New .69 Mini Cannon

[Denno]

Hello,

Just thought some of you might be interested in my new purchase.. a .69 Mini Cannon
I have been wanting one for quite a while now and a few of us in the club decided we would look into it. After looking around there was nothing that really ticked the boxes we where after. We had decided on .69 as the prefered cal but the ones we could find to buy anywhere where quite expensive and they did not seem to have the quality finish we where after. Luckily one of our club members is pretty amazing at CAD and engineering etc so plans where drawn up by him and sent to be made. It was quite a long wait but well worth it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8386/8...2a02a9e325.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8...c88fe35454.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8...4772df308c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8...1473f2b4dd.jpg

There are also a couple of videos on Youtube if you search for Fulwoodshootingclub.

A few questions though.. we are looking to cast our own balls, we are using patched balls at the mo so will be casting .685 balls from range scrap, as we are using patched balls I think this means we do not need to worry about the hardness of the lead?

Next question - the proof house said they proofed the cannons with 2 & 1/2 inches of blackpowder - err what is this in grains? So far we are using 30 grains of pyrodex and it seems a fairly tame load but is making nice groups (no idea what a good group is with one of these as they have no sights!) but at 10 yards we can get 2 inch groups with concentration.

hope this is of interest.

Denno

[tacfoley]

Hello,

Just thought some of you might be interested in my new purchase.. a .69 Mini Cannon
I have been wanting one for quite a while now and a few of us in the club decided we would look into it. After looking around there was nothing that really ticked the boxes we where after. We had decided on .69 as the prefered cal but the ones we could find to buy anywhere where quite expensive and they did not seem to have the quality finish we where after. Luckily one of our club members is pretty amazing at CAD and engineering etc so plans where drawn up by him and sent to be made. It was quite a long wait but well worth it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8386/8...2a02a9e325.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8...c88fe35454.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8...4772df308c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8...1473f2b4dd.jpg

There are also a couple of videos on Youtube if you search for Fulwoodshootingclub.

A few questions though.. we are looking to cast our own balls, we are using patched balls at the mo so will be casting .685 balls from range scrap, as we are using patched balls I think this means we do not need to worry about the hardness of the lead?

Next question - the proof house said they proofed the cannons with 2 & 1/2 inches of blackpowder - err what is this in grains? So far we are using 30 grains of pyrodex and it seems a fairly tame load but is making nice groups (no idea what a good group is with one of these as they have no sights!) but at 10 yards we can get 2 inch groups with concentration.

hope this is of interest.

Denno

Very nice. The proof load used for your little cannon appears to be the amount of powder that occupies the bore to a depth of 2.5 inches from the bottom of the chamber. For instance, IF the cannon was .75" bore, then it is pi x 0.375 x 0.375 x h - h being 2.5.

I'll let YOU work it out.












Oh, alright. It's 0.9352 cubic inches. Easiest if you make a model of the bore and fill it up to the 2.5" line THEN measure that weight of mini-cannon grade BP - say FFg for the one that you have. OR, just do the same for Pyrodex RS - NOT P!!!! The Pyrodex RS should weigh around about 90% of the equal volume of BP - remember, it is VOLUME that you are looking for.

Remember also that this was the proof load and reduce your final load accordingly - 75% of whatever it was might be fine.

tac

PS - I'm VERY interested to know what grade steel you made it from - please PM me if you care to.

[TA6319]

very nice, I look forward to reading more in the future

[rickosf]

how about a copy of the drawings on cad

richard

[TALL]

always wanted one of these,
what was the total cost in the end?
thanks,T

[Denno]

tac

PS - I'm VERY interested to know what grade steel you made it from - please PM me if you care to.

Hi Tac, Thanks for the info, I was told which steel was used but cant remember - will find out though

always wanted one of these,
what was the total cost in the end?
thanks,T

Total cost of the barrel was £375 although i got the carriage thrown in too because I have no woodwork skills at all and no one liked my idea of gaffa taping the barrel to a rollerskate

[Denno]

PS - I'm VERY interested to know what grade steel you made it from - please PM me if you care to.

Just got an answer back about the steel, it's barrel grade 416ss.

Mark

[tacfoley]

Just got an answer back about the steel, it's barrel grade 416ss.

Mark

That's good to know.

Thank you for that.

tac

[edbear2]

Just got an answer back about the steel, it's barrel grade 416ss.

Mark

Hi mark...was it heat treated + quench and temper?

Or was it 416R grade?

ATB, Ed

[Denno]

Hi mark...was it heat treated + quench and temper?

Or was it 416R grade?

ATB, Ed

I'm not sure, the production process was described to me and don't remember that being mentioned.

[Jim McArthur]

I wonder when the last homicide or robbery was committed with a muzzle loader in the UK?

Muzzleloaders should be exempt from legal restrictions, given their low likelihood of criminal abuse.

However, it also seems to me that UK law also seems to try to anticipate and control intended legal use, at the time of sale, or at any point during possession.

Case in point: an original 1851 Colt revolver would be uncontrolled, if the purchaser / possessor intends it only for a curio or ornament: but Section 1, if he intends to shoot it at the range.

[powderburner]

Hello,

Just thought some of you might be interested in my new purchase.. a .69 Mini Cannon
I have been wanting one for quite a while now and a few of us in the club decided we would look into it. After looking around there was nothing that really ticked the boxes we where after. We had decided on .69 as the prefered cal but the ones we could find to buy anywhere where quite expensive and they did not seem to have the quality finish we where after. Luckily one of our club members is pretty amazing at CAD and engineering etc so plans where drawn up by him and sent to be made. It was quite a long wait but well worth it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8386/8...2a02a9e325.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8...c88fe35454.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8...4772df308c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8...1473f2b4dd.jpg

There are also a couple of videos on Youtube if you search for Fulwoodshootingclub.

A few questions though.. we are looking to cast our own balls, we are using patched balls at the mo so will be casting .685 balls from range scrap, as we are using patched balls I think this means we do not need to worry about the hardness of the lead?

Next question - the proof house said they proofed the cannons with 2 & 1/2 inches of blackpowder - err what is this in grains? So far we are using 30 grains of pyrodex and it seems a fairly tame load but is making nice groups (no idea what a good group is with one of these as they have no sights!) but at 10 yards we can get 2 inch groups with concentration.

hope this is of interest.

Denno

That's a proof load, not a firing load!

75gn of medium is about what you should be using in a .69 cannon. (and what i use in mine!) Even if you are patching, I would use soft lead!

I also make quick match to fire the cannon - this is black match loose in a paper tube. This gives an almost instant action, though you need to use slowmatch in a linstock. I don't like the idea of a cannon sitting there fizzing before it fires..!