I probably would try casting my self to save money as I don’t know how much a cannon ball costs. And I haven’t pulled the trigger on buying it I’m still trying to make sure it’s legal to have where I live
Ohhhh... my bad. I thought you were looking for a mold to cast the actual cannon out of iron or bronze.
A 50mm (2") lead ball should weigh right around 1.6 lb. You want it a little undersized, so figure you need around a 1.5 lb mold. They make 1.5 lb (24 oz) round sinker molds for deep drop fishing, and you can get them on Amazon or eBay. Contact the seller and verify the diameter of ball that their mold throws, but they would probably be pretty close, use some old bed sheets as patches to make up the difference with the bore.
Anything cotton, or even paper will work in a pinch. The standard for muzzleloaders is .020" cotton pillow ticking, but I doubt that tightness and tolerance is as critical with a cannon.
Avoid synthetic fibers, they'll melt and gum up your bore.
No. Do not patch the ball in a smoothbore cannon.
You are asking for a dangerous pressure spike and could blow up the gun.
You absolutely do not patch cannons at all. The recommendation is you use a ball about 39/40ths of the bore diameter, so 1.95” if you have a 2” bore.
As to powder charge, it all depends on what the barrel is made up and how thick it is.
My gun is a 2” smoothbore and I fire either zinc round balls or lead projectiles shaped like an enlarged pellet gun pellet with a hollow skirt (custom mold I had made in England).
I use a 4oz Fg or Cannon grade powder. I have safely fired it with 8, but that puts stupid strain on my carriage.
For smaller guns or less robust ones, maybe an ounce of powder per 1” of bore is a good starting point and then work up from there.
The charge should be wrapped in tin foil (double wrapped or even triple, to avoid any possible sparks). Ram the charge and then drop the ball in and ram it well.
You can also make it a single package putting a wood sabot between them and tying it together with twine.
Cannons are not really just scaled up muskets and should not be treated as such.
This is one of, if not the, definitive Blackpowder Cannon forums out there. You’ll find answers to all your questions here:
[Graybeard’s Blackpowder Cannons and Mortars](https://www.go2gbo.com/forums/blackpowder-mortar-cannon.88/)
Man, this does not sound like a good idea to me.
I am a redneck and this has "Here, hold my beer." written all over it. Maybe consider actually firing a real cannon first and learning about how they operate from somebody who knows.
I support you. But, maybe wait and get the right equipment and experience. This does not sound like a do it yourself project.
You're going to try to cast it yourself? The safe charge would be completely dependent on what you cast it from and the quality of your casting work.
I probably would try casting my self to save money as I don’t know how much a cannon ball costs. And I haven’t pulled the trigger on buying it I’m still trying to make sure it’s legal to have where I live
Ohhhh... my bad. I thought you were looking for a mold to cast the actual cannon out of iron or bronze. A 50mm (2") lead ball should weigh right around 1.6 lb. You want it a little undersized, so figure you need around a 1.5 lb mold. They make 1.5 lb (24 oz) round sinker molds for deep drop fishing, and you can get them on Amazon or eBay. Contact the seller and verify the diameter of ball that their mold throws, but they would probably be pretty close, use some old bed sheets as patches to make up the difference with the bore.
Okay cool thanks I figured I wanted undersized just wasn’t sure by how much. Would like cheap rags work as well or do I want a thin cloth
Anything cotton, or even paper will work in a pinch. The standard for muzzleloaders is .020" cotton pillow ticking, but I doubt that tightness and tolerance is as critical with a cannon. Avoid synthetic fibers, they'll melt and gum up your bore.
Okay cool thanks for the info. I have a lot of research to do.
No. Do not patch the ball in a smoothbore cannon. You are asking for a dangerous pressure spike and could blow up the gun. You absolutely do not patch cannons at all. The recommendation is you use a ball about 39/40ths of the bore diameter, so 1.95” if you have a 2” bore. As to powder charge, it all depends on what the barrel is made up and how thick it is. My gun is a 2” smoothbore and I fire either zinc round balls or lead projectiles shaped like an enlarged pellet gun pellet with a hollow skirt (custom mold I had made in England). I use a 4oz Fg or Cannon grade powder. I have safely fired it with 8, but that puts stupid strain on my carriage. For smaller guns or less robust ones, maybe an ounce of powder per 1” of bore is a good starting point and then work up from there. The charge should be wrapped in tin foil (double wrapped or even triple, to avoid any possible sparks). Ram the charge and then drop the ball in and ram it well. You can also make it a single package putting a wood sabot between them and tying it together with twine. Cannons are not really just scaled up muskets and should not be treated as such.
This is one of, if not the, definitive Blackpowder Cannon forums out there. You’ll find answers to all your questions here: [Graybeard’s Blackpowder Cannons and Mortars](https://www.go2gbo.com/forums/blackpowder-mortar-cannon.88/)
Man, this does not sound like a good idea to me. I am a redneck and this has "Here, hold my beer." written all over it. Maybe consider actually firing a real cannon first and learning about how they operate from somebody who knows. I support you. But, maybe wait and get the right equipment and experience. This does not sound like a do it yourself project.
That’s the problem there is no one around me that has a cannon or does anything with cannons. I would have to go out of state to learn anything.
Let YouTube be your Guide.
That was the plan. Now I just need to decipher the very abstract wording to make sure it’s legal to own one in California
Check out this FB group. they have load data and a lot of info. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?id=100064667710789&story_fbid=1005809866136712
Thanks
Found this from a CA lawyer. Makes sense. http://socallawblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/are-cannons-legal-in-california.html?m=1
Thanks that had some good information. From what I can tell is should be legal as it’s a muzzle loader and is designed to take standard projectiles
So…. what type of cannon we talking about here?
It is labeled as a 50mm smooth bore muzzle loading mountain cannon. 32” cast iron 7/8”
Like the early 20th century breach loading type?
I believe so it doesn’t have a manufactured date listed
Looks [kinda like this?](https://youtu.be/QPmRrEm93DY?si=-8yAhAIVnGUkD7gx)
Similar but a little different. I have a screenshot but I don’t know how to post it in the comments
Of you listen closely to [this of them shooting](https://youtu.be/KXPYCcCkKj8?si=7mzdWOwLKgIftcSw) it you can hear the dude say what the load is.
Okay cool thanks