Black Powder Canons

For years i've been building black powder guns and canons and since all the discussions on gun control, i decided to open a thread on the subject of black powder Canons and share a few tips on the simplicity of manufacture and use



many years back everyone had always claimed that no one could legally own canons or even use them, and there really wasn't any articles about them, or even possession of black powder, but as years went forwards and the internet came along, low and behold the world of canons opened up and brought with it inspiration



It seems as if we American can build, own and operate any canon of any design or configuration, as long as it remains black powder and we don't use modern primers to fire them or fire explosive artillery projectiles.

So now with that being said, you can just imagine the possibilities, especially in the fact that you can build breech loading Canons and even Canons that fire cartridges and you will remain within the guidelines of the law, which for the most part isn't any

And did you also know you can legally possess up to 50 pounds of black powder per person? even as a felon?



Above are several views of a 62mm breech loading black powder Canon that i built, that actually shoots pool balls its quite bad ass, with just 1200s grain of blackpowder, at 100 yards, i can push a pool ball clean through a car as if it was butter, and sometimes it doesn't even break the pool ball, you could imagine if i was shooting conical steel projectiles from it, what the penetration power could be and what i could shoot through at the same range and with a heavier powder charge.

Canons are simple things to make and are safe to shoot as long as you use the right materials, which i have found to be the best material, is either hi pressure steam pipe or oil drilling pipe, preferably 3 1/2" inch, and always use the threaded male and female ends for the breech. Ive never had an accident in over 500 discharges, you just have to be sure when you're welding to get deep penetration and stack your welds so there's some meat there to ensure a positive hold

I love going to the salvage yards and just wander around and look for all the pre-made parts i can use to assemble them into cool looking weapons of war. And to be quite honest you can make a pretty good living building them, you'd be surprised how much people will pay for a cool one...i sold this one for $1500, ole man was looking for a yard ornament and didn't even care if it was real, drove up, ask me what i wanted for it and i told him the price and he wrote me check right then and there, came back later with his truck and trailer and it was gone

Next i'm building a Tank

So does any of you guy's build or shoot Canons? or have cool pics or story's you'd like to share?

You know, if Unkle Sammy comes after your guns, you'd be wise to answer him with something larger

Originally posted by SPECULUM
62mm breech loading black powder Canon

I don't know if I'm erect or scared lol. Wow.

I'm in awe that you build these yourself, not sure that it would be practical for self-defense but just fine for long range bombardment and sheer intimidation.
How do you figure the thickness of the barrell vs amount of charge, is there a formula or something? Ever get harassed by the local law over them? Build any with rifling?
What an awesome hobby.

Nice piece bud! I made a few black powder pieces but never complete cannon.

Amazing!!
I'll come back when you started with the U-Boat

reply to post by twitchy

LOL, never been harassed although i was investigated by the feds once, because one of my canons looked so real , that a customer of a gunshop i had displayed it at called the feds

The shop owner called me and said the feds wanted to talk to me, but they never called, i knew they wouldn't

wall thickness should be no less than half inch for barrel, but the chamber should be no less than 2 inches thick, i usually laminate in steps of different thicknesses of pipe to build the chambers, that way it works as a fail safe if something try's to split, and always make sure the pipe is seamless, thats why i use drill stem

Ive only ever made smoothbores but that also give ways of developing different munitions in different configurations.

the key to accuracy is in the recoil, i always build recoil systems with auto or motorcycle shocks on slides to tighten up the groups if you look close enough in the photos you can see how i did them

reply to post by Snaffers

actually i do have a sub design i would like to make, but it didn't have canons, it would just submerge when threatened by pirates

I knew a metallurgical engineer who cast cannons in his spare time. He like to make the moulds in sand, and build heavy wooden trucks, so that they would look at home on the deck of a square-rigger.

I was actually quite surprised by how small the cannons were. I thought his were scale models or something, but then I toured several museums with actual pieces, and they were only slightly larger than his (or your) work.

I was also surprised by the amount of recoil his cannons had. I have written in another thread about assisting him while he shot a tractor bearing through the load-bearing beams of an abandoned barn. I remember that cannon, which on it's truck was only 3ft high and maybe 4 1/2 ft long, traveling 15 or 20 ft backwards when fired... and hard enough it would run over anything in it's path.

Postscript:

I don't know if the OP has ever been to the National Military Park at the Vicksburg battlefield, but they have a truly impressive collection of cannons from both sides of the Siege of Vicksburg. The last time I was there, they had a brand new brass "Napoleon" with a multi-man crew dressed in Confederate uniforms who fired it with no ball. It was worth watching, and only cost a couple of bucks.

Just google "vicksburg cannon" and you'll see it, among dozens of cannon artifacts.

all the best.

They have the battle of Wilson creek re-enactment at battlefield missouri, plus they have another at ironton missouri
they're quite impressive

over at lake stockton they have a casting plant and a customer that orders 2 inch bore Napoleon replicas, they used to sell me all their "blems" for cheap and i would dress them out and sell them for a couple hundred more than i had to pay for them