Hey I found a piece of Stainless Steel thick walled tubing and I think I may want to build a cannon. I have read that it is ATF legal as long as it is loaded in components like a Blackpowder rifle and you do not use primers to ignite the charge (will use percussian caps). Question is what would be the strongest and easiest breech to make for the cannon? I was thinking threading it and also threading a plug/bolt (Will the threads hold though?) also an insert with basically two bolt handle that act as the locking mech. when it is slid into the tube and the bolt handles lock into slots. Just need to know what y'all think?

If I remember, Dixie Gun Works used to sell plans for cannons.

I have built a bunch  of Calcium Carbide cannons out of 4-5" PVC, no steel ones though.

Aviator  [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img]

ahhhh..... pipe bombs.

Do you EVER sleep?


Aviator  [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img]

LOL
I don't think he dose

Potato cannons.
Flashpowder {Fire cracker} cannons.

Any thing bigger or more capable and you will attract the [i]wrong[/i] kind of attention.

Oh I dose......... Who [i]doesn't[/i]?

one was built while in Germany out of brass with aluminum frame. a perfect copy of a napoleon 9 lb. large enough to fire golf balls. however golf ball size and strength add to a large explosion. when they deform !! learned a lot on that one. first Sgt. wasn't very happy with us. nobody hurt and I got it on video to boot.

FANTOM
       

Fantom, How long was the barrel?  Did it explode on the first shot?

My cannon story.
I built a cannon once.  I was working in Dallas and acquired an aircraft high-pressure air dryer for a pneumatic system.  It was full of desiccant when I started.  The dryer was about 2.25 inches in diameter and about 18 inches long.  Thick walls and heavy screwed-on end pieces made it perfect for a small cannon.  The green cannon fuse you find at gunshows fit the inlet port perfectly.

I didn't have a method of attaching it to a stand so we just propped it up on a stump to fire it.  

The Test
We were camped out on the North side of Lake Grapevine near a little town called Flower Mound.  In 1979 there were only about 3 or 4 hundred people living there.  We had a good turn out for the camp-out.  We usually had a 2 or 3 day keg party and some had their kids.  Was always a good time.

In the late afternoon we cut a branch that was the approximately bore size and wrapped the wooden projectile with duct tape to ensure a proper fit.  I inserted a 6-inch length of cannon fuse, poured a handfull of ffg black power and dropped the projectile into the bore.  We found a suitable stump that allowed recoil support and pointed the cannon over the lake.   I lit the fuse and we all left the area.  There was a tremendous BOOM.  Lots of smoke.  Grass was flattened in a 30-foot arc by the shock wave and the wooden projectile went out of sight over the lake.  The cannon was still intact.  Hey, we can do this again!

We shot it a few more times that evening.  The kids got nearly as big a kick out of it as the adults.  I knew that I had a good thing and was thinking of a way to make a portable stand and make this a weekly event.

The Police
After the sun went down, we thought, I wonder what it would look like at night?  So, we get it ready, light it off. BOOM, 4 Patrol cars with the local Flower Mound police telling everyone to get their hands up.  Scared the kids to death.  Anyway, we were nice, the kids helped.  The police took my cannon because it was threaded on both ends. I offered to cut one end off, but they said that if I wanted to sign a receipt I could try to pick it up the next day. I declined.  Sure was a lot of fun.

Mchgnmike , barrel was at least 18 in end to end. It was after several shots with recycled balls. figure ball, heat, and reuse didn't mix. it was a piece of art though..

FANTOM      

A guy in our machining class is making a brass replica canon.  I think it was a 1700's 27lb scale version.  I am thinking about making something similar in SS.

Here's the one I want.  Large enough to shoot bowling balls.  If anyone has any suggestions for materials. I am all ears.

dmuldrew, I have seen the bowling ball mortars and they are way cool but I don't have a bunch of bowling balls to launch.

Now I am trying to figure out the loading end. Any suggestion?