New Years Eve Volleys

[OneEyeCharlie]

Anyone else breaking out their thumpers (BP cannons) tonight? Given that I live in a fairly civilized neck of the woods, NYE is one of the few times I can set off Bessie without the neighbors calling in the cops.

 

Gonna try an experimental salute shell with it tonight. An initial earth-shattering kaboom, a moment of stunned silence, followed by a smaller, albeit fairly snappy, CRACK!

 

Giddyup cowboy!

 

Edit:

Round 1: Gadzooks... a bit too much BP. Set off someone's car alarm with the concussion. Salute shell blew without lighting. Need to prime the fuse a bit better and police the area tomorrow.

 

Edit: 10:02 PM

Round 2: To quote John McClane ala Die Hard "Yippee-ki-yay mother f..." Backed off a bit on the BP charge and dunked the salute fuse in NC before dredging in some black powder. Kinda like cooking. Worked like a charm. Time to see if I can duplicate the results.

 

Edit: 11:35 PM

Round 3: Geez, I'm dialed in with the BP charge and salute shell. Anyone else find it beautiful when cannon concussion knocks fresh snow off pine trees? Apparently, my neighbors dog doesn't. Man I am screwed. Oh well, I feel like a teenager again.

 

Happy New Year everybody

[hst45]

Charlie, I love it! I too subscribe to the adage that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. Ringing in the New Year with ringing ears. I'd love to have heard the car alarm go off from the concussion; too funny. So I guess everyone on the block refers to you as "the guy with the cannon."

 

I've been toying with the idea of making a 1/2-scale field piece. I have a 3" I.D. steel pipe in inventory, and with my welding/carpentry tools/skills I'm thinking yard-art that doubles as a functional cannon. Before anyone posts a note pointing out that I'll blow my ass into earth orbit if I light it off, my plan is to sleeve the functional barrel, either 3/4" or 1" I.D., and fill the cavity between the two with hydraulic cement. I have a limit of approximately 500 yards to the perimeter of my firing range so I won't be able to shoot live ammo, but I'm thinking that a 100 gm. charge of crappy B.P. with a wad card over should make a good smoky, noisy signal to signify that the bar is open. Well, maybe a SMALL salute might find it's way into the barrel.

 

"Really honey, I thought that I just put in a blank shell! Wow, I'll have to be more careful in the future....... O.K., she's gone back inside,...load 'er up again."

[ITCHI]

Sounds great, I kinda like setting off the car alarms better than the snow.

Happy New Years.

[jacob]

I don't need to light off cannons, i let a club of musket shooters one town over do it for me (it's a small town), i swear they blew up a cannon last night (well maybe not but it is loud), rest assured though i have my own ways of scareing off evil spirits for the new year .