My little Bronze Swivel Gun.......

[KABAR2]

A fellow on another cannon board had posted photo's of a nice little bronze swivel cannon he had accurired
I owned one of these from 1983 to 2001 and they were cast over a core, I fired it with blank loads but never
with ball,  this one I plan on shooting and will bore it out for sleeving I will post photo's tonight.... this is a photo
of the one I used to have.....sorry no powder can.

[Zulu]

Kabar,
That's neat!
What ever happened to this project of yours?



There is a guy in Artilleryman magazine that wants to build a grenade launcher to use in Revalutionary War re-enacting but he doesn't know if they were used in that war.  He is asking if anyone knows anything about this?  I thought maybe you might know something.
Zulu

[KABAR2]

Zulu,

I have lost track of what project number I gave that one....  Lately I have been working on
things that will make me money so I can buy stuff like this.... I am in the middle of restoring a flintlock
and a Penn. rifle that will be going to auction in the near future.... so my toys wait to get worked on...

Allen <><

[Zulu]

Kabar,
Do you or anyone else out there know if the grenade launcher was used in the time frame of the American Revolution?
Zulu

[KABAR2]

I believe they were in use as far back as the late matchlock era I have never seen any reference to their use in the American Revolution....
it would be interesting if someone finds proof  that they were either in sea service or land service.

[lance]

I'm just here looking at what you are bringing to the shoot this weekend, swivel gun and flintlocks are welcome

[RocklockI]

Kabar that is a nice looking gun ! What is the bore size ?

Gary

[KABAR2]

Kabar that is a nice looking gun ! What is the bore size ?

Gary

Bore size is 1.5 inches the gun is about 20" long it was cast around a core which presents a problem
I plan to sleeve it but won't be able to keep the original bore size as the metal is too thin at the molding behind
the muzzle so I think bore will be reduced to 1 3/8" or 1 1/4"

Kabar,

Do you or anyone else out there know if the grenade launcher was used in the time frame of the American Revolution?
Zulu

I spoke to a friend up at Colonial Williamsburg, he says yes they were used, Fort Ticonderoga has a couple that were used in the American Revolution.

[madmanpsu]

I've been working on a Grenadier type personae for late 16th and early 17th Century reenacting. I know they were in use from the early to mid 1500s in specialized circumstances. The earliest ones I have seen are wheel locks and most likely German in origin. I have been told that Matchlock versions exist, but have not seen any pictures or references in primary sources. The wheel lock pictures I have seen from a German and an English museum all look pretty much like the flintlock versions in use during the American Revolution. I don't have any specifics on their use in the American Revolution, but I do know that the Grenadier Gaurds were formed around 1690 and where a specialized unit of the British army devoted to use of the grenade launcher.

[Double D]

A fellow on another cannon board had posted photo's of a nice little bronze swivel cannon he had accurired
I owned one of these from 1983 to 2001 and they were cast over a core, I fired it with blank loads but never
with ball,  this one I plan on shooting and will bore it out for sleeving I will post photo's tonight.... this is a photo
of the one I used to have.....sorry no powder can.

How about bit of info onthe history of this gun...any markings?

[KABAR2]

These were produced by someone in the National Parks Service back in the 1950's or 60's they were modeled after an iron Swivel gun found near the French & Indian War site of Fort Necessity which was surrendered by an officer who went by the name of George Washington...... this is an early casting being serial #2 which is stamped on the underside of the barrel the first one that I had was serial # 24 the later gun had it's serial # engraved on one of the trunnions and a 18th Century quality mark was engraved on the other. How many did they make?  At least 24 of them......There was one more on loan to the Fort Lee museum in NJ  all of the ones I have seen were cast around a core. the bore has been smoothed but you can actually feel a seam at the 12 o'clock  & the 6 o'clock positions inside the barrel the first one I owned had a bore constriction in the area of the trunnions. The exterior finish was very good on all of them and I would say it was all done with hand work - files etc.

[Cat Whisperer]

Ahh yes.  The 'museum ' at ft Lee (VA - petersburg) was not yet advertized as open the last time I drove by (a month ago).

[nchokie]

I have this same cannon.Mine is # 37 per inscription on the trunion.Mine has a separate brass ring that holds the two piece yokes together and supports the barrel at rest [other than that being identical].I would love to have mine sleaved as well.Any idea anyone who would tackle the job??
What is ment by " being cast over a core"??

[GGaskill]

Casting over a core in the case of artillery repros usually means casting around a piece of steel tubing that is going to be the bore.  This is done so the maker doesn't have to drill the bore for a liner.

Generally casting over a core means casting a piece with an internal piece of mould (the core) to create a cavity in the casting.

[thelionspaw]

Wikipedia grenade launchers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifle_grenade

[KABAR2]

I have this same cannon.Mine is # 37 per inscription on the trunion.Mine has a separate brass ring that holds the two piece yokes together and supports the barrel at rest [other than that being identical].I would love to have mine sleaved as well.Any idea anyone who would tackle the job??
What is ment by " being cast over a core"??

Well now we know there were more than 24 cast... it would be interesting if anyone else has one......

Most machine shops can do this work if you don't have a large lathe to do it yourself, if you look at the stickies you will find the recommended
formula for figuring out how thick your liner should be and methods of breeching it, this one will need to have a reduced bore dia. for wall thickness
as it is only about 1/4" thick at the molding behind the muzzle swell.

A little more info on "cast over a core" these guns were sand cast and a sand cylinder was placed in the mold to form the bore,
this was kept in place with what are called "chaplets" pieces of metal to keep the bore aligned during the casting process, this was
the method early cast guns were made into the 18th century when water power was used to bore solid casting,  earlier guns could
have pockets left by gasses in the metals that would weaken the structure of the cannon by casting solid there was less problems
with this and it created a much stronger cannon. 

I should mention one cannon accident reported in the Artilleryman back in the 1970's involved a bronze gun with a cored bore,
the gun was used at a college football game and was excessively loaded if my memory is correct a pound of powder was used,
the gun was wet wadded news paper (not recommended) when fired the chaplets were blown out the side of the cannon
and into a parking lot causing damage to several cars.

[nchokie]

Thanks for the follow up...I don't have capability to sleave this barrel and would like a reccomendation if anyone has one.
You referred me to "stickies" as a source of info for this sleaving process.I feel like a dummy ,but could you provide more detail on that ?? I've tried to search under barrel sleaves ,sleaving ,etc with no success.

[Double D]

The stickies are post that are locked at the top of the forum like  sticky notes.  They all have a stick pin icon and highlighted color on our board.

The one you want is http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,89682.0.html