1900's to 1930's Hotchkiss Mark XIII & Mark XIV base inertial impact fuses, used in 2 pounder, 3 pounder, 6 pounder, 13 pounder & 18 pounder APHE shells also use shotgun primers. I own a 1934 pattern 2 pounder 40mm. APHE shell with a complete Mark XIV base fuse.
I was just thinking, if I owned a home, I would have a collection of these old cannons. I just showed this cannon to my wife, and I told her that I wanted one.
Joe did not build the gun. Fella in Redding built it around 1988. We met the builder at a shoot up in Arcata. Joe saw that gun and it was cannon lust at first sight. He bought that gun in the 1990's. He must have had a half dozen artillery pieces by then. When he left us I know he was chock-a-block with artillery in his "Cannatorium" You got a real tack driver there.
It's a pleasure to hear from somebody that knew Joe. Joe and I only knew each other for a short time, but I think we both felt like we were old friends. He wrote me a letter to console me after my mother died. It still brings tears to my eyes. He was one of a kind to say the least. I think of him often.
So I was talking with a guy here on RU-vid and he was saying that they had to have an older ignition source, match, fuse, friction primer, etc. I was certain I had seen a few Whitworth’s as well as others using 209’s (this video is one I had watched a few weeks back). Does anyone have any information on this? My understanding was it had to be a pre 1880 ish design and couldn’t use centered ammunition, but I never saw anything about 209 primers or percussion caps on the ATF website or anywhere else.
If you didn't have tinfoil or paper (I assume you can use paper) to wrap the black powder, Can you still load and fire it from the breech? I know muzzle loaders can have that spoon thing to dump a pile of BP ad the end of the cannon, Not sure if you can do something like that with a breech loader.
I think it could be done but it wouldn't be as easy as using the foil. Some people use plastic bags. I like the powder to be contained so it will be slightly compressed when the breach is closed.
Sir Joseph Whitworth came from England and had a home in Darley Dale in Derbyshire. in recent years his home was a Preparatory School, and i was a Pupil there in the 1970's. It is called Stancliffe Hall and is now a private residence again. sir Joseph invented many things. The first rifeled barrrel (Hexagon type) the first standard of Spanner fitting , the first Perfectly Flat Surface to make engineering accurate .... Stancliffe Hall was a lovely place to be and feel the Stature of the Man. He created learning institutes and a Hospital in Darley Dale and His name is Well Respected. Rolls Royce, Stevenson's Rocket ( First steam engine, Arkwright engineering and the Mighty Mills are All from Derbyshire England.
John P. Etherington Arkwright was a relative, but Trevithick has a strong claim to being first with steam railways and steam cars since the Industrial revolution started up in the West Country and spread to places with more coal reserves
I am curious how far that cannon will shoot... max charge, 45% barrel angle....perhaps 2K yds ? Would be a heck of a surprise to opposition leadership, assuming they were relatively safe over 1000 yds.
what I was told over the phone by the ATF is, and I quote. If it does not shoot a self contained cartridge it's OK. This gun works the same way as the original Whitworth cannons. It is externally primed.
I use to crew that GUN with Joe at some of the SHOOTS that no longer happen GESOP , and the arcada in northern California , put on by Dilling . we took first place ONCE where he hit a t-post at 200 yrds , I SURE miss JOE GERRARD ( BUCKSHOT )
Joe was a great guy. He felt like an old friend the second day I met him. It's so sad that he died and then his place burned. It's almost like there is nothing of him left at all. Just memories...
Very nice piece of Artillery. Ima not familiar with the Whitworth canon, is the mechanics of the cannon the same as an actual Whitworth "Breech loader"???, My neighbor has an authentic civil war era "Parrot Rifle" which is a breechloader and I believe it's a 2 pounder if I remember correctly?.One other question, how the heck did the armorer rifle the bore???, one hell of a talented machinest to say the least. Thanks for sharing! Kind regards, Eric Dee.
@@piutesteve: Now that I am awake, I recall My Father telling me about those "Bofor battery guns", My Father was deployed on the U.S.S. Wasp during WW2 43/45 in the South Pacific, I believe he called them AckAck guns??? or something to that effect, he said they would chase "Japanese Zeros " down with them. Uhhmmm how the heck did he find a 40mm barrel, I don't think Wal-mart carries those anymore...lol...
Beautiful! I thought about making a 20mm black powder cannon to shoot those blue 20mm practice rounds but when I tried to find out about legality it seems like it would be classified as a DD destructive device. Is this a DD?
***** The only place where Canadian firearms laws are better than the US. No restriction on how large a round can be. You could buy a pak 40 and have it count as a non-restricted long gun. Of course you could only shoot solid rounds, if you wanted explosives you would have to apply for a permit.
I thought when you use a W209 primer it becomes under ATF restrictions ??? It is then considered a firearm. If you use a percussion cap the ATF considers it a toy .
I have just watched that dreary monotone dross waiting for the gun muzzle to speak ,the powder to ignite, then the cannonball( s) to fly but NO!!!!.What was the bloody point of all that? There wasn't even a fissle. Even that mutt in the video got fed up and keeled over ,semi comatose! Oh well perhaps next time !.
Why the hell would you use 3FFF grain powder in a damn cannon when it is for small pistols only . 3 0r 2 F is used in cannons only when no shot is used to make noise only. you could produce too much pressure in the gun Cannon powder is the size of blasting powder.
+Charles Barnett I shoot all my cannons with 3f even the 3" guns. Nothing else burns at a consistent rate. everybody I know has evolved to shot 3f . Even in 58 caliber rifles. A friend of mine is one of the largest sellers of black powder on the west coast and he sells 3f almost exclusively. 3f in small pistols only, is an old wives tail. My gun was proofed with 3 pounds of 3f. I shoot 10 to 12 oz. at the shoots and I won all but one shoot in the last 5 years. The guy that beat me was shooting 3f also. If you have a good gun it will shoot better. I have shot over 3000 rounds almost all with 3f. I shot a 5 shot group at 400 yards with my 3" Whitworth that measured 7 1/2 inches. try that with 1f.
