SWEET!  God, I want one of those!

WOW, that things huge.. you can really reach out and touch someone with that thing.

give us a sit-rep when you test fire it.

i could not afford the ammo for that, so i wont even ask how much.

"Lumpy" will probably be a very good nickname for you after all...or more to the point, it'll be a good nickname for your shoulder after firing that monster a few times.

You might want to invest in a pogo stick and re-engineer it for use as a recoil absorber!

Thick neoprene padding can be found in fabric stores for making your own custom .50 shooting jacket with mega shoulder pad.

I don't think that having something that fires the M2 round really increase your ammo costs all that much.  With ammo being as cheap as $1.75 a shot, and given the power level, I'll bet that 100 rounds through that monster will probably satisfy your day's pain and noise tolerance at least as well as the equivalent value in .223 ammo.  

You bet I'm jealous!

But then again...I've got a 20mm Gatling gun barrel sitting here that may be turned into a black powder cannon, firing these:
[url]http://www.rvow.com/m55_projectiles.htm[/url]

I'm investigating to see if there's any way I can legally make a BREECH loading black powder cannon out of this barrel.   Muzzle loader,
no problem, but pack it too far and the slug falls into the chamber and you've got an issue!

Of course, that would be fired from a small carriage...!

Enjoy your new toy when it arrives.  Between now and then, I'd recommend you get some strength training for your arms and shoulders in particular.  A little extra muscle is good padding.

CJ

Sweet Sweet .50 cal!

I know, I want one so bad that I don't know what to do!!!  Maybe one of these years I will get one.

That's cool! Let us know how it shoots!

Lumpy...like you, I heard that the BATF USUALLY wants a black powder cannon to be a muzzle loader, but in the case of using a barrel that's chambered for a cartridge with a much wider body than the projectile, they MAY allow a breechloading version IF it's modified in such a way that NO available cartridge will fit.  So take off an eighth of an inch, or weld in a retaining ring to block the entry of a shell, and it might meet with approval.   Setting up a good locking breech for it would be a nice engineering challenge, too!

Imagine the trouble you'd have if you welded up the breech completely and accidentally rammed the projectile too far back into the shell chamber.   Imagine trying to get it out!

I'd want to use a primer-fired mechanism with a firing cord so it could be tripped off at a considerable distance.   I don't care HOW heavy the carriage might be, I would NOT pull the trigger on one of those monsters if it meant touching the gun to do it!

More research is necessary, and probably a letter to the BATF as well.

CJ