Not a big Cannon, but an interesting one.

[awmartin]

Hello everyone,

I'm very happy to have found this forum, as I think that I'm getting that fever that comes with collecting cannons. Having said that, I have my first cannon, which I really like, although unfortunately I have no clue what it is. I have been told that this may be some sort of black powder signal cannon.  The barrel of the cannon is 4.5 inches in length and looks to be made of bronze, and has makers marks/designs on both sides of the barrel, and also has what looks like a "C" on the barrel as well.

What I really like about this cannon is that it appears that someone at some point modified the stand to allow the cannon to be triggered electrically as evidence of the two lugs, although I may be completely wrong and these could be for something else.

Does anyone recognize this cannon and what the meanings of the markings on the barrel signify?

Without further adieu, here are some pictures of the cannon.

     

       

     Thanks!

[Cannoneer]

awmartin,

It is a toy that was meant to be fired with black powder, and it's possible that it dates back to the latter 1800's to early 1900's. These small toy cannons were made of brass, bronze, or cast iron, and I don't think that that wood mount is the carriage that it originally came with.

BTW: I wouldn't fire it, if you like it keep it for display. 

[Victor3]

 Neat. I can't think of any reason that those posts would have been installed other than to fire it electrically.

[KABAR2]

Perhaps the electrical firing was part of some kids chemistry set......

or set to a timer as a noon gun....

last but not least an alarm gun set up to fire when a door was opened.......

[Artilleryman]

Interesting piece.  I am curious about what looks like a vent that was plugged with a screw.

[carronader]

glow plug ?

[seacoastartillery]

Neat. I can't think of any reason that those posts would have been installed other than to fire it electrically.

     I believe that those two screw posts are, what dynamiters would call, a 'Strain Relief'.  When I was in 1st, 2nd and 3 grade I lived in upstate New York where the basements for new houses were excavated by blasting with dynamite.  All the kids in my neighborhood were fascinated, of course, and the blasting boss used to call out to us before each explosion to come hide behind a bulldozer about 100 yards away from the planned explosion.  Can you imagine the heartburn this would cause the excavator's lawyers today???  After showing us what a blasting cap looked like and warning us vigorously to stay away from them and call out to the blasters if we found one, they let us scramble over the big pile of broken up, hexagonal,  basalt rock after the blast to find 'dynamite wire' ( more reasons for modern lawyer heartburn!!!).  The point, finally, is this:  They showed us that a big part of their safety procedure was to wrap the wire coming out of the 'loaded' hole around a nearby rock, providing a 'strain relief' for the wire as it was unreeled on the way back to the old style, plunger type, blasting machine.  This prevented the blasting cap from being pulled from the top stick of dynamite.  Top capping, they explained was designed to break up the rock without propelling it out of the hole. 

     It looks like the delicate nichrome wire and bell wire assy. going from the powder pile at the vent to the terminal posts is connected to the battery and switch, bell wires at those posts so that a strain relief is provided to avoid pulling the initiator off of the vent location.

Tracy and Mike

[Spuddy]

Neat. I can't think of any reason that those posts would have been installed other than to fire it electrically.

     I believe that those two screw posts are, what dynamiters would call, a 'Strain Relief'.  When I was in 1st, 2nd and 3 grade I lived in upstate New York where the basements for new houses were excavated by blasting with dynamite.  All the kids in my neighborhood were fascinated, of course, and the blasting boss used to call out to us before each explosion to come hide behind a bulldozer about 100 yards away from the planned explosion.  Can you imagine the heartburn this would cause the excavator's lawyers today???  After showing us what a blasting cap looked like and warning us vigorously to stay away from them and call out to the blasters if we found one, they let us scramble over the big pile of broken up, hexagonal,  basalt rock after the blast to find 'dynamite wire' ( more reasons for modern lawyer heartburn!!!).  The point, finally, is this:  They showed us that a big part of their safety procedure was to wrap the wire coming out of the 'loaded' hole around a nearby rock, providing a 'strain relief' for the wire as it was unreeled on the way back to the old style, plunger type, blasting machine.  This prevented the blasting cap from being pulled from the top stick of dynamite.  Top capping, they explained was designed to break up the rock without propelling it out of the hole. 

     It looks like the delicate nichrome wire and bell wire assy. going from the powder pile at the vent to the terminal posts is connected to the battery and switch, bell wires at those posts so that a strain relief is provided to avoid pulling the initiator off of the vent location.

Tracy and Mike

I love these types of explanations.  Makes me wish I had grown up when cellar holes were blasted with dynamite.

[GGaskill]

All the kids in my neighborhood were fascinated, of course, and the blasting boss used to call out to us before each explosion to come hide behind a bulldozer about 100 yards away from the planned explosion.

Can you think of a more effective way to keep the interested kids at a safe distance and be relatively sure there weren't any still in the blasting zone?  Telling them to stay at a safe distance would be today's socialists' way of doing it, ineffective though it would be.

[1Southpaw]

Neat little cannon . Nice desk display .

My Grandfather retired to a Mountian Ranch . He was forever blowing stumps from his pastures .
It was my joy and delight to be his helper . Several memorable stump stories .
My Grandfather had a horrible temper and very little patience.
On one occasion we were trying to blow a 3' diameter stump  with little success .
After the second try with 2 half sticks , we barred 3 holes , inserted 3 sticks  and ran to hide behind another large tree .
Ka whoomp !  Stump flew across the narrow ravine in to the neighbors hill side pasture .
Grand father was quite pleased with the results .  I was not so estatic as it was my job to fill the hole ! 

[GGaskill]

Stump flew across the narrow ravine in to the neighbors hill side pasture.

Good thing he wasn't watching from his pasture.   

[Spuddy]

Neat little cannon . Nice desk display .

My Grandfather retired to a Mountian Ranch . He was forever blowing stumps from his pastures .
It was my joy and delight to be his helper . Several memorable stump stories .
My Grandfather had a horrible temper and very little patience.
On one occasion we were trying to blow a 3' diameter stump  with little success .
After the second try with 2 half sticks , we barred 3 holes , inserted 3 sticks  and ran to hide behind another large tree .
Ka whoomp !  Stump flew across the narrow ravine in to the neighbors hill side pasture .
Grand father was quite pleased with the results .  I was not so estatic as it was my job to fill the hole ! 

My Grandfather used to do the same thing with boulders found in potato fields.  Dangerous work.  It is not unheard of to find old dynamite on the top plates in old farm buildings, where it was kept out of the reach of children.  Look cannons

[Cat Whisperer]

I had a couple of friends - brothers - that thought they'd blow the big stump since their dad was out of town.  Insted of the usual 1/4 stick they used many.  Said it went almost out of sight going straight up.  I'll stick to the safety of blackpowder and mortars.

awmartin  --

WELCOME to the board!  Great pix!

[awmartin]

Thanks for all of the information, I agree 100% with Tracy and Mike that the posts are for the purposes of holding the initiator at the vent of the cannon. WOW, I would have never thought of that.

I love reading your stories, oh how the times have changed, at least we all still have those memories.

Thanks again!

[Victor3]

...oh how the times have changed, at least we all still have those memories.

 And..... At least we still have most of our body parts. 

[Cat Whisperer]

...oh how the times have changed, at least we all still have those memories.

 And..... At least we still have most of our body parts. 

Thank God and St. Barbara!   

[Winger Ed.]

You might have the 'alarm clock' feature from an old, backyard lawn ornament type sun dial.

I don't know if they still sell it, but the big/famous company that sells all the reproduction kits and parts for
BP guns, cannons, and antique cartridge firearms used to list a reproduction of a sundial that had a alarm feature.

You could turn the little cannon on its base to set the time it would fire, and load it with a blank or firecracker charge.
Those broken off screws could have held the bracket for a magnifying glass that was focused on the fuse/touch hole.
When the sun came around to the proper time, the lens would light the fuse and set off the little cannon.   

The last time I looked at one of their catalogs was in the early 80's.
But that little cannon sure reminds me of the one pictured in their sundial kit.   

I wouldn't be surprised if it was pulled off the market do to the concerns (in our modern and enlighted age)
of having functional, loaded, and possibly unattended firearms laying around.
Gosh, if there had been one of those things in our yard when I was a kid-
I can imagine all sorts of fun there was to be had with it, even after Dad got mad and ripped the lens bracket off.

[Cat Whisperer]

Winger Ed.

WELCOME to the board!

What do you like to shoot?

[Victor3]

 I see this cannon's up on ebay now...

[Cannoneer]

I'm beginning to develop the nose of a bloodhound for these things; upon first reading this topic I just knew that miniature was headed for eBay. I waited some days then checked and found nothing, checked at a later date still nothing (so I figured it was a bad call), but when I looked again a few days ago, there it was.

The guy before this one asked for some input on a small (around .40 cal.) machinist made brass barrel that had a threaded breech plug. When I saw it later on eBay he had the opening bid set at 600 something $.
 

[GGaskill]

When I saw it later on eBay he had the opening bid set at 600 something $.

Did he get any action on that bid?

[Zulu]

The one at the top of this page is $135 on Ebay right now.  
Zulu

[Winger Ed.]

Winger Ed.WELCOME to the board!What do you like to shoot?

Thanks.
I do the usual cast bullets, reloading & target shooting stuff with tricked out rifles & handguns- up to a single shot .50BMG.
I've got a 2 & 1/8 bore cannon that is about a 1/3 scale of a mountain Howitzer-ordanance rifle looking thing. 
I've been rebuilding the carraige, but sort of got stumped on making the wheels.

I stumbled across some bowling ball mortar vids, got interested, and found my way here.
I got a proper tank, the tools, a 250amp MIG, etc., and decided to build a Florida/Cohorn style one.
I've been reading all the 'stickies' here, done a pretty good BB mortar search, and am up to about page 12 in the archives.   

Today I cut the cylinder, figured out how to make barrel bands, and Sat. will pick up a 6"dia. x 7" breech plug & 2" trunnion shaft.
So far, I've taken a lot from here.  In the next little while, I hope to put something back as I get the mortar build going.

[Cannoneer]

When I saw it later on eBay he had the opening bid set at 600 something $.

Did he get any action on that bid?

He got bupkis, George. He relisted it at the same price with no bids made again, and I didn't see it after that. I still don't understand why that guy thought that his little barrel was so special?

 

[Victor3]

When I saw it later on eBay he had the opening bid set at 600 something $.

Did he get any action on that bid?

He got bupkis, George. He relisted it at the same price with no bids made again, and I didn't see it after that. I still don't understand why that guy thought that his little barrel was so special?

 I remember that one. He claimed it was made by some semi-famous model steamship builder IIRC.

 I wish people would just be forthright and say 'What's this thing worth? I wanna sell it.'

[GGaskill]

I still don't understand why that guy thought that his little barrel was so special?

Maybe he should take it to the Antiques Roadshow and get some free advertising.   

[Cannoneer]

To get me to part with over six hundred bucks for a little brass barrel, the Antiques Roadshow would have to supply some pretty good advertising; maybe something like one of their experts saying that beyond a shadow of a doubt the small cannon was made by Harry Truman in a machine shop located in the basement of the White House.