Identification Help?

M

Midwestfan

Inactive
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Just got ahold of this beauty from an older lady at work who did not want the heavy thing around. She said her husband had gotten it at an estate sale and supposedly the backstory is that it was a signal gun from some ship in Lake Superior. He had attached the wheels off of an old farm implement. Can anybody ID this? Ive fired some muzzleloaders before, but this is my first cannon. A local guy who does rendezvous events said to fire it with about 200 grains, but I think I would back that off a bit.

Length is 15.5inches

Anybody out there with expertise?

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Also forgot to add...

No makers marks. It appears the cannon and the frame are probably original, but it looks like they might have been pulled off of a larger mount that might have had markings.
 
robhof

Be very careful firing that thing, many were made as ornaments only and are grenades when packed with powder. What is the bore size? 3/4" or larger require 1F black or larger; called corn flake powder as it looks like black cornflakes, the larger powder produces less pressure and also at night it produces a grand sparkling effect out of the barrel. There are many stories of old cast iron and bronze cannons blowing up, resulting in death and severe injuries.
 
May have been used on lake Gichigami. Without knowing for sure if it indeed was fired. I myself wouldn't chance firing it. "Nice to look at though." By the way welcome to the form Midwestfan._:)
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I know this is a safety first activity. I do know that this thing has been fired likely a hundred times plus by the former owner.

I have some fairly good resources for manual-of-arms types of issues with this, Im posting more for help with identifying age and manufacture. Possibly would like to track down original fittings.
 
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