Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

You can probably pack it full without much worry. It is short enough that
it'll blow most excess out the muzzle.
However, the rule of thumb with black powder guns is one grain per caliber
(50cal gets 50grains of powder) and work up or down from there.


Paul K. Dickman

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...

Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

Are you going to use black powder or substitute? If so, I'd just start
somewhere around the same as recommended for a 32 cal pistol. I used to
shoot toilet paper packed into my black powder cannons, I have a 44 cal and
a 75 cal. With the toilet paper packed in reasonable is makes a lot of
noise but not much destructive power. One of my cannons has a cast iron
barrel, the other is brass, I got them from Dixie gun works some 35-40 years
ago.

Searching, one guy said he uses 25 grains of 3F black powder in his 32
caliber. Your barrel looks pretty stout!

RogerN

On 2013-06-09, Paul K. Dickman wrote:

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

You can probably pack it full without much worry. It is short enough that
it'll blow most excess out the muzzle.
However, the rule of thumb with black powder guns is one grain per caliber
(50cal gets 50grains of powder) and work up or down from there.


OK, I figure that I will fill the length equal to appx. 2 times the ID
of the barrel. Can I use a better gunpowder than blackpowder?
Something that does not cause so much rusting?

i

On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...

Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

Are you going to use black powder or substitute? If so, I'd just start
somewhere around the same as recommended for a 32 cal pistol. I used to
shoot toilet paper packed into my black powder cannons, I have a 44 cal and
a 75 cal. With the toilet paper packed in reasonable is makes a lot of
noise but not much destructive power. One of my cannons has a cast iron
barrel, the other is brass, I got them from Dixie gun works some 35-40 years
ago.

Searching, one guy said he uses 25 grains of 3F black powder in his 32
caliber. Your barrel looks pretty stout!

Thanks. It is made from 8620 steel, it is 2x stronger than the famous
4140.

How do you make wads with toilet paper, I want to start with the
same.

i

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...

On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
snip

Are you going to use black powder or substitute? If so, I'd just start
somewhere around the same as recommended for a 32 cal pistol. I used to
shoot toilet paper packed into my black powder cannons, I have a 44 cal
and
a 75 cal. With the toilet paper packed in reasonable is makes a lot of
noise but not much destructive power. One of my cannons has a cast iron
barrel, the other is brass, I got them from Dixie gun works some 35-40
years
ago.

Searching, one guy said he uses 25 grains of 3F black powder in his 32
caliber. Your barrel looks pretty stout!

Thanks. It is made from 8620 steel, it is 2x stronger than the famous
4140.

How do you make wads with toilet paper, I want to start with the
same.

i

I just used a square of toilet paper rolled it up into a ball, and rammed it
down the muzzle, I used 3 or 4 crammed in their to attempt to build up a
little pressure to make a loud bang, it worked. I doubt you can get enough
black powder in that barrel to damage it. Savage had/has a muzzle loading
rifle that you could shoot smokeless powder in. If I were going to try it,
I'd use reload data for a compressed charge on whatever size my projectile
is, then I'd take cover in a safe place for test firing.

RogerN

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
On 2013-06-09, Paul K. Dickman wrote:

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

You can probably pack it full without much worry. It is short enough that
it'll blow most excess out the muzzle.
However, the rule of thumb with black powder guns is one grain per
caliber
(50cal gets 50grains of powder) and work up or down from there.


OK, I figure that I will fill the length equal to appx. 2 times the ID
of the barrel. Can I use a better gunpowder than blackpowder?
Something that does not cause so much rusting?

i

You can use pyrodex or one of the other substitutes, they are much less
corrosive, but they're still dirty.

You still have to scrub it with hot soapy water, dry it and oil it.
The substitutes just give you a little more time to get around to it.
Blackhorn 209 is supposedly the cleanest, but I have never used it,

An empty .45acp case holds about 28grains of fff black powder.
For what you're doing, just stuff a ball of toilet paper in for wadding and
pack it down.

Paul K. Dickman

On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...

On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
snip

Are you going to use black powder or substitute? If so, I'd just start
somewhere around the same as recommended for a 32 cal pistol. I used to
shoot toilet paper packed into my black powder cannons, I have a 44 cal
and
a 75 cal. With the toilet paper packed in reasonable is makes a lot of
noise but not much destructive power. One of my cannons has a cast iron
barrel, the other is brass, I got them from Dixie gun works some 35-40
years
ago.

Searching, one guy said he uses 25 grains of 3F black powder in his 32
caliber. Your barrel looks pretty stout!

Thanks. It is made from 8620 steel, it is 2x stronger than the famous
4140.

How do you make wads with toilet paper, I want to start with the
same.

i

I just used a square of toilet paper rolled it up into a ball, and rammed it
down the muzzle, I used 3 or 4 crammed in their to attempt to build up a
little pressure to make a loud bang, it worked. I doubt you can get enough
black powder in that barrel to damage it. Savage had/has a muzzle loading
rifle that you could shoot smokeless powder in. If I were going to try it,
I'd use reload data for a compressed charge on whatever size my projectile
is, then I'd take cover in a safe place for test firing.


OK, great to know. I will see where I can get gunpowder.

i

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...

On 2013-06-09, RogerN wrote:
snip

Are you going to use black powder or substitute? If so, I'd just start
somewhere around the same as recommended for a 32 cal pistol. I used
to
shoot toilet paper packed into my black powder cannons, I have a 44 cal
and
a 75 cal. With the toilet paper packed in reasonable is makes a lot of
noise but not much destructive power. One of my cannons has a cast
iron
barrel, the other is brass, I got them from Dixie gun works some 35-40
years
ago.

Searching, one guy said he uses 25 grains of 3F black powder in his 32
caliber. Your barrel looks pretty stout!

Thanks. It is made from 8620 steel, it is 2x stronger than the famous
4140.

How do you make wads with toilet paper, I want to start with the
same.

i

I just used a square of toilet paper rolled it up into a ball, and rammed
it
down the muzzle, I used 3 or 4 crammed in their to attempt to build up a
little pressure to make a loud bang, it worked. I doubt you can get
enough
black powder in that barrel to damage it. Savage had/has a muzzle
loading
rifle that you could shoot smokeless powder in. If I were going to try
it,
I'd use reload data for a compressed charge on whatever size my
projectile
is, then I'd take cover in a safe place for test firing.


OK, great to know. I will see where I can get gunpowder.

i

Anywhere muzzleloader supplies are sold - but don't get your hopes up for
real black powder , few places carry it any more because it's expensive to
ship . Pyrodex or any other BP substitute will work as well as long as you
can get FFF grade . I load about 30-35 grains 1 gram = 28.4 grains , 437.5
gr to the ounce in my .36 cap and ball revolver , good place to start . As
others said , wad up a couple of pieces of TP and ram it in on top of the
powder - packing it tighter will make the report "sharper" , it'll have more
of a "crack" .
--
Snag

On Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:50:38 -0500, Ignoramus20041
wrote:

Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

..33 id? About 10-30 grains and Id probably go with the smaller
amounts

At that small a bore...it will sound like a pistol shot and not much
else.

All you need to do is stuff some toilet paper in there with a rod and
pack it down. DO NOT hit it with a hammer etc etc.. and make damned
sure you take the ramrod out before firing. Put a nice 90' bend in one
end of it so you can see the damned thing and paint it a nice bright
yellow.

As for the wadding... 3/8ths-1/2" should make a nice bang.

Now for a modest Boom...use a bore at least .75" and about 25-40grs
blackpowder.

You can simply rebore the barrel bigger with a drill bit.

Gunner

--
"You guess the truth hurts?

Really?

"Hurt" aint the word.

For Liberals, the truth is like salt to a slug.
Sunlight to a vampire.
Raid® to a cockroach.
Sheriff Brody to a shark
Bush to a Liberal

The truth doesn't just hurt. It's painful, like a red hot poker shoved
up their ass. Like sliding down a hundred foot razor blade using their
dick as a brake.

They HATE the truth."

On Sun, 09 Jun 2013 16:41:33 -0500, Ignoramus20041
wrote:

On 2013-06-09, Paul K. Dickman wrote:

"Ignoramus20041" wrote in message
...
Made this at work with kids today. Barrel approx 0.33" OD, 1.25" OD.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e...609_153812.jpg

I want to have some idea of how much gunpowder I can put in there, and
what is the best way to make some safe projectiles like wads of paper
or some such. I want a modest BOOM and as little destructive power as
possible.

There is a small hole on top for putting in an igniting cord.

i

You can probably pack it full without much worry. It is short enough that
it'll blow most excess out the muzzle.
However, the rule of thumb with black powder guns is one grain per caliber
(50cal gets 50grains of powder) and work up or down from there.


OK, I figure that I will fill the length equal to appx. 2 times the ID
of the barrel. Can I use a better gunpowder than blackpowder?
Something that does not cause so much rusting?

i

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_powder_substitute

Hodgdon's Pyrodex was the first widely available substitute on the
market. Pyrodex is less sensitive to ignition than black powder, and
uses the same shipping and storage guidelines as smokeless powder.
Pyrodex is more energetic per unit of mass than black powder, but it
is less dense, and can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio by volume for
black powder in many applications.[1] Pyrodex is similar in
composition to black powder, consisting primarily of charcoal, sulfur,
and potassium nitrate, but it also contains graphite and potassium
perchlorate, plus additional ingredients protected by trade secret.
Originally available as loose powder in two granularities, RS
(Rifle/Shotgun) equal to FFG black powder, and P (Pistol) equal to
FFFg black powder, Pyrodex is now becoming available in Select and
solid pellet varieties. While Pyrodex offers improved safety and
increased efficiency (in terms of shots per pound of powder) over
black powder, the level of fouling is similar; Pyrodex is caustic and
corrosive.

Hodgdon also makes Triple Seven, one of the family of sulfurless black
powder substitutes. Triple Seven and Black Mag3 are more energetic
than black powder, and produce higher velocities and pressures. Still
burning carbon, the carbon-based fuel burned here is from the sugar
family, not from charcoal.

Western Powders Company introduced Blackhorn 209 in 2008. Like many
other black powder substitutes, it is made to be a volumetric
substitute of black powder. It is dispensed in "black powder powder
measures" for muzzleloading applications. Blackhorn 209 is essentially
non-corrosive, low-fouling, very consistent in gas generation, but
non-hygroscopic.[2]


Most of those (other than Pyrodex) require more "containment" so you
would be pushing more wadding in the barrel and packing it tightly.

There really isnt a need for cleaning such a cannon. When done
shooting it..simply hit it with the garden hose and then give it a
shot of PB Blaster or anything that will not evaporate until the next
time you use it.

gunner

--
"You guess the truth hurts?

Really?

"Hurt" aint the word.

For Liberals, the truth is like salt to a slug.
Sunlight to a vampire.
Raid® to a cockroach.
Sheriff Brody to a shark
Bush to a Liberal

The truth doesn't just hurt. It's painful, like a red hot poker shoved
up their ass. Like sliding down a hundred foot razor blade using their
dick as a brake.

They HATE the truth."