I have been busy lately.  Below are a few pieces I collected about 3 weeks ago.

FYI
Tracy and Mike

I always bring a small file to the surplus metal yard.  This "file the edge off test" can tell you a lot about these rusty rounds of steel.  I would NEVER take one home which displays no rust.  I have absolutely no interest in exotic alloys or stainless steel, all of which can cause you major heartburn unless you know Exactly what type they are.  After you drag it home perform a standard spark test and then you will know what type of carbon steel you have.  Check internet for spark testing tek and charts.




This 3.125"+ dia. round, 15 inches long, is my choice for a nice little 3/4" round ball gun for the postal shoot.  It checks out as a 1010, 1018, 1026 or 1030 piece of low carbon steel.  Way overbuilt, 35% over minimum wall to bore size standards, this little gun should be a lot of fun to build, and, if carefully reamed, accurate too.




I managed to find two of these for about $50 each (100 lbs.).  At 30" long, they will make perfect, low pressure howitzer tubes of the same  24 Pdr. Flank Howitzer type as the smaller ones.  A 1/4 or 1/5 scale of the original 5.82" bore should put enough metal on target to throw up plumes of dust and make 500 or 600 yard shooting a lot of fun.  Bye the way, we buy new 4150 ordnance steel for our customer guns, all of them.


      

Hi. Set shaft on a metal surface. take a metal part and turn gently on the highest point. tough hardened steel will provide a long piiiing, a molded shaft will provide a short-pong, but try with  shafts that you have and listen to sound different on the quality of on the quality of different metals..

[carronader]

M&T thank god we still have old school scrapyards over here...........two guys and an "I'll get you " dog. No way would they ask so much for steel. As for the indolent Board Member of the Corporation......simple....no bonus.........no share issue.........nuthin.   
   
 Prices on scrap here would allow you to take the risk and carry off maybe 5 or 6 pieces over here and still have change on what you are paying.

[Cannoneer]

Carronader, Zulu, Cat, and DD, thanks for the suggestions & photos on the adjustable legs; DD, those pics gave me some ideas, as did Zulu's all-thread concept, and I think I'll take Cat's (and the photos) advice on the three legs. Carronader, while I'll admit that the thought of using Gary's legs as models for the platform's legs sounds intriguing, I think the end product might appear a little too Pop-Arty.

[Cannoneer]

Thanks everyone, no projects to show-but lot's of ideas. Did someone mention a shoot? Sounds like the start of a good plan.

It's good to have you back, Lance. Got any ideas on the shooting platform, and/or carriages for the postal shoot?

I've noticed that in the photos that DD posted, it looks like all SAMCC competitor's carriages are sporting elevation screws (don't see one with a quoin).

 

[dan610324]

its much easier to make small tiny adjustments with a screw then a quoin

[Cat Whisperer]

Now if this is REALLY like the SAMCC shoots, the payment should be in Rand.   

Now the hard part, would you pay to shoot.

The targets cost about $.57 each, you'll need two.  I not sure what postage is but the the online postage computer says a large envelope at 2 oz. is $1.05. I'll go tot he PO tomorrow and verify that. That come's to 2.19.  Plus I have to buy the big envelopes to send them at around $.50 each.  Let's just say for discussion purposes $3 to enter, of course  subject change once I learn the actual cost of everything.

It's easier to stuff 3 one dollar bills in an envelope and send them to me, than 2.69 cents. The change will go in my 401K.

[Zulu]

He will take Krugerands.  401K's like Krugerands.
Zulu

[Cannoneer]

its much easier to make small tiny adjustments with a screw then a quoin

Dan: I agree with you, which is why I'm going to be making some alterations to this carriage. I'm going to make (I had planned to do this for some time now) this carriage over, so it'll look more like the Civil War period U.S. 4-truck naval carriages that were used on Federal gunboats like the Cairo. I'm going to replace the stool bed and quoin with an elevating screw, although some of the carriages at that time still used quoins. 




PDF - USS Cairo, historic structure report, March, 1981. See page 116: Drawings For Cairo Restoration, Sheet 23, Gun Carriages & Tubes.   
Cairo Carriages

[Cannoneer]

Thanks, Douglas; those are going to help a lot. I didn't mention it the above post, but it was DD's refurbishing of his Army 42-pounder rifled USS Cairo gun that first gave me the idea to try and get my mahogany carriage to at least look similar to his guns carriage. I'm going to work with the wood that's there, but I think I can get it to look fairly close; it pains me a little to paint over mahogany, but the person that made the carriage put hardware store brass plated eye screws on the axles and cheeks, and they're all off center, so I'm going to use wood filler in the holes. There's also a large chip off one of the steps that has to be repaired, so black paint is going to cover all the scars.  

DD's gun before he refurbished it.

[Double D]

One thing you don't see on SAMCC guns is breech ropes.  In the interest of safety these will be allowed.

[Double D]

If we were to do this, how would a post mark deadline of September 15 work?

[GGaskill]

Good as anything, although you might want to push it a little farther away from the time of the proposed CBC² II.

[Double D]

CBC² II has been cancelled for some time now.

[GGaskill]

I thought you said the club was looking into having it anyway; maybe at another site.

[Double D]

I thought you said the club was looking into having it anyway; maybe at another site.

Nope, they want to have it, but understand the reality, that there is no place to shoot this year. It's cancelled  http://www.cutbanksportsman.blogspot.com/

[Cannoneer]

If we were to do this, how would a post mark deadline of September 15 work?

DD,
Sept. 15, is good with me, but if the other guys would prefer another day, or month that's also fine by me.
You know, I'm so easy going, that I sometimes amaze myself.
 

[Double D]

I have the targets.

[GGaskill]

Sounds like time to formalize the rules and procedures.

[Double D]

Here's what I have so far:

Smoothbore Cannons under .800
6 shots at 22 yards on one B17 target
Best 5 shots on furnished targets only score
Shot twice
No sights
Sighting disk allowed
Touches the line scores the higher value.
Two targets total score of the best 5 rounds each target.
Breech rope/recoil restraint allowed.
Shooting platforms allowed
Entry $3 for 2 targets, reentry $3 for 2 targets
Targets returned postmarked no later than September 15

[GGaskill]

Round shot only or are conicals allowed?

[Double D]

The club furnished only ball.

[KABAR2]

May sabots be used with ball?

[Double D]

May sabots be used with ball?

Felt wads and patches were allowed and they are both forms of sabot.

[Double D]

The postal shoot is  up!!! See the stickies.

This post is linked to serve as Q&A's/FAQ's.

If you have a quesstion take a look at pictures of the SAMCC shoots.  Are the South Africans doing it,  then you can do it.

BoomJ, i haven't heard back yet on your device, until they respond, it's a no.