Planning for the Defeat of Fort Pallet

[Double D]

Gary,

Took this picture when I cleaned up the mess ofter the shoot.   It is why I say that nothing more than a Golf ball diameter cannon and someone who has taken the time to learn how  aim  his gun is all that is needed to breach Fort Pallet.

[Zulu]

Hmmmm.  Beer-can caliber paint ball?

 

Didn't the character "Oddball" in the movie Kelly's Heros shoot paint rounds out of his tank?
Zulu

[Cat Whisperer]

Hmmmm.  Beer-can caliber paint ball?

 

Didn't the character "Oddball" in the movie Kelly's Heros shoot paint rounds out of his tank?
Zulu

How could one forget that!

 

[RocklockI]

Hmmmm.  Beer-can caliber paint ball?

 

Didn't the character "Oddball" in the movie Kelly's Heros shoot paint rounds out of his tank?
Zulu

How could one forget that!

 

"The only tank in the Army that can go faster in reverse than foward ,....so we can out of trouble quicker than we can get into it !"
Gary
 
 

[jamesfrom180]

Since marker rounds have been brought up, I have been pondering making a chalk round to give a more satisfactory visual "splat" down range.  Anyone make a hollow projectile and fill it with carpenters chalk?   

[seacoastartillery]

 Since marker rounds have been brought up, I have been pondering making a chalk round to give a more satisfactory visual "splat" down range.  Anyone make a hollow projectile and fill it with carpenters chalk?          

     James!   What a capital idea!!  You must be an engineer.  This material, Carpenter's & Mason's chalk, fulfills all the requirements we can think of for an ejected "marker" material.  Highly visible out to 200 or 300 yards ( we hit a quart bottle of the blue variety at approx.  230 yards at the first,   New River Valley Cannon Shoot   in 2007 near Floyd, Virginia and suddenly a huge blue "Smurf" appeared and drifted slowly away), it's a non-toxic, finely divided, easily handled, dry powder which can be easily loaded into a blind hole drilled in the front center of a rifled projectile or into several blind holes in a round shot.  A simple card wad, sealed with a squirt of spray paint can hold the powder in until impact.

    As soon as I saw that buzz-saw cut 1x4 with the red paint, I thought of Gary's red and black cannonballs.  I called Mike over and we agreed to paint our soda can size balls with green paint just before shooting them.  Yikes!  What a mess that would be!  We will test chalk at the earliest opportunity to see if small quantities show up upon impact at 100 yards.

Tracy and Mike


   


































 

[Artilleryman]

 Since marker rounds have been brought up, I have been pondering making a chalk round to give a more satisfactory visual "splat" down range.  Anyone make a hollow projectile and fill it with carpenters chalk?          

     James!   What a capital idea!!  You must be an engineer.  This material, Carpenter's & Mason's chalk, fulfills all the requirements we can think of for an ejected "marker" material.  Highly visible out to 200 or 300 yards ( we hit a quart bottle of the blue variety at approx.  230 yards at the first,   New River Valley Cannon Shoot   in 2007 near Floyd, Virginia and suddenly a huge blue "Smurf" appeared and drifted slowly away), it's a non-toxic, finely divided, easily handled, dry powder which can be easily loaded into a blind hole drilled in the front center of a rifled projectile or into several blind holes in a round shot.  A simple card wad, sealed with a squirt of spray paint can hold the powder in until impact.

Tracy and Mike
   

How would the chalk be ejected from the front of a rifled projectile?

[Rayfan87]

You make the nose out of chalk and it sends the dust flying on impact.

[Artilleryman]

So instead of using chalk dust, use a large diameter chalk stick.   I will have to try that sometime.

[seacoastartillery]

 

 How would the chalk be ejected from the front of a rifled projectile?   

 
      After thinking about this necessary action, I had thought that a reverse Parrot Percussion Fuze style striker could be machined and loaded into the chalk hole drilled in the nose.  The open end of this closed tube would be facing toward the nose of the projo.  Or you could load a loose-fitting 54 cal. lead ball first and then put the chalk in.  However to be responsible at the range, you would also need to drill a hole across the projectile near the tip for a 3/16" hardened steel dowel pin which would be installed after either of those loose-fitting powder expellers were in place.  This safety measure would prevent pieces from flying off at unpredictable angles upon impact.
 
     Thank goodness for Rayfan87!!  His suggestion is much better in that it doesn't require machining parts, drilling holes or using other associated parts or assemblies.  His idea is simple (KISS principle), safe and easy to make.  Here is how we would implement it.  Buy a small rocket nose cone at the hobby store, cut to an appropriate length (to fit on top of your flat nose bolt (like our Brooke projo), spray it with two coats of clear acrylic spray, allow to dry.  Cover with dental mold silicone rubber (we have it on hand at all times to make Chamber molds before rifling a tube).  The resulting simple mold is sturdy enough to make these chalk, bolt-ogives, (mix the chalk with 5% by weight dexetrin for bonding and wet the mixture slightly to consistency of Play-Dough and gently pack into the mold), let dry. Make five such molds with the same coated, wood cone if you have lots of bolts to fire.  These chalk bullet tips are very fragile, so spray them with 3 coats of clear acrylic spray to form a plastic shell around them.  Epoxy to top of your zinc, lead or steel bolt.  Carefully align.
 
      Needless to say, these will release their chalk dust instantly as impact occurs.
 
 Great idea, Rayfan87; we will do ours this way!  Hey, Bonus; no flying parts on impact, except lightweight wood splinters!
 
 FURTHER KISS simplification:  Buy a bag of those oversize sidewalk chalks.  Using your mini-lathe, turn the nose ogive, flip and face off the other end square.  That's it!!  No lathe?  Use a piece of 100 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and shape by eye.  You can detect a angular divergence of only 1/4 degree by eye.  Remember, a 1 deg. angle diverges a full .0175" at only 1" distance!  Spray with clear acrylic for extra strength.
 
 
 Mike and Tracy
P.S.  I think Artilleryman beat me to it.

[Artilleryman]

You may need a hollow rammer head like they used to keep from damaging fuses to ram a chalk head projectile without damaging it.  You may want to use a "Mississippi" type rammer or hook rammer when doing this.

[shred]

FWIW, I've played with the chalk marking rounds for 40mm grenade launchers.  They are of the breakable nose-cone design, but very fragile.  You would have to do quite a bit of testing to determine a shell that would break nicely on impact, but not at launch, but it ought to be doable.

[Rayfan87]

Four years on stage crew and scouting since 1st grade, you tend to think with the KISS method.

[jamesfrom180]

Yes you assumed correctly I'm and engineer. 

My initial thought was to have a completely frangible projectile that was filled with chalk and pressed in a mandrel much the same as you would a rocket motor.  I have some HDPE that is almost 1.63" in diameter.  I was thinking using neat cement and cardboard wadding for weight and construction and filling with 1 to 2 oz. of chalk.  Looking at a water bottle on my desk makes me think there are plenty of different projectile possibilities out there. 

I already carry a simple caliper around in my pocket, now I'll be checking other things besides soup cans.    Oh, I am one of the few engineers that lives by the K.I.S.S. Method and have a great respect for qualified machinist.