Cannons for Cannons

big tee

Well-known Member
A update on the Cannons for Cannons Greenhouse--
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Not sure what caliber it is--
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Long ways to go yet--The greenhouse opens April 15th so have a lot of time yet..-After pricing new steel I am on a budget so am using used steel
 
looking good, I like it, if you were closer I would give you a stack of body builder weights from big to small to cap the charge end of the barrel
 
I have 2 sets of 4 old wheels that match--these and a set of 4 off of a horse drawn mowers and Darrell liked these so that is what he gets--Would liked to had those old 4 ft. high and 3 in. wide rear wagon wheels but don't have any. I stopped at the buggy shop down in Amish country and he would have made us a set of narrow buggy wheels for $250 a piece but makes them out of hickory and said they would rot sitting outside all the time,,,
 

For what it's worth, ACW-era field artillery pieces were not measured in calibres.

As a rule, smoothbore guns and howitzers were categorized by the weight of a round shot that fit the bore. For example, the popular 12 lb gun, Model 1841; the 12 lb gun-howitzer (Napoleon), Model 1857; and the 12 lb Field/Pack Howitzer, Model 1841, were all 4.62" bore pieces as that size allowed a 12 lb shot/shell in the tube (with a fraction, about 1/10", for windage). Some obscure guns did not use round iron shot but rather lead projectiles that were shaped like huge Minie' bullets. Even so, the guns were designated by what round shot they would use rather than by the weight (or size) of the conical projectiles.

Rifled guns were coming to vogue at the time, and, since they used elongated bolts, not round shot, this method of categorization was not adequate although it was used alongside the new method for some time. The new method did employ bore diameter, such as the 3" Ordinance Rifle and the 2.9" and 3" Parrot rifles. The Parrots were also known as 10 lb rifles because the common solid bolts used (there were a large variety) averaged about 10 lbs.
 
I have some round blanks from the scrap yard I go hunting in and I sent the 2 in the picture home with my son for he has a turning lathe and said he could cut a hole in them--but he took a 4.5 in. hole saw and did it that way-made donuts out of them---
 
Fourth of July morning at first light-five lbs. of black powder, a sixteen lb. bowling ball and a short fuse-and run like hell!!---
 
No--there really is a greenhouse 2 miles down the road run by your long-lost cousin Darrel and his Mrs.-Jane--GOOD people! My wife gets most of her stuff there every Spring and I joke that after she leaves--He gets a new pick-up---
 
Son used a 4.5 in hole saw to make the hole so that's what it is--THANKS--PS--You know your cannons!!---
 
Or we could dump in some old ball bearing and shaving sweep up around the drill press and make a street sweeper, good for cleaning the streets of rioters!
 
If you want to get serious, it only costs money:
https://easternshore.craigslist.org/clt/d/easton-civil-war-full-size-cannon/7577287800.html
 
Don, the wheels pictured in the photos look like very light weight idler-type used on "bogies", maybe not right word, but were directly behind the horses hitching eveners and all they did was to carry the tongue of a grain binder or a disk. No cleats on rim to give any effort at running the machine such as hay mowers needed. Those were usually cast iron with molded in cleats.

That is a neat idea and I wish I could see the shot!!

Is that tube seam-welded or is it seamless? Leo
 
(quoted from post at 09:32:13 01/26/23) Son used a 4.5 in hole saw to make the hole so that's what it is--THANKS--PS--You know your cannons!!---

There ya go!

In addition to owning a replica field piece and leading an artillery re-enacting company, I am the Co-Chief Inspector for Region XII, National Civil War Artillery Association. Among other things, we hold regional schools every other year to teach folks who are interested in blackpowder artillery something of its history as well safe and effective drills for firing them. We really don't want to hurt anyone on the field, and that "anyone" includes [i:edc34b0133]us[/i:edc34b0133]!

It's a serious business, and we want folks to take it seriously. Artillery is a team sport, and our aim is to make sure that all the parts of the team work together.

On the side, the history of the guns, their types, their roles, and their peculiarities interest us--and me a great deal. One of my gun sergeants and school instructors collects, catalogs, and displays remainders of projectiles dug from places where the armies were. (He also displays and fires his beautiful bronze-tubed 12 lb Mountain Howitzer.)

Another colleague and former superior officer is literally the world's leading expert on a particular, obscure field piece--years of digging through archives and pestering folks for a fact here, a remnant over here, and a picture there. The result is that we now know a great deal about what was once a foot note with little bits scattered here and there (literally in the case of remaining tubes and carriage remnants). There now exist 95%+ accurate replicas of the Woodruff gun, 36 or so made in Quincy, IL, one battery of which was used in the famous Grierson Raid, a distraction that helped Grant get his armies across the Mississippi River to harass, encircle, and finally capture Vicksburg, a victory with greater implications for the war than that at Gettysburg that same week. (See John Wayne's [i:edc34b0133]Horse Soldiers[/i:edc34b0133] for a dramatization of the raid.)
 

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