I have this cannon can anyone tell me about it?

I didn't mention it because it isn't really relevant, but I have a small brass cannon around somewhere that a cousin made in high school shop as a copy of a ship's gun. It is only about 4 inches long, but it has a touchhole and he fired it tied to a bench. He never got around to the carriage, but it does have trunions.

Jim
 
It looks like its been under water for a couple hundred years to old to be a modern cannon.
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Try shooting BP in a rifle and not cleaning it. It will look just like that before not too long.
 
Would a toy cannon have no trunions? Wouldnt it be easier and more recognizable to make it with trunions and mount it in a wooden cradle to give it the classic cannon look? While I agree its very small and wouldnt be used for serious combat ship to ship. But im not convinced it was used for childs play. Kids playing with fire and fuses (the fuse hole) how dangerous would that be. Lets just look down the barrel while firing it. Common that just doesnt make sense. I could see a july 4th fireworks cannon or morter but I have never seen one and Im still puzzled as to what this cannon sat in to make it usable. I have seen many cannons before mostly in Key West off ships that have been underwater for a long time and this cannon looks like its been underwater for a couple of centuries the pitting is way too deep for common corrosion. Even left outside in a yard it wouldnt look this pitted only salt water could do this while I could be wrong im basing it on what I have seen off real ships that have been underwater for a long time.
 
The world was different back then. We didn't need the government to protect us from ourselves.
Toy cannon were common, M-80s, Silver salutes, firecrackers measured in inches, shooting .22s in the back yard.
We had tools witout safety guards!
 
LOL I still do that today, M-80's or M-120's daisy chained is alot of fun. I still dont think children would play with a cannon. Just too dangerous.
 
Toy cannon were a staple for kids from the late 1900s until WW 1.
Go to www.cannon-mania.com and ask them about your cannon.
BTW- we made small cannon in the school macine shops in the early 1970s, with permission of the teachers. We even used them to start track meets and football games. 1-1/2" bores.
They made toy cannon that shot bullets and shotgun shells in the early 1900s. Black powder cannon were commonplace. In the early 1970s you could buy potassium nitrate and powdered sulphur at your local drugstore-even Walgreens. Barbecue charcoal+potassium nitrate+ sulphur= black powder.
 
Canon

They used to sale something similar at firworks stands when i was a kid.I have an original from the 60s but they still sale them.They use a tube of Bang=zite and a flint striker,add water and strike it and boom.Mine has a base on it though,with ribber wheels.Canastoga cannon?
 
Anyone ever hear of a Winchester Model 98?

Before you spend a lot of time in the books, I will tell you that it was Winchester's cannon. They made them from 1903 up into the 1930's, with the last being chrome plated and equipped with rubber tires. The description says it had a 12-inch rolled steel barrel, cylinder bored, with a carriage having two 3 5/8" steel wheels at the front end. It was 10 gauge, and was for blanks, though the company said it would stand up to any 10 gauge black powder load.

The carriage was japanned, the barrel blued, and the breech blackened. Length overall was 17 inches, height 7 1/4 inches, width 7 inches. My source doesn't say how many were made in total, but over ten thousand had been sold by 1915, so there are a fair number out there, and I have seen a couple, usually just sitting on a shelf at a gun shop or, in one case, a restaurant.

I have done some checking, but I don't know the legal status. They are not muzzle loaders, so presumably they would come under the NFA in some way, maybe as an "any other weapon". I can't find that they have been put on the curio and relic list, but maybe I missed it.

Most of my information and the picture are from Harold Williamson's "Winchester, the Gun That Won the West", a company history.

Jim
 
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I knew about modern muzzle loading cannon, but those firing shot shells are "interesting." I can't believe the Feds haven't jumped on those "terrorist weapons" in one way or another. (I just hope they aren't reading this or they will think of some way to make something else illegal.)

Jim
 
This small cannon is larger than 10 gauge (bore size) and has no trunions so im at a loss as to how this cannon mounts. I dont buy the childs cannon or a blank firing device as a smaller device could be used with the same effect. Its possible that it was mounted vertically for fireworks or morter activity? I see alot of professional fireworks companies use multiple verticle tubes to launch their rockets. But why use such a large diameter cylinder unless your launching something powerfull. Its flat on the fuse end consistant with a vertical launch or maybe mounting into a castle hole. I heard once a castle owner used shotguns that looked like cannons in his porticulous right next to the gate or sometimes within the area between gate one and gate two. Used to be they pored pitch down holes in the upper ceiling. I have heard about cannons in the side walls firing into unwelcome guests. Invite them in and lock the doors behind then blast away. Reload? Something would have to be behind the cannon to stop the recoil for wall use. I donno im out of ideas. The pictures someone submitted about a winchester cannon dont look anything like this device.
 
You know, it does look just like the one Harry Morgan used in the Battle of Brandywine against Hap Arnold.;)
 
I sent pictures to cannon mania no response by the way the website looks im not sure anyone works there. Thats my personal opinion. Im kinda interested why nobody knows what this thing is. Im starting to get the feeling im going to have to call my insurance agent and up my antiques coverage.
 
I'm starting to believe Megabybe is a troll! Other wise why would he keep coming back to the same thing after he's been told a dozen times what he has?
 
It's Michael Wittman, a panzer super-commander who finally ate it at Viller-Bocage after his masterful assault was broken by throwing hundreds of our tanks into his deathtrap. A fine tactician, but just another lowlife nazi bastard when you get right down to it... like Rommel, but with less power and name-recognition.
 
Jim ----

On the winchester cannons the chamber is 2 7/8, which I think is discontinued more or less other than blanks, plus it always felt to me like they machine enough of a "choke" into the barrel to make a live shell a very bad idea, though I have never mesured this on my (new) winchester cannon, or relative to the older ones that had what looked like slightly larger holes at the muzzle... or just thiner barrels overall.

The breach blook also looks not very strong.

I have one, fun noise maker but cleaning is of course a PITA, only complaint is the hammer / lanyard attachment is cheap and crappy so drilled through the hammer and put a nice stainless shackle on it.

As to the pic megabyte posted, all I can do is laugh, yeah it's a cool old relic... a noise maker, that's all, go up what ever insurance you want ait't gona make it more valuable, have been to enought flea markets to see this type of behavior before.
 
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