Winchester cannon - 10 Gauge Blank

If you've ever fired one of these, you know they roar & produce a lot of smoke...  
They are a real crowd  pleaser and attention getter... 

The cannon was generally referred to as the "M-98 Breech loading cannon". Announcement of the cannon first appeared in Winchesters 1903 catalog (No. 70), shown here.  I'll take a dozen at $ 7.00 each!

   Click on picture

Winchester manufactured the cannon form 1901 to 1958, at their facility in New Haven, Connecticut.  They offered two models, the standard black and the chromium plate finish (shown below).  Rubber tires were introduced in 1930.  Winchester produced approximately 18,400 cannons.

(Click on image to see larger picture)

The alpha numeric system under the barrel refers to part numbers of batch lots. 

It wasn't until 1955 That Domestic cannons had serial numbers.
Serial Numbers appearing on the side of the carriage were ones for export.
Some cannons have numbers stamped under the spring, it's unknown what these are.

 How to "roughly" date your Winchester cannon:

All the original cannons (1901 - 1958) have the following phrase stamped in the barrel near the breech regardless of the year they were made;

"Manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. New Haven, Conn. USA Patented August 20, 1901  10 GA"

"Not For Ball" appears on top of the barrel on all the cannons.  This has worn off on many.


1.  The Winchester lettering and patent date appeared on top of the barrel from 1901 to 1911.  

2. 1911 to 1958 the lettering was rotated 45 degrees to the right side (looking at the front of the cannon).  A few cannons have the lettering on the left side.

3. The first barrels (1901 to 1907) had muzzle outside diameters (OD) of 1 inch as shown  below.  Subsequent barrels had outside (OD) muzzle diameters of 1.25 inches.  
Early 1 inch OD barrel   
Click to see close up.

4. Early side plates read "Registered in USA", later and current side plates read "Made in USA" (We are still researching when the change was made).
                                        
5. Chrome cannons were offered in 1930 with optional rubber tires.  For a brief period during the mid 1950's the optional rubber tires had a lower profile.

6.  The original firing hammer on all cannons prior to 1958 had a small steel wheel that rode on the spring as the hammer was pulled.  The wheel was removed from the hammers in the 1970's to present day.  Current cannons do not have a wheel on the hammer.
       

7. If your original cannon has a serial number is was made after 1954. 

The original barrels were blued and not painted.  Todays barrels are elctroplated black.

The cannon is 16.5 inches long, 7.25 inches tall and 6.5 inches wide.  It weighs 15 lbs.

In 1976 Winchester authorized, under license, the Bellmore-Johnson Tool Company to use the legend "WRACo." on the side plates for remanufacturing the cannon and to change the inscription on the barrel.

Three additional models have since been added, the brass "Presentation" model, the "Centennial" edition in 1998, made in antique bronze (no longer produced), and the "Naval" edition in 2001.

Caution No. 1 - The Winchester cannons were not designed to accept "live ammunition".  Live shells create additional recoil, and will destroy the breech mechanism.
Caution No. 2 -  Several Winchester cannons are in the bottom of lakes and oceans. They either "rolled" off the deck, or fell off due to the recoil at firing.

 
Cannon-Mania is pleased to be an authorized dealer for the Winchester cannon,  click here!

Does your Winchester cannon need repair? Click here!

Original factory parts are available. Click here!