More stuff (someone) pulled from the (beach) #4

This big nasty is a 37 mm shell (don't worry, it's inert). It's stamped "LOT N14-2-1 1943 37 MM M51 B" on one of the ferrules (the "4" is italicized because it's not too legible - some fool appears to have used this as a tack hammer at some point). This piece was given to me many years ago by a benefactor who claims to have found this at an undisclosed location within Fort Miles, Delaware, now part of Cape Henlopen State Park. The problem I have with this questionable provenance is that the M51 B was an anti-tank gun, and would not really have any business at a coastal defense installation. Furthermore, I have seen no evidence that these were even deployed at Fort Miles, although mobile artillery may have transitioned in and out of there extensively. Anyway, I'm suspicious of this thing's reputed origin.

Regardless, check out the folks at FortMiles.org. This base actually captured a Nazi sub, so that at least should be worthy of respect, never mind that many of the old casemates are now sealed off and New Jersey tourists scramble all over the place like so many jogging vegan hipster fucktards.

More stuff I pulled out of the water #3

This is a 30 mm x 110 mm shell casing pulled from Chincoteague Bay in around 1992. The base is stamped: "1944 HP LOT 142 20 MM M21A1". It's hard to tell where this came from - probably not an aircraft since they were not shooting these big calibers out of aircraft until somewhat later, although surplus ammo may have been used later. The modern "Vulcan" on the front of an A-10 Warthog is 20mm.

Given the caliber and the length, this most likely came off of a Navy or Coast Guard gunboat in or shortly after WW2.

Itty Bitty #3, or one last cannon (for now)

I know it's hard to see. Even the modern digital camera's macro lens has its limitations. The little field cannon on the U.S. penny is non-functional (the bore is there, but there's no touch hole), but it could be if:

a). I had a small enough Dremel Tool bit to make a touch hole, and,

b). if one could actually get black powder grains in there.

It's gold. It's cute. It's a cannon. What else can I say?

Let's do cannons #9

The big one...


This piece is not old...but it's big. The bore is a whopping 1 inch. This is big enough to pose a serious threat to naval targets much bigger than a Sunfish. In fact, this sucker can throw a lead fishing sinker over a thousand yards. Its favorite fodder?



C-size batteries.

Just kidding - while I've regrettably shot a few of these out there in my younger and dumber days, batteries are not the kinds of things we want to be wantonly distributing into the environment. Better to recycle them...seriously.

However, if we ever go to war against the zombie hoards, all bets are off and I'm shootin' some old C-cells...

Let's do cannons #8

Not black powder but cartridge. 12 Gauge shotgun to be exact. Another gift from Mac. Behind it is a 12 Gauge salute round - I wouldn't try shot in this one. The string and the board indicate that I've shot this one with popper loads (i.e. salute round). Every New Year's Eve...

Here's another view of the breech...

Let's do cannons #7

Someone took some pride in this one. It's a .55 caliber brass cannon on a home-machined aluminum carriage attached to a fiberglass base. This is apparently a DIY desk piece that I bought in an antique store after seeing it on at least seven visits. I finally relented to the urge to buy, even though it's not very old. It's been used - by an original owner and by me. It makes a satisfying bang...

Let's do cannons #6

Getting bigger...

This one's a brass naval cannon with a .45 caliber bore. I also built the carriage for this one, including the wheels. I like it...but I regret the Philips head screws on the trunnion bands.

Let's do cannons #5

This ugly thing is a .36 caliber homemade cannon. A good friend gave me the barrel - machined in it's current configuration, with the threaded cascabel and nut. I built the carriage myself out of bits I had laying around.

Let's do cannons #4

Here's another .30 caliber piece. The barrel is brass, and the carriage is cast iron. The problem is, while both are old, the barrel is not original to the carriage. Someone must have thought this combination worked, but it does not, as evidenced by the disparity at the trunnion.

However, the skewed aesthetics of the piece are not off-putting - I imagine the original counterparts were lost during antebellum play, so much may be forgiven...

Let's do cannons #3

This dude is a (relatively) recent purchase - it's a signed and numbered brass naval cannon from Cannon-Mania. This was their millennium offer (for the year 2000 - not, technically, the millennium). It's a nice desk piece in .30 caliber - fully functional but more of a collector's piece.

By the way - .30 caliber is a common military caliber - .308, 30-06, etc. The best field-expedient measure to approximate a .30 caliber hole (in, say, a gun barrel or a roadside sign) is the diameter of a standard U.S. cigarette. If a cigarette just fits in a bullet hole, you've got a .30 caliber hole. Here's hoping this information is useful to you someday...

Let's do cannons #2

Here's a little guy...


...patterned loosely after a Civil War field cannon. The barrel is fixed (elevation) and cast iron, so if I were to ever discharge it (I won't), I'd just use a tiny charge and a bit of wadding - no projectile. The bore is about .25 inches.

Imagine the day when toys required a black powder charge to be any fun - now a friggin' basketball comes with a "choking hazard" warning. No wonder today's youth are catatonic goth turds...

Let's do cannons #1

I figured I might as well get all of my cannons out of they way. Most are little, and could even be considered toys. However, I collect cannons using specific criteria:

First, they must all use black powder. I am not interested in carbide cannons or non-functional pieces.

Second, I don't care if they are little, but they must be able to fire a powder charge (at a minimum) or a genuine projectile - even if it's a small one.

I've included a standard U.S. penny in each cannon photo for scale. You've already seen this and this, so consider these part of the collection.


This dude is a .22 caliber bronze black powder cannon of a naval gun design. If you ever want to fire broadsides from your Sunfish, this piece is for you. You might even disable an Optimist, if you play the wind right and drill your gunners until they hate you.

Of course, on a Sunfish, you probably are the gunner, so keep shooting this little peanut until you hate yourself...

Itty Bitty # 2

Here's another tiny treasure...


The little guy next to Honest Abe is a little tiny bronze cannon, complete with trunnions, cascabel, touch hole, and all. It was reportedly found on the banks of the Thames River in London, England, and was probably an old toy dating back a few hundred years.

Although not a weapon in any meaningful sense of the word, I have actually fired this piece (I know, I know - you "condition" nuts should get a life) with a few grains of black powder, firecracker fuse, a binder clip, a bit of toilet paper wadding, and a cigarette.

It went: "Fzzpt."

And that greatly exaggerates the loudness...

But I had to do it, right?

After that, I wore it for a few years as a pendant before realizing that the true threat to it's condition was my own pungent yet alluring sweat and the risk of total loss by attrition (it was tied by the cascabel to a piece of waxed thread).

It now resides in the treasure chest.

Boom boom boom boom...

This old thing is a bronze lantanka.

It's only about 12 inches long (don't you wish you could say that), and was probably used more as currency than as any serious weapon, although it may have fired charges (no ball or shot) for salutes, signaling, or ceremony aboard a ship.


Regardless, this is a piece reportedly recovered from a shipwreck in Southeast Asia. It has calcification around the dolphins, touch hole, and cascabel, so it may have been. It has a "certificate of provenance", but pretty much everybody has a laser printer these days, so who knows its real origin.

I have nothing left to say on this one.