K.I.S.S. the can...

[Double D]

Hopefully next spring the wife and I are going to hook up the travel trailer and drag it 2000 miles and spend two months with the Maryland Grand daughters.

The girls live on a big farm with a big pond. Beautiful target that pond, but the girls don't have a cannon or mortar to make the water splash. I feel it is my responsibility to correct that problem.

I got my first shipment of steel today...I have dispatch Andy Jackson to thank my patron.

[GGaskill]

Not bad; 3 days LA to Cut Bank.  I see it arrived safely.  Take the packaging apart to save all the drywall screws.

[1Southpaw]

Great packaging ! 

Thats going to make a wonderful "KISS the Can Mortar" (as in kiss it good bye , the pond will never be the same )

[Double D]

On the plus side this mortar will be lighter than my Dom Dictator.   Easier to load in the pick-up

On the negative side this mortar will be lighter than my Dom Dictator.  Greater recoil.

There is not shortage of dry wall screws in this house....they are in the same class of repair materials as duct tape and super glue.

I am going to send this same box liner with a new left wall  to Ken at Fox industries for my next steel ball order.   

[GGaskill]

I am going to send this same box liner with a new left wall to Ken at Fox industries for my next steel ball order.

You will need to make the side walls higher for maximum internal volume.

[Victor3]

 Nice start for the barrel, but that base needs a little work.

 Gonna paint it?  

[Double D]

Nice start for the barrel, but that base needs a little work.

 Gonna paint it?  

ROTFLMAO...good one...no less the 20 coats of spray can varathane

[Cat Whisperer]

Hmmm.   Hand rubbed between each coat, I hope.   

Seriously, this has potential, and potential pitfalls.

I have a golf-ball caliber hand-gonne that is a two part design - a follow on to the GB mortar contest.
As you recall, we developed essentially the same plan independantly at the same time.
Mine is slightly different in that I use an offset in the location of the trunnion/trunnion-hole to lock the pieces together.  I built several each with a different feature or barrel length.

Moving to a larger diameter (gb to bc) opens up possibilities - that of being able to use many of the rounds/drops that are so easy to accumulate with a nominal purchase of DOM tubing.  Perhaps a little more expensive in per-foot cost, but much less expensive in TIME to machine.

Hmmmmm.  ...

[Double D]

George, sidewall height noted and will be correctted.

Here are the numbers for this project from the spread sheet.



There is a design oversight.  The build will continue without modification and testing after completion will determine if the oversight is critical.

[Double D]

For some reason I lost this thread a while back and continued the build over in another thread.  I will update this thread withe progress reports fro the other post so this build is all in one spot. 

I have been really busy getting ready for the road trip in two weeks. Lots to get done , especially K.I.S.S. the Can mortar.  I will get the mortar done, but I probably won't have a drawing for you folks until later.  I have been so busy that I keep forgetting to take pictures as I work.




I have got the  Metal work completed on the mortar.  The trunnion was made from a piece of  1 1/2' round cut and faced 6 "  I drilled the holes in trunnion for the screws.  The holes are counter-bored for the cap screws. 



Breech plug is drilled and tapped for the trunnion and vent liner.

I made a jig to hold the 5/16-18 cap screw so I could drill the hole in it.
 




Today I drilled the base wood for the crosspiece screws and the trunnion.  Later this evening I'll start the inlet.





I was going to make the base like the base on the 10 inch seacoast mortar, I was going to cut the cheeks from some 1 inch plate.  That base is just a bit too complex the K.I.S.S. concept. 

A standard wood base ala Confederate 24 PDR fits better. I was going to use a 4"x 4" for the base. 

They are tearing down an old grain elevator in town that was built back in the 1920's.  The wood is being pushed into a hole and burned.  I grabbed up some 6" x 6" beams for a base for the  Junk yard dog.  I also saw a 4" by 12"  x 4'  that I grabbed up and took the the  Hutterites to run through the planer.  I cut 3" x 3 1/2" x 16" pieces out of this cleaned up wood.

Any body else working on winter projects? Update your project posts.

Better hurry, spring is coming.  March 20, will be time to ring in the Spring!!!!!

Now back to the shop and start inletting.  Should be easier with fir than oak.

[Double D]

I did the inletting for the barrel this afternoon.  Fours hours of inletting stretches the concept of leisurely recreational retirement activity.  The dogs missed their nap this afternoon and are cranky tonight.

[Double D]

Everything is done.  I will test fire next week while I am down in Idaho.   Then it will be sand and paint time.  Probably do that after I get to Maryland  I did put on a coat BLO on the wood to protect it.  Makes up into a pretty good looking mortar,  I think.
 


Blisters healed up overnight..

[Double D]

Fired three shots to test this mortar this morning.  200 grs of Fg tossed the cement  filled pop can 120 yards.  This Mortar  also makes good  crack when fired.

The thing about this  mortar that stand out is that it is a nice size for one person operation.  Not to small to appear toy like but not so big as to give you aback ache setting up.

For those who seem to not understand correct detail the  Confederate pattern 24  PDR Coehorn was not painted, it was linseed oil treated...I "painted" myself into the corner over paint and wouldn't miss such detail...

[Double D]

I got a bit side tracked on this project during the events of my road trip.  Here is the final wrap up.

The  Mortar got  painted when I got to my sons house.  It came out looking pretty good.




Shoots pretty good also.



I used the gun to ring in spring. 

During the 4 of July celebration I did some long range can tossing and dropped several cement cans out to 400 yards, and rather accurately also.

I think this is a neat little gun.    It is light weight and simple to build and looks pretty good also.  I have steel coming to build a couple more.

[keith44]

nice shot,
 
Mortar looks good too.
 

[Co. Batguano]

Have you chronographed your loads?  what is the velocity of a beer can full of concrete that goes 100, 200, 300, 400 yards?  It would probably be the same for everyone,.  It would also be interesting to know what the ballistic coefficient is of these various projectiles.  I'm guessing that a 6 or 12 pound round ball has a better BC that the pointiest of 30 cal spitzers.

[Double D]

Have you chronographed your loads?  what is the velocity of a beer can full of concrete that goes 100, 200, 300, 400 yards?  It would probably be the same for everyone,.  It would also be interesting to know what the ballistic coefficient is of these various projectiles.  I'm guessing that a 6 or 12 pound round ball has a better BC that the pointiest of 30 cal spitzers.

Nope not chronographed.  Just load the powder and shoot.