OneEyeCharlie Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 I own a scaled down garrison cannon. It has a 24" barrel w/ a 1" ID. When the neighbors start to get cocky on the Fourth with their black market M-80s, I break out Bessie and remind them who's the Alpha male on the block. I still have a small, but rapidly dwindling, supply of cannon balls. I'm looking for a reasonably priced mold to cast my own. Does anyone have any leads? A baggie full of BBs makes wonderful grapeshot and I've even made chainshot using a pair of bell sinkers, but I want to add solid shot back into my repertoire. Before anyone castigates me over possible safety issues, I fire over a VERY large lake. The only potential victim downrange would be Milwaukee; and if I managed to hit Milwaukee, you'd have to start calling me Gerald Bull. BTW, sometimes I do wear my patch and a red bandanna while firing Bessie. Yarrgh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyboy25 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 so you have cannon balls that fit it and you want to make more of your own? if so you could try something like this: http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1058 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankRizzo Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Wolter Pyro Tools sells a 1" lead ball mold for $92.00 + shipping that might work. Ideally you want a few hundredths of clearance though, so if your bore is exactly 1", you want a ~.98" ball. Also, keep in mind that your cannon will have *substantially* more recoil than it did with a blank load, and in most states would also be considered a destructive device. LEAD MEDIA MOLDS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Assuming your barrel is exactly 1", and those molds are exactly 1" It could probably work as the lead will contract very slightly upon cooling. Then again you will probably have to clean the barrel every shot or so to keep the lead balls freely movable. You may also want to think about the potential environmental hazards from shooting over lake michigan. Mostly because I eat fish from said lake from time to time. If you give me lead poisoning, I will not be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEyeCharlie Posted November 6, 2007 Author Share Posted November 6, 2007 Crazyboy - Thanks for the link to that tutorial. I think I'll give that a try. Got nothing to lose; other than a bit of weekend time. The cheap, Dutchman in me gloms on to cheap solutions like white on rice. My office shares a building with a gun shop/shooting range. All the free lead I want. Frank - Thanks for the pointer to Wolter. Didn't even think of him for cannon ball molds (hadn't looked at the Misc Tools page yet). Been thinking about getting his Stinger tooling eventually. Too busy lately pissing away $$$ on building a chemical inventory as a prelude to constructing some rockets/gerbs/shells. And yes... Newton's Third is very apparent when you substitute a lead ball for some wet grass and paper towel. Yowzaa! Mumbles - I thought about the shrinkage too. Debating whether I have enough ambition to clean Bessie between shoots. The magic 8-Ball says, "The odds are not favorable" The lead poisoning is retribution for Milwaukee, Madison, and Racine tossing a chemical cocktail downwind That being said, I wolfed down a 20 lb King that I pulled in several weeks ago, and still have some smoked Lakers in the garage fridge. Still sucking O2, so I guess you're safe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormanman Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I would go to a Civil War or Rev. War or Pirate battle reanactment and look around in the sutler tents for cannon balls. Thats all the advice I have but I do like the mold and casting idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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