Is there any movement caused by the touch hole?

D

Derringeer

New member
In matchlocks and flintlocks, there’s an open hole at the chamber area where pressure is released. It’s somewhat similar to a pressure nozzle in a rocket, but the rocket doesn’t weight as much as a firearm which allows it to move more easily, generally speaking. So my question is, does the pressure leakage lead to any measurable movement in a sidelock firearm?

If a muzzleloaded cannon would have the touch hole placed at the bottom of the rear instead of the top, so that the touch hole is pointed towards the ground, would that cause the cannon to fly up into the air?
 
If there is I doubt you could measure it. And no, the cannon won’t fly up into the air. The path of least resistance for the expanding gasses is, in both cases, out of the bore behind the ball.
 
It's just a quick little minuscule spurt. There's about as much effect as there is if you light a match off of another match. It's not like it's a sustained burn like a rocket but even if you let a one pound charge in a cannon fizzle out the touch hole I doubt it would move it. It certainly wouldn't send it up in the air. How old are you anyway?
 
How large of a cannon, a really small scale reproduction?
I didn't think that it could have any effect either.
But then the answers here led me to think about the model rockets with "rocket motors" that burn black powder for fuel.
Those things travel sky high.
Maybe a little reproduction cannon with an extra large flash hole and powder chamber could be moved a little.
If it were built out of aluminum or some other ultra-light alloy, and then the flash hole were placed right next to the ground, then who knows?
A person would need to be an engineer math wiz to try to figure it out.
Why not watch this to have some fun instead! ;)

How to Shoot an Anvil 100 Feet in the Air - You Have Been Warned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHuQy0mqW5I
 
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No, a bottom touchhole wouldn't cause the barrel to go airborne. A kaboom will do that. The carriage will be weakened by the constant jet blast of burning gases and the flash. Pretty soon you won't have a carriage. Remember that the barrel is elevated too and so the blast can hit different parts of the carriage.
 
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