First cannon,...which one!?

[cdn_army]

Hi

I have been doing alot of reading here, and on the internet, about all the available barrel maker. Obviously a tube made from a bar is much stronger than a cast iron with sleeve.

I have read alot of bad comments about cast iron. Now I would like to ask the question , If all the bad press is really a concern or it's mainly people being snob or over cautious?
Dont get me wrong safety is paramount, but just like we would all like to drive a LAV-25 or M1A2 for safety on the road we all agree that its not nececery. I agree with what Tropico said in its post, to live shoot only what you can afford, but im asking if there is any stats or spec number that could prove that a seamless steel liner in a cast iron barrel is closer to a pipe bomb than a cannon.

I would love to get your opinion and if you have any ''scientific'' data.

Please consider that the venthole is going to be lined to reduce the possibility of corrosion between the casting and the liner.

I am not posting with a narrow mind, but im trying to get the whole story before choosing to get or not to get a cast iron barrel

Thank you

[Artilleryman]

I have a full scale 10 pdr Parrott made of cast iron by South Bend Replicas with a Paulson Bros. rifled liner.  It was poured solid, bored and sleeved.   I have been shooting it for over 30 years with projectile loads including service loads at the Grayling Long Range Artillery Match.   

[keith44]

with the barrel sleeved (properly) and the vent liner also installed, I see no logical reason not to choose a cast barrel, if that is what you want.  With proper care and loads that are not excessive the cast barrel should give you a life time of safe service.  An all steel barrel would allow more margin for error, but likely would become unsafe or unserviceable with the same neglect that would make a cast and sleeved barrel unsafe.  (pressure is pressure, and a weak spot will be exploited no matter what you build a barrel from)

[GGaskill]

I think what you see here is the builders using bar stock because it is more conducive to the construction methods available to the small builder.  Casting barrels is a complex process requiring more equipment than most home or small shops have available.  If you can take a look at that How It's Made segment about South Bend Replicas, you will get some idea of the work involved in casting iron.

There is no question that steel is less brittle than cast iron but well done cast barrels with thick enough steel liners have a good record.

[flagman1776]

 
 

[Victor3]

...im asking if there is any stats or spec number that could prove that a seamless steel liner in a cast iron barrel is closer to a pipe bomb than a cannon.

I would love to get your opinion and if you have any ''scientific'' data.

 Any lined, cast iron barrel is "closer" to a pipe bomb than one of equal dimensions machined from suitable (for cannon barrels) modern steel stock. To get even closer to a pipe bomb, one could cast plaster of paris over a liner. Depends on how close one wants to get.
 
 As far as "scientific" goes, info is readily available in the form of engineering data related to material strength and mechanical design. In a nutshell, suitable modern steels are stronger than equal thicknesses of cast iron for this particular application.
 
 The above is not to say that a very safe barrel can't be made using cast iron + steel liner. They can, if designed and constructed properly. However, none will be as safe/strong as a barrel of equal dimensions machined from one piece of steel.