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We're back!

By The Armorer on December 26, 2004 | | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (1)

Not that there's anyone here at at the moment...

I got a cannon! I got a cannon! It may only have a foot long barrel, and shoot .54 caliber balls, but...

I got a cannon! I got a cannon!

24kit.jpg


Thank you, SWWBO! (She got a spa massage coupon, since I know you're wondering)

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People Seem to be Having a Good Time This Week from Technicalities on December 28, 2004 11:38 PM

No - I am not going to blog about the tsunami - many other people are doing a great job on that and nothing I can say would contribute in the least to making anything better. There's even a dedicated... Read More

18 Comments

By Silk on December 26, 2004 6:28 PM
Sweet. You know we expect some action shots of that baby.
 
By Jack on December 26, 2004 7:12 PM
I'm here... in the US, even!!! Welcome back, I'm glad you and Beth had safe travels.
 
By IR on December 26, 2004 11:23 PM
I couldn't help notice that your next door neighbor is boarding up his windows, and digging a moat... Let the games begin...Might I suggest air bursts for the second floor patio...
 
By cw4billt on December 27, 2004 6:50 AM
Hah! You did have a Ferrous Navidad! Have the neighbors been alerted regarding "Retreat" protocol?
 
By SangerM on December 27, 2004 8:46 AM
I got a canon once, but I returned it because minolta had better lenses. :-) Are you going to set up a target range? Are those things loud? What range do they have? Could you take out unruly neighbors' dogs? Maybe you could build a scale ship to fire that from... Or a spanish Fort. I have pics of a nice small one at St. Augustine (Ft. Matanzas) with cannons. Anyway, congrats. -SangerM
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2004 9:11 AM
Lessee, let's take these comments in order... 1. Heck, I'll probably take pictures of the assembly process. Not too many, there isn't a whole lot of work to be done. 2. Welcome back, Jack - even if only briefly! 3. Well, the neighbor to the South are two retired NCOs, and we get along with them. The neighbor to the North is an absentee landlord (actually an infantry LTC with the 82nd who has spent two years deployed to either Afghanistan or Iraq) who is trying to sell his house. If we had the money, we'd buy it. 4. On a purely technical note, Bill, no. All metal fittings are brass, the shot is lead, and the wood is walnut. So aside from stray iron compounds, it was a Non-Ferrous Navidad, but we get yer point! The neighbors to the south know the drill, we'll have to see who moves in to the north. 5. Not here. Silly ordinance about discharging firearms in the city. I've got some friends outside the city limits, however. The guns are as loud as any .54 caliber black powder weapon. Which means yes, but... They don't have the high-pitched component modern weapons have. Range, I'd have to consult the tables. Think of it as a pistol in that regard, and yes, a .54 caliber soft lead bullet would take out the unruly neighbor's dog... not that we'd do that. If we did that, we'd likely find our three pooches taken out, too. As for a scale ship... this cannon is 1/10th scale. I'm thinking that's just a touch big for the Castle pond. I might, however, build a section of of ship hull with a gun port. That would be in the realm of possibility, and be a more accurate display, as well. With the supplied base, you would be hooking the breeching tackle to the 'deck' which isn't correct. It was attached to the ribs of the hull.
 
By AFSister on December 27, 2004 12:01 PM
Hehehe I love it- Boys and their Toys! You sound just like my 7 year old, bouncing around Christmas morning yelling "I GOT THE GI JOE AIRPLANE! DO YA SEE IT, DADDY?!" or my 4 year old, wearing his new Dare Devil costume and trying out his karate moves on everybody on Christmas Day. Too fun!
 
By cw4billt on December 27, 2004 12:39 PM
If I had wished you a brazen Christmas, you might have thought I figured you were a Herb Alpert fan...
 
By lvncenturion on December 27, 2004 3:18 PM
John, My dominions are at your command whenever you are in need of a range. As you know, I haven't got a pond, so we will have to simulate the roll of the deck. While we are at it, you can fix my Mauser.
 
By big al on December 27, 2004 9:32 PM
The Viagra worked as adverised?;)
 
By Graumagus on December 28, 2004 12:57 AM
Artillery: the gift that keeps on giving....
 
By GEBIV on December 28, 2004 4:08 PM
Umm... hate to nit-pick, but are you sure on the scale, if so this is a replica of a 10' long barreled cannon. You might want to double check before you build your ship hull. Oh, and by the way, where can I get one of these?
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 28, 2004 4:23 PM
Constitution's second battery of 24 pounder long guns were 9 feet, 6 inches in length. The barrel of the kit is a touch short for perfect scale, it's 11.2 inches instead of a 'nit-picky' 11.4 inches (yes, I just measured, as opposed to going from the literature as I did before). Specs on the guns available here - read down, it's the second set of 24's we're talking about. Cannon kit available here.
 
By GEBIV on December 28, 2004 5:19 PM
Yeah, I just found the same page after a bunch of Google searches. (Wow, those were big guns for a wooden ship.) Sorry to pick your nits. And yeah, I still want one. Now I just have to justify the purchase and massage my budjet a litte. :-D
 
By lvncenturion on December 29, 2004 2:53 PM
Yes, 24 pounders were big for frigates, which gave the Gringos a big advantage when coming up against the standard British frigates that normally mounted 12 pounders on the gun deck with 9 pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. However a first, second, or third rate such as HMS Victory (104 guns) or HMS Bedford (74 guns) typically mounted 32 pounders on the main gun deck with 24 pounders as the secondary battery on the second gun deck. Exceptions to this were found as carronades came into use with 32 pounder carronades substituing for 24 and even 12 pounder long guns. This could give a frigate a substantial weight of shot in a broadside, though range and accuracy were sacrificed with the shorter barrel carronades.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 29, 2004 3:53 PM
Hey, Leader of Hundreds... yer email doesn't work.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 29, 2004 5:07 PM
Oh, and for an infantryman there, Centurion, you've got your naval lore down! Or a good Google!
 
By lvncenturion on December 30, 2004 11:38 AM
All thanks to Patrick O'Brian and the exploits of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Excuse me while I go spread my studdingsails and wet the courses. Which email? Leavenworth.army.mil is defunct bennett_dickson@attglobal.net bdickson@ref.army.mil bennett.dickson@regermail.com
 
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