Antique Cannon (Estate Sale find)

[Force_of_Iron]

If its just a charge of gunpowder in a 1 inch bore held back by some newspaper it is very unlikely to burst. Then again I have always been somewhat of an adventurer. My tolerance for risk is higher than most :/

Maybe the more sane could light it and run.....

 

[ARC]

I am calm... response was to the trunnions comment...

Not only are they intact... but the piece your referring to as a "locking collar" is called a "cap square".

And original name for the part that IF this is to be mounted as a swivel is "horquilla".

 

[Al D]

If its just a charge of gunpowder in a 1 inch bore held back by some newspaper it is very unlikely to burst. Then again I have always been somewhat of an adventurer. My tolerance for risk is higher than most :/

Maybe the more sane could light it and run.....

We can get the new guy to do it,

 

[Al D]

Cast iron was the material used for most cannon produced... nothing wrong with cast iron.

Sheesh cannon have even been made from wood.

Heck the mythbusters even made one from leather. heh

You must be thinking about forged iron, which is different than cast iron and has been used for cannon, where cast iron has not

 

[el padron]

I was on aasignment as a Garrison MP at West Point for two months just before I was sent back to Fort Campbell to end my tour of duty. One night while on patrol while noting that the main road through the campus was lined with cannon for about two miles in each direction every ten feet or so, I jokingly mentioned to my partner (now deceased, he had an accident on duty a year or so later) that I would come back as a civilian to take one home.
6 moths later he actually called me while I was living in New York to ask If I knew anything about " half a dozen cannon that had been removed from the campus shortly after I ETD'd.

 

[BookZach]

Great stuff, all. Thanks so much. If I were to consider selling it in the future, I wouldn't tick anyone off to declare it a cast iron cannon, never meant to be fired, used really for decorative/display purposes only? Of 19th century age.

While specifics can be elusive, I just want to be sure not to call it something it isn't in the future.

 

[ARC]

You must be thinking about forged iron, which is different than cast iron and has been used for cannon, where cast iron has not

Cannon ARE cast iron.

They ARE made using a mold.

Did you think they "carved' / "beat" them into that shape ? .. lol

 

[ARC]

My conclusion on the OP's cannon is that it is a copy / replica of a British swivel.

The seam line is indicative of this.

PS>.. Cannon touch holes are OFTEN sealed / NOT open / WELDED closed.

This is and was done on purpose... to be in compliance years ago to trade and sales laws of these objects.

 

[tamrock]

My conclusion on the OP's cannon is that it is a copy / replica of a British swivel.

The seam line is indicative of this.

PS>.. Cannon touch holes are OFTEN sealed / NOT open / WELDED closed.

This is and was done on purpose... to be in compliance years ago to trade and sales laws of these objects.

Yeah that's casting line leads me to believe it's a yard art replica, produced in a mold.

 

[ARC]

Here is this cannon being made.

 

[ARC]

Even replicas are "real".

IF... they have been made correctly....

The seam really means nothing when it boils down to it.

Its that touch hole AND other details that dictate IF it is a viable gun.

 

[ARC]

Yeah that's casting line leads me to believe it's a yard art replica, produced in a mold.

ALL cannon are molded Tam.

Well,,, heh... PRE CNC machines :P

 

[tamrock]

ALL cannon are molded Tam.

Well,,, heh... PRE CNC machines :P

I know that, but in a two piece mold. ?

 

[ARC]

I know that, but in a two piece mold. ?

Most molds are at least 2 pieces... this being no exception.

Cannons were molded my friend.

 

[Al D]

Cast cannons were made of bronze, not iron.
cast iron has a serious flaw, it is brittle and develops micro fracture cracks when cooling,

 

[ARC]

Cast cannons were made of bronze, not iron.
cast iron has a serious flaw, it is brittle and develops micro fracture cracks when cooling,

I don't know why you keep / are speaking of what you obviously know nothing about.

No offense... but before you try and "help" here... you should know what you are talking about.

50 % of ALL cannon made were CAST IRON.

 

[gunsil]

AARC, although he began with a bit of a wild ID has it right now. It is a modern (very modern) repro. A poor quality one not made to fire, at least by anybody with sense. No originals had the casting seams showing, they machine turned them after casting. The "cannon" shown by OP also shows a cast in bore which is not found on repros meant to fire and NEVER found in old cannons. Alan M, AARC is 100% correct, most cannons for many years were made from cast iron, even into the civil war. By the early 1800s a count was kept of how many times every tube had been fired and they were retired, melted down, and cast again. There were many horrible explosions of cast iron cannons killing the gun crews and this still occurred during the civil war. I live not far from the ruins of the West Point foundry in Cold Spring, NY where a large percentage of our cannons were made throughout the 1800s and most all of the cannons made there were cast iron. ALL the huge coastal defense cannons used during the civil war were cast iron and you can see them at the restored forts such as those at Charleston. Like ARRC I have long admired and studied muzzle loading cannons and growing up near West Point I had the opportunity to see, feel, and measure many. I cannot pass by any old cannons in town squares, museums, or old forts without checking them out. I also own a few smaller ones antique and modern to shoot off on the 4th and New Years, or anytime a good salute is called for.

 

[ARC]

AARC, although he began with a bit of a wild ID has it right now. It is a modern (very modern) repro. A poor quality one not made to fire, at least by anybody with sense. No originals had the casting seams showing, they machine turned them after casting. The "cannon" shown by OP also shows a cast in bore which is not found on repros meant to fire and NEVER found in old cannons. Alan M, AARC is 100% correct, most cannons for many years were made from cast iron, even into the civil war. By the early 1800s a count was kept of how many times every tube had been fired and they were retired, melted down, and cast again. There were many horrible explosions of cast iron cannons killing the gun crews and this still occurred during the civil war. I live not far from the ruins of the West Point foundry in Cold Spring, NY where a large percentage of our cannons were made throughout the 1800s and most all of the cannons made there were cast iron. ALL the huge coastal defense cannons used during the civil war were cast iron and you can see them at the restored forts such as those at Charleston.

This is not the point of my response.

 

[ARC]

We all (well those of who are experts here) know and knew from the beginning of this post that this was and is a reproduction.

BUT ! PER TNET RULES............. one is NOT supposed to declare an item posted in the what is it forum a "fake" or otherwise UNTIL the information and PROOF have been tallied.

Correct ? ? ?

 

[ARC]

Now...

I will... as usual... "bow out".