Cannon factory, home made cannons

Here are pictures / stories of viewers hand made cannons. These are extraordinary pieces. It takes many hours of work to complete these projects. The attention paid to detail and safety issues are admirable.
If you would like to submit your cannon project for consideration,
provide a couple of photo's and a brief explanation. Make sure you provide the dimensions!

This is a cannon I built from old Injection machine parts. The barrel is 2
1/2 " stainless steal with a 1 3/64 bore.the barrel is 26" long. The carrage
is made of walnut. The 16" wheels are antique Iron casters off a old cart.
It is 48" over all and 89lbs. with 1 oz. of ffg what a blast! lol Thanks
to cannon-mania for a graet and very informative site.

Eddie, North Carolina

Here are some pictures of a Mountain Howitzer we built. The barrel is made of 4 inch, 41/40 shaft stock. It's 32 inches long with a 1-3/4 inch bore. The carriage was coated with one coat of linseed oil and two coats of oil base (olive shadow) paint. It is made of red and white oak with an overall length of 4 foot 6 inches. The wheels are 26 inches in diameter and it measures 28-1/2 inches hub to hub. Thanks to Mark (barrel machinist) and Robert (barrel painter) for their help on this project, and thanks to Cannon-mania for answering our questions now and then. We do not fire any projectiles. The cannon is used at Church Youth Camps in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It really is fun to blast it off every morning at the flag pole before breakfast. The Kids love the smoke and noise.
Jim Terry

Click on picture to see firing video! (Second scene is in slow motion!,,,Cool!   Takes a moment to load.

I am from Norway and I work as a mechanic on an oil platform in the North Sea.
In my spear time at the rig I have make my self and cannon. I am sending
you some picture of it.   The cannon are made out of bronze and the bolts and nuts are brass. The bore diameter is 32 mm. The total length of the cannon is 540 mm.
I look at your page the recommendation of how much black powder to use. I
found out I can use about 30 gram with ffg powder. The shells I made have wall thickness 1, 5 mm and the bottom 5 mm. I made them out of brass.   My plan was to use black powder then little bit newspaper to compress the powder. Then I putt a slice of cork with the same diameter as the shell (32mm) and then glue on the top. The primer I was thinking to use
is Federal primer, same 6, 5 mm rifle ammunition.   (T.H. Norway)

Excellent job! I find it most rewarding to communicate with cannon enthusiast all over the world. Cannon-Mania

Click here to see video

Hi
Thought I would send you a short video of my home made mortars
firing on the 4th this year. The brass mortar is a 2-5/8 inch bore and
is 18 inches long and weighs 120 lbs . the barrel is 8 inches in diameter.
the black one is steel with a 3-3/4 inch bore 6 inch diameter and 10-1/2
inches long and weighs 48 lbs. I hope you can use this on your web site thank you. I use tennis balls and softballs.

Tom ps. I'm shooting in GREENRIVER WY.

Here are a few pictures of my rendition of a mountain howitzer. The
barrel is approx. 32" long, 42mm bore. The wheels are 34" in diameter. I
spent about 2 years building it. The carriage is all steel. I've fired
it numerous times with outstanding results.. It is extremely accurate. I
hope that you will post these pictures on your web site. Thank you, PJ

Well done!

A local customer recently brought in his modified Winchester storage box, custom made to his liking.
It features a hinged lid, rope handles and compartments for cleaning supplies and several rounds of blanks. There is also a heavy-duty lanyard.
Oh yes, there's room for the cannon also!

Nice job!

I came across your website while searching on the internet. I am a machinist with 15 years experience and have always wanted to
machine a cannon. This is my first cannon project and would like to share it with you.

Description: 1800 British Naval Cannon

The barrel measures 18 1/2 inches long (3 1/4 inch diameter breech) with a 1 inch bore and was machined out of cast iron. The front wheels measure 4 1/2 inches and the back measure 4 inches. The overall length of the finished piece is 20 inches and it weighs 30 pounds. The
carriage is made from oak and fir. The only thing that is store bought is the square head nuts, eyelets, and the tapered pins. My total cost
was only around $40 for the finished project and took me about 2 months to finish. I fired it twice on Memorial Day using 1 ounce of
Pyrodex. I plan on shooting it again on the Fourth of July.

Hello,
I found your site about a year ago and have enjoyed it since. I've noticed that their haven't been any additions to the "home foundry" for a while and thought that if I submitted a picture and a video of a mortar that I built that you might consider adding it there. The barrel is made of 3.5" hex stock and it is bored out to 1.75". The carriage is laminated together and I made all of the hardware. The video is a QuickTime video and it shows a neat smokring. The second cannon tube is a 24 pound howitzer that I'm working on(earlier style with the Dolphins) about 1/3 scale. It is 22" long, has a 1 11/16 bore, and was machined from 4" shaft. I'm also building a bowling ball mortar:O) If you need any more info feel free to ask.

Thanks for providing such a entertain and informative website,Wesley

Out standing!

Description: XVIII century cannon, on naval carriage
Barrel specifications: Approx. 1:10 scale model, bronze machined, smoothbore.
Caliber .50 spherical projectiles of lead (124,6 grains) or iron (86,5 grains)
Total length: 10 inches
Weight: 6,7 pounds
Charge: 30 grains of FFFg black powder.
Obs.: barrel inspection may be done through screw coupling cascable.

Carriage specifications:
Based on XVIII century naval model, made of Brazilian hardwood. All metal components was made from brass. Sight (angle) adjustment of elevating barrel (point to point) with rear edge.

Implements:
Made from same materials above mentioned, according to the age.

P.C. - S�o Paulo, SP - Brazil,

This is a very beautiful and well made piece. Thank you for sharing it!

JM from Michigan built this barrel as a high school shop project. It was turned from 3 inch stock, is 18in long x 1in bore x 16in bore depth. He fires it using 1 ounce of ffg black powder.

I enjoyed your web site very much and thought I�d send some pictures of my cannon. A home made � scale Napoleon barrel which I bought for $35.00 from a co-worker. The barrel was in a junk pile in the back yard of a house he was renting and the landlord wanted the trash gone.

The barrel measures 48 inches long 2.1875 inch bore and 8 inch diameter at the breach. Barrel weight is 235 lbs. Total weight is 525 lbs.

It took about 8 months to complete the project. I had to farm out all of the work and have a total of $650.00 invested. Well worth every penny. It has been fired several times per your instructions on your web site. Thank You! (See Attached Pics.)

The attached photo is of my completed 1/4 scale Coehorn mortar. It was made
from a 3 inch diameter piece of brass, 8 inches long. The bore is 1.5
inches. I made the base using six pieces of 2x6 ironwood glued and bolted
together. The base measures 9 inches by 16 inches and the finished piece
weighs just over 40 pounds. Using 600 grains of ffg black powder it makes a
lot of smoke, flash, and NOISE! It was a big hit on the Fourth of July.

Thanks for your guidance and patience in helping me complete this project.

Dan Marler
Hansville, WA

Jim Thomason (Texas) sent this photo of his 1/2 scale mortar. He just completed the "sled", and informed me that he was proud of it. I would be too. Nice job.

This mortar will shoot soda cans filled with cement.

Here is the photo of my first cannon, a 1lb ships signal cannon. This type of gun was mounted on the bow and stern of ships for signaling alerts and warnings. The 100 pounds of iron in this gun make it easy to move around the ship, one person carry. The main guns can be over 2000 pounds for some.

I made this in my shop, of native timbers 2 1/2" thick by 14" wide. Iron work was done locally, and some hardware (Square head lag bolts and iron rings) can be found at flea markets. Other things you have to make.

1 1/2" bore shots 750 grain (about 1 1/2oz) FG powder, 400 grain with ball.

Safe shooting! Douglas Angilly / Connecticut

The two English 32pdrs were built from scratch in 1975 as one of my
Mechanical Engineer's projects. The plans were taken from 2 full size
English Cannons that are in a park in Montreal. The barrel, 7 1/2", 30 Cal.
was turned in hardwood first then copied on a Tracer Lathe. The carriages
are oak. The wheels on one are steel with the holes found on steel garrison
carriages were turned with a custom tool bit and holes indexed on a dividing head. Trunions were presses fitted in milled holes with a milled flat on the trunion, welded by the inside, then bored out.

The 24 pdr was purchased as a kit in 1978 for $50.00 (wow). The 11 1/2" 58 Cal. Barrel is Brass turned from bar stock. The trunions are off center. The kit was a exact replica of Old Ironsides 24 Pdrs. The wood is high grade American Black Walnut and all the accessories are brass. This is my most accurate Replica.

The 36" Parrott Replica was built in 1987 from plans by William F. Green
taken from a Mechanical Magazine? ( just have copies) Ten were made. I
turned the Ten 19 1/2" 75 Cal. barrels at Concordia University in Montreal.
Trunions are set in threaded holes with milled faceplates. The 14" Wheels
were made by a Carpenter on Ile Bizzard. The rest of the carriage was made by each member of the Mountaineers Black Powder Club. (those who wanted one) Accessories were made by different members.
The task took 3 years.

Steve Tessier (Champlain, NY)

Here are the Whitworth images we spoke of. I have long been fascinated by the accomplishments of Sir Joseph Whitworth and his contributions to the development of artillery. After many years of research and two trips to Gettysburg ( a long way from Washington State) to view an example of this gun I finally created a set of working drawings. This particular gun is known as a Whitworth 2.75 inch breech-loading rifle. It was a field artillery gun developed in England in 1859. Several of the guns were imported to the US during the Civil War and were used to some degree by both sides. I built this particular model as a prototype in order to prove my working drawings. The carriage is not "correct" for the gun, it's a #1 field carriage that I cast to prove a set of foundry patterns that I have developed. The gun itself was machined here at home from solid steel stock. It took about 190 hours to build and as the pictures show, it is fully functional and exactly 1/6th scale. I have developed a set of moulds for making wax patterns for investment casting the more complex parts of the gun from SAE 4140 steel; but, to get the accuracy needed for authenticity, I still have to machine all surfaces. The bore of the original gun was a twisted hexagonal pattern and not conventional rifling. I am presently exploring the feasibility of electro-chemically machining this bore in the models that I'm making. I guess it's fair to say that I am driven by the challenges associated with the building of these models. The gun tube is about 18 inches long and the entire model measures about 24"x11" and the wheels are 9.5" tall. My friends and family have given me so much encouragement that I have begun several more models and I'm developing the tooling to speed up the construction process and enhance accuracy and quality. Thanks for considering my model for inclusion in your web site!

Dave, here are some more images of the other two cannon I made that are at home. I have fired all of them using 120 grains of 1fg powder and a wad. They really thunder out and smoke up the area, it's so cool.
Thank you, Dale Arrington (Salt Lake City, UT)

Thought you might be interested in these projects. The big gun is an adjustable tennis ball mortar. The barrel elevation can be adjusted from horizontal to vertical by cranking the hand wheel and can be locked in any position by tightening the knurled knob on the left side of the mortar. The barrel is made of 316 stainless steel and the carriage is black oxided low carbon steel. The wheels were confiscated from and old dolly. I designed and built this mortar in my "spare time" at work. The first time I shot the mortar, I loaded it up pretty good and shot the tennis ball straight up. The ball was never seen and may still be going up. Later shots were made with smaller charges so that we could follow the ball by eye. The smaller signal cannon was also built in my "spare time." The barrel is made of 316 stainless steel and the carriage is low carbon steel. It has a 68 caliber bore and adjustable elevation. It rolls back about thirty feet when it is shot on a flat cement surface.

Sincerely, James A. Harvey

Here are pictures of the cannon I built. It has 20" wheels, 26" barrel and the overall length is 52". I am new to attachments.

I don't fire a projectile out of it. I load it with black powder and put a
small amount of newspaper in it, tamp it slightly and fire it. I am in the
process of making a mould to pour my own balls. It has a 1&1/16" bore in a 3"piece of steel so the wall thickness is capable of shooting it.

Thanks Ralph

MY DAD AND I FINALLY FINISHED THE CARRIAGE, JUST IN TIME FOR NEW YEARS. WE HAD A BLAST, HERE ARE A COUPLE OF PICS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT, INCLUDING RAMROD AND SWAB, DONE IN MAPLE. THE CARRIAGE IS MADE FROM SOLID OAK SLABS THAT MY DAD CUT FROM A DOWNED OAK TREE