First-timer

[zoiezeus]

Hello all, I hail from northern Michigan. I used to shoot ML's in compition with my parent's. That was awhile ago.I'm pushing 40 now and recently cannons have caught my interest and I am thinking of building my own cannon. I don't think I will be shooting in comp's any time soon but who knows.I have alot of ?'s and think the people on this site will be able to answer all of them. So here goes, a golf ball cannon will be my 1st build. I've fould one that I like it is built by Cannon Thunder- cannonthunder.com they call it the Marcia cannon. I plan to make mine very close to this one. I plan on using 4140 seamless tube and i also want to rifle the barrel for better accuracy 11" bore length. Bore diameter is my 1st ?. I see you guys talk about windage but with my plan on rifling the barrel I think a patched gb with .005" to .010" windage on the bore would be what I want- 1.685" to 1.695" but I'm sure? Next ? chamber dim's and shape. How big should the chamber be and what shape should it be and what size charge should it hold. The major od of barrel should be 3.5" to 4.5" to conform with what y'all say is safe. I am a resonably good machinist and good welder but I plan to have all my welding done at a local tank and pressure vessel shop, just to be sure. Any comment from anyone will be helpfull. Thanks to all in advance.

[Cat Whisperer]

zoiezeus

WELCOME to the board (and addiction).

Good questions! 

[Rayfan87]

Not a bad looking gun. Just as a clarification, I think that would be classified as a howitzer. I may be wrong,  I often am. A cannon would have a straight barrel without the reduced chamber. Im fairly new myself and the more experienced guys can go over all the little details better than I. The important thing is think safety.

[GGaskill]

I don't know what your preferences are but it is my experience that people regret having made freelance designs as they get farther into cannon making/shooting.  The above barrel is basically freelance as none that I know of (which, admittedly, is a pretty limited number) have grooves in the barrel and the back of the breech and cascable are greatly overdone.  Take a look at the guns in the Robinson's Battery collection, especially the Guns - Page 1 through Guns - Page 3 pages before you start cutting iron.  If you are looking for older designs (18th Century and before), such as the following (Royal Navy/USN 24 pounder), I can provide plans.

[Double D]

Hello all, I hail from northern Michigan. I used to shoot ML's in compition with my parent's. That was awhile ago.I'm pushing 40 now and recently cannons have caught my interest and I am thinking of building my own cannon. I don't think I will be shooting in comp's any time soon but who knows.I have alot of ?'s and think the people on this site will be able to answer all of them. So here goes, a golf ball cannon will be my 1st build.

Welcome to the board.

I've fould one that I like it is built by Cannon Thunder- cannonthunder.com they call it the Marcia cannon. I plan to make mine very close to this one.

Interesting looking cannon.  Its a conceptual piece not really representing any specific cannon.  It is a nice looking piece.

I plan on using 4140 seamless tube and i also want to rifle the barrel for better accuracy 11" bore length.

  With a bore that short  why not just use a solid piece and just drill and ream?  You will then do away with the issue of setting a breech plug in place.

Why would you want to rifle a golf ball cannon there is nothing to be gained.  For the size gun you are building, shooting round ball out of the smooth bore with zinc or steel will be plenty of accurate.   A golf ball will not.

Bore diameter is my 1st ?. I see you guys talk about windage but with my plan on rifling the barrel I think a patched gb with .005" to .010" windage on the bore would be what I want- 1.685" to 1.695" but I'm sure? Next ? chamber dim's and shape. How big should the chamber be and what shape should it be and what size charge should it hold.

Golf ball bore with proper windage is 1.72.  Since you are going find out real fast that golf balls don't fly straight out of cannon bores you  are going to be looking for some other solid balls.  We have a group buy for steel golf balls listed in the  cannon classifieds.  Also listed in the cannon classifieds is a group buy for pop can size zinc balls from Rotometals.  Rotometals also have  golf ball diameter zinc round balls.

You will find it very difficult to chamber and seat a patched round ball of golf ball diameter. Because of the total surface area in contact with the bore it  takes great deal of force to seat a ball that large. You will need a big hammer and even then  you will find problems.

If you make a straight bore you will need a barrel at minimum 5.16 diameter to meet the safety guidelines we recommend.   It's your choice to follow those guidelines or not, and you may be on safe grounds using 4140 and the smaller dimensions.  If you make a howitzer chamber you can get away with the smaller diameters you mention.  To determine the correct chamber size divide the barrel diameter over the chamber area by 3 and that would be your maximum safe chamber size.

Rifled bores work better with conical projectiles than round ball.

How are you going to rifle the bore?  Are you set up to do rifling?

The major od of barrel should be 3.5" to 4.5" to conform with what y'all say is safe. I am a resonably good machinist and good welder but I plan to have all my welding done at a local tank and pressure vessel shop, just to be sure. Any comment from anyone will be helpfull. Thanks to all in advance.

May I suggest you find your self a set of plans for a specific cannon and scale that to golf ball dimensions before freelancing and building the  Marcia gun.  This will give you a feel for cannon building and make things a bit easier when you take on the Marcia.

[gunsonwheels]

My first barrel was machined as a copy of one in a local men's ware store (his was 3" rifled bore and I was turning a 40mm (1.58" dia) rifled bore).  After completing the gun and carriage (all faithfully copied) I got ahold of Don Lutz's Artillery of the US Land Service (and yes he was "just" Don Lutz back then... Antique Odnance Publishers came later).  While my gun was an excellent shooter, after seeing drawings of the "real deal" I almost couldn't wait to start over and do it right... per a drawing of an actual Civil War or Rev War field piece.
 
I will strongly counsel you to get some drawings and copy something that was real.  I got the selling of mine done and have been trying/waiting 40 years to get back to re-doing it right.  I believe if you follow my path of copying something that was not real, you will also regret it later.
 
GOW/George 

[zoiezeus]

I was right! you guy's would be able to answer my ?'s and I glad I got into this forum before I started this project. The Marcia was one that caught my eye, but I think I will go with a standard design rather than a "freelance" as been suggested. I want something that I can shoot accuratly so, I guess golf ball's may not be the best choice. Maybe something in the 1"-1.25" dia. range might be better. The rifleing idea was to gain accuracy, going back to my MLer shooting, rifleing is more accurate, but guns/cannon/howitzers are not hand held rifles. A smooth bore may be better to start with. I am not set up to rifle but I looked at old school methods and have some concept ideas and drawings of how do it. I am a tool-maker and I designed a method that i think might work. When making the barrel I would leave extra material @ the muzzel and drill and tap mounting holes and ream dowel pin holes for location and indexing of a fixture/ broach guide, where a single toothed broach would be pressed through the bore and is guided by the by fixture that has a single spiraling slot. It's a little hard to describe in words I will try to post my drawings if I can. But, like I said, I think I will start with a smooth-bore. You mention zinc and steel, what about lead. I have hundreds of lbs of lead and i can make my own molds for balls or bullets?

[GGaskill]

Lead shot is OK in the smaller bores but it starts getting heavy which drives up the pressure as the diameter increases.  1" would be OK and 1.25" would be OK in a properly sized steel barrel.

Rifling is nice and the easiest way to have it is to build using a demilled military barrel.  They aren't real easy to find and can be expensive and modern rifling doesn't look like Civil War rifling; details, details.  I think it is overkill for a first barrel and you could always add it after the fact if you really wanted it.

[zoiezeus]

GGaskill, this looks like a good gun for my 1st build, the Royal Navy/USN 24 pounder, will this shoot 100 to 150 yards with decent groups? If so how do I get plans and how much do they cost?

[RocklockI]

ZZ (if I may)   you did good giving up on that silly looking thing you were considering !
You did good giving up on rifling    . The 24 lber would be a good choice .
 
I too used to shoot a few black powder matches . This is a differant game , close ,but not the same .
 
Without sights accuracy is about nill ...till you get the hang of it ,but you will never get groups like you may be used to with a smooth bore cannon that requires sighting on your tummy . Then you 'peer ' over the base ring and the muzzle flare till you are sure you will at least hit the ground    let fly and correct as needed . There you have have it simple .
 
Welcome to the board ! The best thing you did was ask these questions B4 you made or bought some god awfull thingamaroo .
 
I am working on a 24lber now ,Tracy took pics . I will try and have him send them to me .
 
Gary