Source for a Swivel Cannon

[Rapelapente]

I can't find any supplier for a swivel cannon. I don't mean the 60 pounds one with a 1" bore. I want a small one, saying 1.5 foot long working with a 12 blank cartridge.
Any Idea?

[Thorne]

Try looking for "signal guns". Do you mean it takes a 12-gage cartridge via a breech of some sort?
http://www.cannon-mania.com/images/Cannon-Projects/amr-ych.gif
http://www.cannon-mania.com/salute-pics.htm


I'm only familiar with the black powder muzzle-loading sort, have several small brass and steel ones for land and boat use.

[R.I.Singer30]

Ed Harrow is the main cannon man here.Pm him.

[Bob Cleek]

Here ya go...

http://www.thecannonstore.com/products/herym-pre.jpg

As shown, it mounts in a standard winch handle socket. A bargain at only $1,576.92. Order on line from http://www.thecannonstore.com/products.asp?lineID=HER.

[Mrleft8]

RBG Cannons. Tell 'em I sent you and you might get a discount......Maybe.....Probably not, but it's worth a try....
http://www.rbgcannons.com/index.htm
I've done some work for them. VERY nice cannons. Margo and John B. have RBG cannons.

[Bob Cleek]

Actually, I believe RBG makes the cannon I posted above and the site I posted just resells them. I'd go to RBG to begin with. RBG's prices are the same, but they may be in a better position to dicker a little. The cannon pictured fires a 12 gauge black powder blank by tapping the cascabel with a wooden mallet. It was designed by L.F.Herreshoff. I once had the pleasure of using the original made by LFH for his personal use, as a starting gun in a classic yacht race with a staggered start, so I put more than a few rounds through it. Damn! It's a dandy piece and very cleverly designed. A turn of the ring and the breech block slides out and the round is inserted. The expended cartridge is ejected by running the handle of the "firing mallet" down the barrel. LFH personally made 13 of them, twelve went as gifts to owners who commissioned vessels to be designed by him. RBG has the license to make them now. Machined out of solid bronze stock. Really a heirloom piece and priced accordingly.

[J. Dillon]

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/1614/swivelcannon.jpg

Back in the days model kits used real brass , I made this cannon put out by Marine Model Company. It was a model of a 6 pounder and just over 6" long. A boy at the time I devised a way to shoot it.

I continued boring out the barrel and made a touch hole (not shown in the image ) . To fire it I loaded up the barrel with a suitable amount of match heads, the kind that came on wooden matches. I ramed them down the barrel put in a small length of 1/4" dowel. When read to fire it one takes a needle heats it up to red hot and insert in the touch hole. Bam !You'd be surprised the noise and power this little baby has. BTW where can one get wooden matches with that kind of head today ?;)

I also have another two with suitable naval carriages that I turned myself. The above one is for shooting.

JD

[Bob Cleek]

Very cool cannon, Dillon!

Don't they still make "strike anywhere" wooden kitchen matches?

Actually, plain old "safety" book matches work just as well. Back in my kindly prison guard days, the convicts used to make pipe bombs out of match heads with fair regularity. They rarely did any damage, but they sure were loud.

What you do is take paper book matches and cut the ends off with a razor blade, or if you really want some serious whoop ass, scrape the match head material off the paper. Stick it all into some sort of sealable container. They used to use a soda straw filled with match heads cut off the paper matches as a fuse running into the crushed up match head powder in the jar or whatever and they'd attach a burning cigarette on the soda straw if they wanted a timed fuse. Guys can get pretty clever when they've got a lot of time on their hands and all the matches they wanted. Nowdays, smoking is against the law in public places, including prisons, so I guess they don't issue matches anymore.

[WX]

All the matches I come across these days are rubbish.

[paladin]

I have one about that size...6 inches, bored for a .45 cal ball...works fine with FFF black powder.

[John B]

The RBG cannon I have :D is actually for shooting 10 gauge black powder blanks .
For various reasons but including that fact , it isn't regarded as a firearm, and that may be a factor if you're importing it into a region where that is important.

[Bob Cleek]

You know, come to think of it, that Herreshoff cannon I used might have been a 10 ga. I know I had a couple of boxes of 10 ga. BP blanks around for years and ended up giving them to a guy who had a Winchester signal cannon which was 10 ga. IIRC.

[Rapelapente]

Thank you all !
The Herreshoff model with the winch mount will be perfect. The problem is for the 10 shells they can't ship to Europe. I must check their availability here in France. (no problem with 12 size, but never heard about 10).
I think we'll have fun with this toy...

[Liam English]

A really small "canon" can be made by taking a used and empty .22 shell, inserting a match head, crimping the open end, and wacking it with a hammer. Nice little boom, but be careful, I walked around for years with a piece of brass in my finger when I got hit with shrapnel.

[John B]

Yeah , the ammo is problematic here too.

This would be my cue to now reproduce the RBG signalling cannon ( carriage type) at work.
Photo credit to my mate Mike, who still has an involuntary flinch reaction to loud noises ever since the day......







































http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/cruise%2008/cannon.jpg

[JC 72]

Gerard, Check these folks out. I bought mine back in the 80's, but it looks like the product is the same. I have shot it many times. A very well built little gun.http://www.metallkonst.se/en/salutkanoner/sverigekanonen.php. John

[Mrleft8]

You know, come to think of it, that Herreshoff cannon I used might have been a 10 ga. I know I had a couple of boxes of 10 ga. BP blanks around for years and ended up giving them to a guy who had a Winchester signal cannon which was 10 ga. IIRC.

It is 10 Ga. RGB is working on a couple of new cannons right now. ("Swan song" cannons he says...) one will fire 4 Ga., the other 6 Ga. I think he said. I did the carriage mock up. Hopefully I'll get the commision to build the real thing too...

[Bert Langley]

For a lower cost alternative that will require some machining on your part check out Dixie Gunworks at the URL below. They offer several possibilities. Search for both swivel and signal to see what is available.

www.dixiegun.com (http://www.dixiegun.com)

[Rapelapente]

Reading the customers letters in "Dixie", I've found this link: http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/cannons.htm
They have an interresting Swivel gun.
I've sent an email to the swedish compagny too for a quotation.

[Woxbox]

I bought mine from Loyalist Arms, great service and great prices, too.
http://www.loyalistarms.com/

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/smallswivel2_edited.jpg

[Kermit]

Sure you wouldn't rather have a "wall gun?" Follow this...

http://www.traditionalmuzzleloadingassociation.com/forum/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2312

[paladin]

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/cannons.htm

The above site is a reseller...I have seen the same items offered for sale at about half their prices from other sources...

[Mrleft8]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEnHaLCTkIw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Gqnx_eVYk&feature=channel
How can you not buy a cannon from these guys? :D

[Concordia...41]

See also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XhRs-xyAIg