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Cannons any one?

Back when I was aboard the TS Californian they had working 2lb rail cannons and 6lb deck cannons. We sailed into a defensive position with the Hawaiian Chieftan and a mock battle ensued! Firing blanks filled with baby powder wrapped in tin foil, circling and tight maneuvers with 6 sails up and being on the down range end of a 6lb cannon sure is a totally different sound!

For cannons I've built, they have been of the potato variety. But, I was designing weapons systems at the time, so of course I completely optimized my PVC tube of terror! Used a stun gun remotely run to a stainless chain suspended along the middle of the combustion chamber, found the optimum fuel (lowest molecular weight exhaust gasses) and built around a 2" bore. Shooting the large "super balls" was hilarious! Lemons worked well, too! We could break fence boards at about 75 yards!

It didnt last long. Someone decided to take it to a more populated area and the cops showed up. Thankfully I wasn't there, but that was the end of it, lol!
 
Heres one I've been up close and personal with, Fort Point, San Francisco CA.

I have some pics somewhere of the bigger guns they have there, gotta find them.2016-01-23_11-35-35_zps93fq3r9o.jpg
 
AC77AEF8-33FB-4425-A614-72CF84D08FF2.jpeg I messed around making one a few years ago. The bore fits a paper patched golf ball perfectly. I still haven’t made a decent base for it yet. Here’s a picture of the first time I took it out.
 
In the 1950's the DOE built a plant to refine nuclear materials for weapons. A great influx of workers appeared to build it and some locals made a living selling wild hog meat and fish from the Savannah River. Mainly catfish. One old boy used a crank telephone generator to shock them and dip them up and a game warden had been trying to catch him. One day the warden got lucky as he was looking off a bluff into the river. The fisherman was holding a pint of liquor taking sips, cranking the generator, and singing "Operator, Operator, give me Mr. Catfish". The warden yelled at him to come to the shore. The old man looked up and said, "Oh Sh**, wrong number".
 
made one to shoot 20mm military round out of 3" round stock bout 12" long. threaded chamber end and made a 4" nut to screw on it with a hole in center. insert nail into hole and shoot with 22lr. laid 2 100lb tractor weights behind breech to stop recoil and fire!!!!...ka boom!!!!!
 
As kids we made a lot of cannons. Some were built from steel pipe and we also turned some on a lathe. We used everything from golf balls to chain for projectiles. We also made our own powder. As I remember the small bore was louder than the big bores.
 
Had the old carbide cannons and they made a fairly large boom. They were pretty much harmless unless you stuffed the bore with something. Used to sit on the porch and when a car drove by, we'd fire it. Some would pull over thinking they had a blowout.

Edit: Reading all of the posts, one word comes to mind, MISCREANT. :D:D:D
 
o_OI’ll never admit to doing it!:cool: I’ve “heard” it produces quite a geyser!;)
Worked several jobs offshore where they used explosives to blow the legs on old oil production platforms, water would shoot out of the legs 40 to 50 feet, quite a sight.
As stated, fish float to the top water depth don't matter, all sizes all kinds and the sharks show themselves shortly later. Pick and chose the ones you want.
 

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