This topic along with the advisory topic of how to construct safe artillery pieces are in my opinion the two most important topics that we discuss on our forum (I'm including all aspects of loading in this present topic). It also impresses me as especially relevant at this time, (though it should always be considered relevant) because of all the new names that are appearing at the top of the page, both those members that are still scoping things out, and those who have already taken the plunge and made their first posts.
In the opening post of this thread the possibility of this accident being caused by a live ember in the vent is put forward, and while this is obviously complete conjecture, let's for the sake of argument say that we believe it to be a fact.
The next step here would be to read Double D's post about cleaning and clearing the vent properly, which I have to agree, would absolutely nullify the supposed reason that this accident occured, and let's also add here that doing this would make it unnecessary to try and recreate 'Old Faithful' gushing up out of the vent. Another
very good reason not to "flood" the bore of your barrel is that it would in the opinion of many, (me included) just create an even more dangerous circumstance when reloading your piece (this topic has been covered here before).
When I use the phrase 'school of thought' what I would be describing would be a large number of individuals that are involved in a certain activity, and are in agreement about a specific aspect of that activity. Now if this be the case, then in my opinion there is basically (and this would include both contemporary and past thoughts on the subject) only
one school of thought on the subject of inundating the bore of a cannon with water, with the intended objective being to douse any burning/smouldering black powder contained in either foil or cloth remnants; and that one 'school of thought' would hold the opinion that it's not a good idea. Of course, when I'm talking about one shcool of thought here, I'm referring to valid American artillery orginizations, including the U.S. Park Service, that follow detailed rules, procedures, and guidelines concerning loading.
I realize that upon first reading this 'anti-flooding' opinion, that to many it probably sounds counterintuitive; after all, what sounds so wrong about completely dousing and extinguishing with certainty, any burning embers left in the bore of your gun after firing it? Well, let's discuss a few words from the preceding sentence, namely completely and certainty: There is no factual 'complete certainty' that there would be no smouldering embers left in a guns bore that had been flooded with water. The only way to be certain that no burning remnants remained in either the chamber, or the vent of the piece would be to make sure that they had been removed, and flooding with water isn't going to assure you of that. In fact, I agree with many others that using excessive water to mop the bore would only tend to exacerbate the problem of remnants sticking to the walls of the chamber.
When I fire any of my reduced scale cannons I do exactly the same thing that I see the skirmishers and reenactors do when they wet swab the bores of their full sized guns; I dip the sponge in water and then vigorously shake or spin the excess water off before running it down the bore.
I'm not going to copy and paste here a lot of things off of the BPMC link that accompanies this post, but I would suggest that those of us who are concerned with safety give this past thread a good read.
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,182144.0.html Re: List of past cannon accidents
« Reply #22 on: September 07, 2009, 11:44:20 AM » Quote
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Okay, now it make sense.
Wet sponge leaves water. Charge gets wet and leave smouldering debris after firing. Next charge gets rammed in on top of smoldering debris.
The drill is very important.
Ten Step Standard Procedure from National Safety Rules and Procedures for Shooting Muzzleloading Artillery, as adapted by the American Artillery Association March 2000
I Clean the Vent
Clean the vent as the first step in each cleaning, loading and firing sequence. Proceed as follows:
Use a .22 caliber or appropriately sized bronze cleaning brush on a suitable rod and brush the entire vent twice.
If no brush is available, the alternative method is to run the priming pick or gimlet up and down the vent twice, twisting to make sure the vent is completely free of powder bag remnants.
II Stop the Vent
Seal the vent with thumb pressure during the entire cleaning and loading process. This means no air should escape the vent from the time the worm enters the muzzle until the rammer is removed after the projectile has been seated. Use a leather thumbstall or heavy glove to protect your thumb to protect your thumb and make a tight seal.
III Worm the Bore
Using a tool with two sharp steel points which replicates an original cannon cleaning worm, worm the bore until all debris is removed. Turn the worm at the breech to pick up any powder container remnants and to loosen any powder residue. The worm should fit closely so the points will pick up debris easily.
IV Wet Sponge the Bore
Sponge with a wet (but not sopping) tight-fitting sponge with a head of lambswool or wool carpeting over a wooden cylinder affixed to a shaft at least one foot longer than the bore. The end of the sponge head should conform to the shape of the breechplug.
Seat the sponge against the breech with hand pressure and give two full rotations of the shaft. Withdraw the sponge half-length, twist, then reseat against the breech and give another two full rotations.
Remove the sponge. If any powder container remnants or unburned powder comes out with the sponge, repeat the entire process, starting with Step III Worm.
V Dry Sponge the Bore
After wet sponging, the same procedure is used with the dry sponge. The dry sponge is cleaned and dried off periodically with an absorbent towel-type rag. (The purpose of the dry sponge is to remove excess moisture from the bore; if water is left in the bore it may cause incomplete burning of the next powder charge, leaving dangerously glowing residue.)
VI Load Powder
Use a crooked shaft U-shaped rammer if available. If not, use a plain wooden pole without a head, or with a smoothly tapered head (made like a U.S. Model 1841 "Mississippi Rifle" ramrod), so that it might force the hand open should premature ignition occur.
Mark the rammer in advance in two places, one to show the amount of shaft which should be sticking out the muzzle when the charge is seated and the other to show when the projectile is seated.
The ammunition chest should be located 25 feet behind the gun and 25 feet forward of the spectator line. Powder charges should be prepared in advance as specified in Safety Rules 1 and 2 below, wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Open the chest only long enough to remove one charge in its safety container. (Do not open chest following warning that a gun is about to fire until 10 seconds after that gun has fired to prevent hot vent debris from falling into the chest.)
Carry charge to gun in fireproof safety container. Do not proceed to load unless 3 minutes has elapsed since the gun was last fired. Check your watch.
Open safety container. Remove foil-wrapped charge and place it in the muzzle with one hand while wearing heavy leather gloves (see above).
Wearing heavy gloves, stand to the side of barrel with as much of your body as possible behind the plane of the muzzle. Grasp rammer underhand, with one hand, thumb to the side. Seat the charge lightly with smooth strokes. Do not pound the rammer against the charge.
Immediately upon feeling the charge reach the breech, drop your hand away, releasing the rammer. After 10 seconds and after ascertaining the charge is fully home (according to the rammer marks) remove the rammer, one hand, underhand, thumb to the side. This may require grasping and releasing the shaft a few times. Never two hands on the rammer.
VII Load Projectile
The projectile loading procedure is the same as that for powder. The rammer is operated with short strokes, one hand, underhand, thumb to the side, until the mark shows the projectile has been fully seated.
No projectile should fit the bore so tightly as to be difficult to seat. All projectiles should pass wasily through a bore sized ring gauge.
Be sure the projectile is seated fully against the powder charge.
Upon completion of loading, person ramming shall indicate to the person holding the vent that the gun is fully loaded. The vent may then be released.
VIII Pick the Charge
To insure ignition, pick the powder charge wrapper through the vent with a pick or gimlet held by the shaft, between glove protected fingers.
The pick shall be constructedof a non-sparking material.
IX Prime
Priming the vent depends on the type of ignition used. Typical systems are: linstock and priming powder, fuse, priming quills, friction primers, .22 blank, and percussion cap.
If priming powder is used, prime from an open topped container constructed to hold just enough 4F or 3F powder to fill the vent. The priming device should have a handle so that the hand is never over the vent when pouring the loose powder. Priming is not done directly from powder horns or flasks.
Hot debris is apt to be blown out the vent on discharge. Crew members should wear hats for protection, spectators kept at a safe distance, and all ammunition chests closed whenever any gun is firing.
X Fire the Gun
The person designated to ignite the charge calls out "Ready to fire" in a loud voice to alert other crews on the line that a gun is about to fire and to notify the gun captain that the piece is primed. At this call, any open ammunition chests are immediately closed. The gun captain makes a quick visual inspection of the range forward of the muzzle to make sure no one is in danger and then commands "Fire". The time between "Ready to Fire" and "Fire" should be at least five seconds. The primer is then ignited.
Priming powder, fuse and priming quills are ignited with a linstock which is long enough to allow the cannoneer to stand outside the wheels. The linstock holds the burning slow match made of cotton rope impregnated with potassium nitrate or lead acetate to make it burn.
If a lanyard is used to ignite friction primers, or to activate a lock using percussion caps or blank cartridge, it should be long enough to allow the cannoneer to stand outside the wheels and out of the way of recoil.
