Ideas for cannon ball extraction?

[Richard]

Regarding the hole(s) in the ball. So far, I've only seen a single hole. I've stuck a rod into it (some steel wire) and it appears to be maybe an inch deep or so.

Stuck magnet on it, magnet falls off. I talked to a gunsmith guy (to find out about how/where to buy powder) he said it was likely made of lead.

I have no idea.

The cannon doesn't come apart. Let me rephrase that.....the METAL part of the cannon is one piece. It has the stubs that allow it to hinge inside the wooden frame but there is no breech to open up to have access to anything.

The cannon itself appears to have a muzzle that is then, surrounded by another metal (bronze?)

The liner appears to be roughly 1/4" thick. You might be able to see it in the pictures. I'm guessing they take this liner, then cast the cannon around it (but I have no idea). Not a hint of rust on the exterior. The liner in the pictures is what appears to be crusty looking.

I hadn't thought about putting water in. I can put that into the barrel, it will seep behind the ball, then I can use my air. That might be enough to dislodge the ball. It will also push it out but not as easily as the air itself passing by the ball.

Nice idea!!

 

[3Ts]

It is possible that the ball is lead, if so it is easily scratched. Try an iron rod and scrape the surface, if it scratches, you will see a shiny surface and it's probably lead. However, that appears to be a "real" cannon and cannon balls were made of iron not lead back in the day. The "pounder" nomenclature, as in a 6 pound cannon referred to the weight of an iron cannon ball. (Yours is smaller than that, but not sure what size it would be.)

Note: hollow cannon balls were used as fragmentary munitions just like grenades.

 

[stuckmotor]

This won't help get the cannon ball out so unless you just want to read my cannon story ignore it.

After the Civil War, a couple of my relatives went north to retrieve the body of a brother. They didn't find the brother but somewhere got possession of a tiny Revolutionary War cannon. My cousin still has it. The kids in the family are said to have loaded it with fireworks and fired it in the early 1900's.

 

[airbiscuit]

Can you take a few pics or the breech end? I liked the comments.

Gravity is your friend (keep the muzzle pointed down as much as possible)
Clean/De-rust the bore
Tap the muzzle on a wood block
Spray some ether in the breech and touch it off (video this for our entertainment and/or for the survivors)
Do this

Grease gun, gravity. Done

If you can use a grease gun to tension tracks on an excavator, it should be able to push a cannon ball out
.

 

[ruffdog]

Neighbor had a cannon that he shot every 4th of July. The ammo he used was beer cans filled with concrete.

 

[stuckmotor]

I've had a post hole auger stuck in a hole, thought it was hung on a root until all I dug out was dirt and clay. Had a tube within a tube hung only by corrosion that nearly caused me to destroy the outer tube before I got it out, and have rung off many bolts when all that was preventing the nuts unscrewing was a tiny bit of rust. It's amazing how little it takes to stick something in bore hole.

 

[Root Cause]

Regarding the hole(s) in the ball. So far, I've only seen a single hole. I've stuck a rod into it (some steel wire) and it appears to be maybe an inch deep or so.

Stuck magnet on it, magnet falls off. I talked to a gunsmith guy (to find out about how/where to buy powder) he said it was likely made of lead.

I have no idea.

The cannon doesn't come apart. Let me rephrase that.....the METAL part of the cannon is one piece. It has the stubs that allow it to hinge inside the wooden frame but there is no breech to open up to have access to anything.

The cannon itself appears to have a muzzle that is then, surrounded by another metal (bronze?)

The liner appears to be roughly 1/4" thick. You might be able to see it in the pictures. I'm guessing they take this liner, then cast the cannon around it (but I have no idea). Not a hint of rust on the exterior. The liner in the pictures is what appears to be crusty looking.

I hadn't thought about putting water in. I can put that into the barrel, it will seep behind the ball, then I can use my air. That might be enough to dislodge the ball. It will also push it out but not as easily as the air itself passing by the ball.

Nice idea!!

I normally don't really worry about outcomes for posters with problems but you REALLY need to report back how you got this out. It is an interesting problem to have.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Yes, please respond with your solution. This is interesting.....

 

[Doughknob]

Good luck but I think that will not come out in one piece unscathed unless you do your ether idea with fuse to ignite it. I have also used household alcohol sprayed into combustion chamber to get engines to fire.

Try small amounts gradually increasing if it moves at all. You could even tamp it back down each time to give each new shot a running start at the crusty bore.

 

[MossRoad]

Neighbor had a cannon that he shot every 4th of July. The ammo he used was beer cans filled with concrete.

People near hear had a cannon that they'd fire off on 4th of July as well. One year it exploded and shrapnel killed a woman sitting on a yard swing a couple houses over.

So.... yikes. I'd be leery of firing off an antique cannon.