Author Topic: July 4th Shoot  (Read 690 times)

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Offline Legio3arty

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July 4th Shoot
« on: July 06, 2012, 08:10:02 PM »
My son and I got invited to a backyard cannon shoot at a friend's house on the 4th. What a great way to spend a hot summer afternoon. There were ten guns present ranging from my little .62cal RevWar 6-pounder all the way up to a full-sized 12lb Napoleon. I got to serve nearly every gun and my son (at age 10) got to fire the Napoleon, as well as a rifle and pistol during the small arms portion of the festivities. I couldn't be prouder of the way he handled himself on the range. My little gun was well recieved even though it was smaller than some of the hand guns present. I had brought along my parts-kit MG42 (dummy gun) and lafette tripod mount on the chance that some of the guests might like to see it. Lots of folks wanted to get their pictures taken with it. Next time I hope to have it converted to a propane gas gun so they can make some real noise with it. The accuracy competition even gave me an idea... I'm thinking of making a fixture so that I can dismount my cannon's barrel and connect it to modern German MG3 tripod that I bought to go with my MG42. The mount has a built in recoil spring system that's designed to handle the kick of 7.62 NATO rounds at a rate of nearly 1200 rounds per minute. I could even build a slider with softer progressive springs and let the gun travel further to reduce the recoil even more. The cool thing is that it would give me a really stable base and some crystal clear Zeiss optics to shoot through. My son even suggested using the trigger actuating bar to somehow light the fuse. My only question is, would using a modern tripod and optics be considered cheating? Even so, it would be fun to try. Maybe it would be cooler to do it with my repro '53 Enfield.

Offline GGaskill

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2012, 05:38:36 PM »
... would using a modern tripod and optics be considered cheating?

'Twould depend on the rules of that specific contest.
GG
“If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.”
--Winston Churchill

Offline jeeper1

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2012, 07:43:07 PM »
Quote
My only question is, would using a modern tripod and optics be considered cheating? Even so, it would be fun to try.
I see nothing wrong with this sort of thing.
I may not be completely sane, but at least I don't think I have the power to influence the weather.

Offline Cannoneer

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2012, 09:45:40 AM »
Hey, that's Tropico with his swivel guns! Didn't Dominick or Powder keg make the base on the left?
RIP John. While on vacation July 4th 2013 in northern Wisconsin, he was ATVing with family and pulled ahead of everyone and took off at break-neck speed without a helmet. He lost control.....hit a tree....and the tree won.  He died instantly.

The one thing that you can almost always rely on research leading to, is more research.

Offline jeeper1

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2012, 06:21:41 PM »
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Didn't Dominick or Powder keg make the base on the left?
No Idea.
I may not be completely sane, but at least I don't think I have the power to influence the weather.

Offline Cannoneer

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2012, 02:13:43 AM »
I  was  interested in  something strong and light weight I could easily assemble with no nuts and bolts to lose. Gravity holds this together pretty good and portability was (is) a must. The legs are just under 1 1/2" O.D.  The leg sleeves welded to the 3/8's plate has a 1 1/2" I.D.  The  sleeves are 6" long and cut and welded at 22 1/2 degrees . The 48" long legs give a 36" triangle spread on the ground . We welded some Chain-Links halved to the plate for tool hangers. We recieved a swivel base and welded pipe from Dominick with our Swivel yoke Dom built for me.  This is the same pipe used on our tripod. This provides no play and is smooth. Re-coil on a 1" bore with a lead projo is less than you may think and is easily controlled with my tripod. I am happy and confident with my tripod. The system easily can move left-right or up-down so one has to be steady ., hitting reasonably sized targets is a trick but fun.  Good luck and please keep us posted on whatever you come up with. I enjoy the learning.


I did have a hook welded to the bottom also. This hook is for a bucket i keep water in. (No ., recoil doesnt soak me)
Also we have used the tripod for cooking over a fire ., as well as melting  lead in a plumbers pot. Always camp with your swivel. 
RIP John. While on vacation July 4th 2013 in northern Wisconsin, he was ATVing with family and pulled ahead of everyone and took off at break-neck speed without a helmet. He lost control.....hit a tree....and the tree won.  He died instantly.

The one thing that you can almost always rely on research leading to, is more research.

Offline Legio3arty

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Re: July 4th Shoot
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2012, 06:04:13 AM »
Cool swivel gun tripods guys. Plenty of extra uses too. The tripod I've got is not the traditional tee-pee/three-legged stool type. It's weapons platform designed for ground-firing machineguns. Part of my intent when I bought it is to serve as a testing base for some of my Roman torsion catapult projects.