Homemade cannon laws

I'm sure there are, especially in your area. I do know that in PA there is a cannon club ($$$ clearly) that shoots real full sized custom made cannons competitively. I saw some of the cannon forgings being bored when I was doing a CNC repair at a shop that specialized in gun drilling years ago. On the safer end of things, with all the toys you have and your semis, you should look at entering the pumpkin chucking contest.

A pumpkin cannon would look pretty cool on top of my M927 truck:

I do have a tow behind compressor (needs to be sold, no time to test it). Accumulator tanks I usually get fr less than scrap.

If it is muzzle loading, it is not considered a firearm and there does not have to conform to the destructive device portion of the NFA. So any bore size is legal.

Firing it, however, may break any number of local ordinances. Even firing blank loads will probably get you a free cavity search.

Paul K. Dickman

Sounds fun. Ultimately, it is a simple lathe and milling project. I will post updates when I have something. Thanks for great advice.

Hey Igor, If you are making a black powder cannon I have some advice. First of all is the bore. Just under wine bottle cork size is a good size. That way you don't need to stuff a wad of some sort into the bore, just shove in a ready made cork. I'm not sure that I would use 1.25 material for a .8 dia bore though. I like 1/2 inch wall thickness just to be totally sure the cannon will never split. You should ALWAYS use some sort of plug in the bore because when lighting the fuse there is a possibility that a spark will fly off the fuse and land in the cannon bore and set off the charge. I have seen this happen. If the cannon is just for making noise then a mortar is best. The barrel points straight up. 6 or 7 inches is plenty long enough for the barrel. Use a wide base. The cannon will pretty much stay in the same place. If using corks they will only fly into the air a little way and sometimes you can catch them when they fall. The type of powder used matters as far as noise is concerned. Pyrodex is not as loud as just regular old black powder. I don't know what Pyrodex is made from, I do know that it is not the same formula as black powder. It is probably safer or smokes less or something. Use fffg powder. The finer grain size is louder. Drill a 1/8 hole for the fuse. Make up a little powder gage for adding powder to the cannon. A pill bottle with a line drawn on it works well. It is much better to pour the powder into a measure and then pour from the measure into the cannon. Black powder is ultra sensitive to the tiniest of sparks so be really careful whenever the powder can is open. Black powder cannons are lots of fun as noise makers but you need to make sure that you are always in control of the cannon and powder. To illustrate the power I have seen a 55 gallon steel drum placed over a cannon with a .8 bore filled about two inches deep with powder launch over 40 feet in the air when the cannon went off. The barrel was open at one end and this end was placed on the ground and tipped up so the cannon could be placed under the barrel. The fuse was lit and the barrel was tipped back down so that it rested firmly on the ground. A paper wad used in the cannon left a big dent in the drum bottom. Anyway, have fun! ERS

"Homemade" cannon laws? - I don't think so. You can't make your own cannon laws. Only the legislature can make cannon laws.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. Now back to serious replies.

Bob

Here is the URL for the annual cannon shoot held every Memorial Day weekend.

just a few miles from my house.

Paul

Pouring from a measure into the bore is a REQUIREMENT. Anything else is a fatality waiting to happen

Hot coals/embers have been known to linger in the bore for many many minutes

.8 is a good size. Now on the other hand..if you have access to golf balls......

Gunner

Got to be muzzleloading if using powder, no fixed ammo, no exploding projectiles. Skates into legality under the antique/muzzleloading firearm exemptions of GCA 68. Other than that, no limits. Guys make bowling ball mortars out of large oxygen tanks with surplus mortar bipods and baseplates. Too large and you have problems with making/ obtaining projectiles(as well as finding a place to shoot). If it's breechloading , uses fixed ammo and over .5" bore, it's a Destructive Device and needs approval from the feds as well as being taxed, shotguns being sporting arms are specifically exempted from that. Now that's federal law, what the liberal sump states and IL have for state and local laws, you'll have to find out on your own. A lot of guys make small muzzleloading cannon replicas, they're perfectly legal. Just remember what you have is a real gun there when you get it all done.

Stan

can someone tell me if its illegal to build a blackpowder cannon that shoots a marble in ohio

I'm pretty sure it's illegal in all of Obama's 57 states.

It varies by state. Some states have a maximum bore; others (like NJ) outlaw them altogether.

Fast cannon Ed missed your 57 states ? Who did we add after Alaska ? Been 50 for some time and 49 and 48 for a long time.

Mart> >

Martin, President Barry said there were 57 states of America. Oops, it was pointed out that there are 57 OIC Islamic states instead.

Mea culpa: It turns out that black powder cannons are legal in many states, including the Republik of Kalifornia, even though they can fire projectiles. They kill so few people, though, I'm surprised that the Libs don't jump all over them like they do "assault rifles".

No, I didn't miss that stupid remark. He meant 47 states. Do you know the context?

Not true. That number is around 52. Obama meant 47 states. Do you know why he meant 47 rather than 50?

I do know that fully automatic cannons are illegal...I checked!

WHAT? No chance of a GAU-8 or GAU-22 following us home some day? Darn!