"Now all he needs is explosive shells and a good tripod..."
Uh, I do NOT need those items. Maybe the guy who built the mortar does!;)
-- Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Re:BOOM!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I bet that thing is pretty freakin loud!
WOW Man, (Score:5, Insightful)
Only four ounces of powder
by
Caractacus+Potts
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Wow. That doesn't seem like much. They must have had a lot of self control. I would have poured a lot more than that into a pipe that big.
Re:Only four ounces of powder
by
DoraLives
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I would have poured a lot more than that into a pipe that big.
But only one time.
-- Is it fascism yet?
Re:Only four ounces of powder
by
glenebob
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
And you would have likely just wasted it. 4 ounces is quite a bit when you're talking about black powder (or a synthetic thereof), and that barrel is pretty short.
Oh sure, you'll think you're all smart, saving money by making your own mortar... until your bricks stop sticking together and your fancy new house falls apart!
(who needs to RTFA when misreading the article subject is more fun?)
--
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
So pretty much, all you need is a heafty pipe and a slight dose of insanity?
Reminds me of a story one of my friends told me. Around where I live they have a few of those old cannons, that have been sealed up, I assumed so people didn't put garbage in them.
Anyway this guy when he was a teen found some gunpowder (this was before the cannons were sealed), put it down the cannon, and put a hunk of metal on it... the result was the metal flew through a [empty] train-car! Hmm...
Re:Big Pipe...
by
s0l0m0n
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
You also need a damn good welder, which can be hard to find.
A friend and I played around with a 1" diameter cannon a couple of years ago. He's a shipwright and pipe welder by trade. He built and welded the thing, and despite being very comfortable welding pipe for high pressure applications.. this still made him nervous, even though it was built using 3/4" wall pipe, and a 2" thick butt plate.
We mostly stopped using it after a kid blew his hand off with a similar device a few miles away on the 4th of july. Shortly there after, we fired it off one last time (in the fornt yard, no less), with a nice light load of powder and a plastic bag for wadding, no actual projectile. For some reason we got a much louder detonation that ussual, and the cannon jumped much farther than normal. At this point, we realized that it was unpredictable, and quite possibly a danger to the operator.
I wouldn't feel comfortable with such a toy unless I could have it ultrasonically tested at least semireglarly.
Assuming the site is from the US, I don't see why it would or should be illegal. What is more dangerous to the public, a psycho with a homemade mortar or a psycho with a semi-automatic handgun. I guess the mortar would be able to do some serious structural damage, but I can do some serious damage with my car, and more idiots drive than build their own cannons.
--
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
ok
Ah technological advancements...
by
twoslice
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I remember fondly making spud cannons and now this. Soon we will have backyard nukes!
--
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
Dept of Homeland Security
by
dlur
·
· Score: 3, Funny
The fine folks from the Dept. of Homeland Security and various other government agencies will be breaking down your door in about 2.4 minutes for posting this information. Enjoy life as an "enemy combatent".
"I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords." - Kent Brockman
Okay- Sure, It's a Darwin award waiting to happen, but WOW... There's just something about explosives and that much kinetic energy... I used to shoot off the BIG July 4 fireworks...the normal "dinky" 3 inch shells are pretty pounding, but the bigger 10"+ shells were just pure Concussion.( And that's just from the launch-) Lotsa material there to feed your inner pyromaniac...
I'd still be pretty spooked about flying metal shards here, though. I've seen the aftermath of firing tubes that have ruptured, and you really can't imagine how steel can twist and rip like paper until you've seen it. There was a REASON we buried those tubes....
-- Sig currently under construction. Mind the gap....
What? No gratuitous damage shots?!?
by
Cid+Highwind
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Am I the only one disappointed that the reporter didn't go downrange and photograph the craters those bowling balls made on impact? I bet it would be a lot more impressive than the divots the cannon dug in the firing line...
But still neither are quite as cool as this
Trebuchet
from the
which launched a piano and a cow.
Don't Try This At Home
by
Detritus
·
· Score: 3, Informative
The BATF has no sense of humor. They have a long history of harassing, arresting and prosecuting people for "minor" violations of the law. You could end up the subject of a search warrant, your house torn apart, and facing felony charges in a federal court.
-- Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
like a spud gun
by
The+Tyro
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
-- Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Re:anyone who uses units like this is a know nothi
by
kfg
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Who uses units like that?
Oh sure. Weeks of people complaining that "bowling balls" isn't a unit of measurement, and now. ..
12301. (a) The term "destructive device," as used in this chapter, shall include any of the following weapons: (1) Any projectile containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, including, but not limited to, that which is commonly known as tracer or incendiary ammunition, except tracer ammunition manufactured for use in shotguns. (2) Any bomb, grenade, explosive missile, or similar device or any launching device therefor. (3) Any weapon of a caliber greater than 0.60 caliber which fires fixed ammunition, or any ammunition therefor, other than a shotgun (smooth or rifled bore) conforming to the definition of a "destructive device" found in subsection (b) of Section 179.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, shotgun ammunition (single projectile or shot), antique rifle, or an antique cannon. For purposes of this section, the term "antique cannon" means any cannon manufactured before January 1, 1899, which has been rendered incapable of firing or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. The term "antique rifle" means a firearm conforming to the definition of an "antique firearm" in Section 179.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (4) Any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device of a diameter greater than 0.60 inch, or any launching device therefor, and any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, other than the propellant for such device, except such devices as are designed primarily for emergency or distress signaling purposes. (5) Any breakable container which contains a flammable liquid with a flashpoint of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less and has a wick or similar device capable of being ignited, other than a device which is commercially manufactured primarily for the purpose of illumination. (6) Any sealed device containing dry ice (CO2) or other chemically reactive substances assembled for the purpose of causing an explosion by a chemical reaction. (b) The term "explosive," as used in this chapter, shall mean any explosive defined in Section 12000 of the Health and Safety Code.
12303. Any person, firm, or corporation who, within this state, possesses any destructive device, other than fixed ammunition of a caliber greater than.60 caliber, except as provided by this chapter, is guilty of a public offense and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one year, or in state prison, or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment
And no, it's not considered a shotgun. And this has been the law for a -long- time.
Re:anyone who uses units like this is a know nothi
by
datadood
·
· Score: 5, Informative
One local nut built one complete with a gun carrage and took it to the local rifle range.
The resulting blast brought the local, county and state troopers to see who was blowing crap up.
Turned out when they found out, hung around for two more salvos from the monster!
I saw the photos of the cannon going off and it had a impressive muzzle flash.
Using Pyrodex will do wonders for your complexion and add that special aroma to your cologne.
-- First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
This was a great link
by
sakusha
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
...when I first saw it on FARK about two weeks ago. They had a cool link to a Civil War reenactment supplier that will sell you a modern-manufacture cannon just like the ones they used back in the olden days. Only $7000, powder and shot not included.
Anyway, I am reminded of a story I read a while ago. Some curators (Art Institute of Chicago or The Smithsonian or someplace like that) were examining an antique gun and found out it was loaded, and had been on display for decades with a full charge. The gunpowder charge was so old, they feared it was unstable and could detonate at any moment, so they decided to investigate all their other weapons. They found out that about 20% of their collection was fully loaded and nobody ever knew about it. They're desperately trying to defuse all these old weapons, which includes everything from relatively modern antique guns to old cannons. And they can't just pour water down the barrels because some of them have bullets in the way, some of the weapons would disintegrate if you got them wet, so they're in a real quandary. Now I wonder about the safety of all those cannons on public display in parks etc.
Re:This was a great link
by
Tintivilus
·
· Score: 4, Informative
(3) Any weapon of a caliber greater than 0.60 caliber which fires
fixed ammunition, or any ammunition therefor, other than a shotgun (smooth or rifled bore)
"Fixed ammunition" is ammunition that contains both the propellant charge and the projectile in a single unit, like a rifle cartridge. The mortar in this article uses separate-loading ammunition, with the propellant charge and the projectile loaded separately, and is not covered by this clause. (That's not to say that it might not be covered under some other clause, like 12302 which is not quoted. But it doesn't appear to be covered by 12301.)
the term "antique cannon" means any cannon manufactured before January 1, 1899, which has been
rendered incapable of firing or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
This subclause makes me really question the truth of the whole post. Why on earth would a cannon that is "rendered incapable of firing" be considered a destructive device? I suppose you could use it as a battering ram, but then it's functionally no different from a big steel I-beam.
The reason we used the ignitors and some long wires was so that we could get behind something before firing it up. Young as we were, we weren't totally stupid (and we'd had some close calls).
In fact, some of the heavier ordinance we built required detonation by remote control (we had an almost unlimited supply of gunpowder, and thus got into plenty of mischief). Not that we were that bright, we had just watched enough old war movies to realize that we didn't want any shrapnel in us, and understood that sometimes things fragment violently when exposed to high pressures. We cannibalized circuit boards out of an old remote-control car (plus some RadioShack project boxes)... it kept our precious little hides out of the Emergency Room.
Those were the days.
-- Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Re:Infernal device
by
TheCrazyFinn
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
First off, they're up in Alaska, where the laws are kinda lax aout that sort of thing.
Second off, Doc specializes in wierd and wonderful stuff like this. I'm sure he gave it a once over before being anywhere near it when it went off. Doc Nickel is a pretty bright guy, and works around high-pressure devices all the time (He's one of the top airsmiths in Paintball, and somewhat legendary for his hacks).
-- "You've got an invalid haircut"
-Warren Zevon - Life'll Kill Ya
Close But No Cigar
by
The+Dobber
·
· Score: 3, Funny
"Damn, that looks like a weapon of mas destruction" muttered GW Bush "We'll take it"
Slashdot Mirror
Are these things legal? In every state?
Slashdot effect + 'Build Your Own Motor', we may have just set off Echelon alarms
ends up in Gitmo?
"Now all he needs is explosive shells and a good tripod..."
;)
Uh, I do NOT need those items. Maybe the guy who built the mortar does!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I bet that thing is pretty freakin loud! WOW Man, (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow. That doesn't seem like much. They must have had a lot of self control. I would have poured a lot more than that into a pipe that big.
(who needs to RTFA when misreading the article subject is more fun?)
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
Hey McBride! Catch!
"Derp de derp."
So pretty much, all you need is a heafty pipe and a slight dose of insanity?
Reminds me of a story one of my friends told me. Around where I live they have a few of those old cannons, that have been sealed up, I assumed so people didn't put garbage in them.
Anyway this guy when he was a teen found some gunpowder (this was before the cannons were sealed), put it down the cannon, and put a hunk of metal on it... the result was the metal flew through a [empty] train-car! Hmm...
Assuming the site is from the US, I don't see why it would or should be illegal. What is more dangerous to the public, a psycho with a homemade mortar or a psycho with a semi-automatic handgun. I guess the mortar would be able to do some serious structural damage, but I can do some serious damage with my car, and more idiots drive than build their own cannons.
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
okI remember fondly making spud cannons and now this. Soon we will have backyard nukes!
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
The fine folks from the Dept. of Homeland Security and various other government agencies will be breaking down your door in about 2.4 minutes for posting this information. Enjoy life as an "enemy combatent".
"I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords." - Kent Brockman
Duris MUD - The best pkill MUD. Ever.
All he needs know is a copy of Napster, a Boat and a parrot to be a perfect pirate! Arrrrrr!!! Ahoy me men! Remember to pillage BEFORE you burn! Arrr!
Okay- Sure, It's a Darwin award waiting to happen, but WOW... There's just something about explosives and that much kinetic energy... I used to shoot off the BIG July 4 fireworks...the normal "dinky" 3 inch shells are pretty pounding, but the bigger 10"+ shells were just pure Concussion.( And that's just from the launch-) Lotsa material there to feed your inner pyromaniac...
I'd still be pretty spooked about flying metal shards here, though. I've seen the aftermath of firing tubes that have ruptured, and you really can't imagine how steel can twist and rip like paper until you've seen it. There was a REASON we buried those tubes....
Sig currently under construction. Mind the gap....
Am I the only one disappointed that the reporter didn't go downrange and photograph the craters those bowling balls made on impact? I bet it would be a lot more impressive than the divots the cannon dug in the firing line...
0 1 - just my two bits
Heh. Good points. But are you implying the legal system of any state (or federal level) could withstand that level of common sense?
I had a sucky sig.
But still neither are quite as cool as this Trebuchet from the which launched a piano and a cow.
The BATF has no sense of humor. They have a long history of harassing, arresting and prosecuting people for "minor" violations of the law. You could end up the subject of a search warrant, your house torn apart, and facing felony charges in a federal court.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Who uses units like that?
.
Oh sure. Weeks of people complaining that "bowling balls" isn't a unit of measurement, and now. .
You just can't make some people happy.
KFG
BS.
.60 caliber, except as provided by this chapter, is guilty of a public offense and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one year, or in state prison, or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment
12301. (a) The term "destructive device," as used in this chapter, shall include any of the following weapons:
(1) Any projectile containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, including, but not limited to, that which is commonly known as tracer or incendiary ammunition, except tracer ammunition manufactured for use in shotguns.
(2) Any bomb, grenade, explosive missile, or similar device or any launching device therefor.
(3) Any weapon of a caliber greater than 0.60 caliber which fires fixed ammunition, or any ammunition therefor, other than a shotgun (smooth or rifled bore) conforming to the definition of a "destructive device" found in subsection (b) of Section 179.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, shotgun ammunition (single projectile or shot), antique rifle, or an antique cannon. For purposes of this section, the term "antique cannon" means any cannon manufactured before January 1, 1899, which has been rendered incapable of firing or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. The term "antique rifle" means a firearm conforming to the definition of an "antique firearm" in Section 179.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4) Any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device of a diameter greater than 0.60 inch, or any launching device therefor, and any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, other than the propellant for such device, except such devices as are designed primarily for emergency or distress signaling purposes.
(5) Any breakable container which contains a flammable liquid with a flashpoint of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less and has a wick or similar device capable of being ignited, other than a device which is commercially manufactured primarily for the purpose of illumination.
(6) Any sealed device containing dry ice (CO2) or other chemically reactive substances assembled for the purpose of causing an explosion by a chemical reaction.
(b) The term "explosive," as used in this chapter, shall mean any explosive defined in Section 12000 of the Health and Safety Code.
12303. Any person, firm, or corporation who, within this state, possesses any destructive device, other than fixed ammunition of a caliber greater than
And no, it's not considered a shotgun. And this has been the law for a -long- time.
>Who uses units like that?
Anyone who deals with firearms and reloading.
The last thing we need is high school kids building this type of thing. I'd make a joke about Columbine in the context of bowling, but I'm too tired.
One local nut built one complete with a gun carrage and took it to the local rifle range. The resulting blast brought the local, county and state troopers to see who was blowing crap up. Turned out when they found out, hung around for two more salvos from the monster! I saw the photos of the cannon going off and it had a impressive muzzle flash. Using Pyrodex will do wonders for your complexion and add that special aroma to your cologne.
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
...when I first saw it on FARK about two weeks ago. They had a cool link to a Civil War reenactment supplier that will sell you a modern-manufacture cannon just like the ones they used back in the olden days. Only $7000, powder and shot not included.
Anyway, I am reminded of a story I read a while ago. Some curators (Art Institute of Chicago or The Smithsonian or someplace like that) were examining an antique gun and found out it was loaded, and had been on display for decades with a full charge. The gunpowder charge was so old, they feared it was unstable and could detonate at any moment, so they decided to investigate all their other weapons. They found out that about 20% of their collection was fully loaded and nobody ever knew about it. They're desperately trying to defuse all these old weapons, which includes everything from relatively modern antique guns to old cannons. And they can't just pour water down the barrels because some of them have bullets in the way, some of the weapons would disintegrate if you got them wet, so they're in a real quandary. Now I wonder about the safety of all those cannons on public display in parks etc.
This subclause makes me really question the truth of the whole post. Why on earth would a cannon that is "rendered incapable of firing" be considered a destructive device? I suppose you could use it as a battering ram, but then it's functionally no different from a big steel I-beam.
--Paul
The reason we used the ignitors and some long wires was so that we could get behind something before firing it up. Young as we were, we weren't totally stupid (and we'd had some close calls).
In fact, some of the heavier ordinance we built required detonation by remote control (we had an almost unlimited supply of gunpowder, and thus got into plenty of mischief). Not that we were that bright, we had just watched enough old war movies to realize that we didn't want any shrapnel in us, and understood that sometimes things fragment violently when exposed to high pressures. We cannibalized circuit boards out of an old remote-control car (plus some RadioShack project boxes)... it kept our precious little hides out of the Emergency Room.
Those were the days.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
First off, they're up in Alaska, where the laws are kinda lax aout that sort of thing.
Second off, Doc specializes in wierd and wonderful stuff like this. I'm sure he gave it a once over before being anywhere near it when it went off. Doc Nickel is a pretty bright guy, and works around high-pressure devices all the time (He's one of the top airsmiths in Paintball, and somewhat legendary for his hacks).
"You've got an invalid haircut" -Warren Zevon - Life'll Kill Ya
"Damn, that looks like a weapon of mas destruction" muttered GW Bush "We'll take it"
Hmm. The NRA's selective quoting at work, again. The second amendment reads:
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. "
Now, I'm not sure what part of "well regulated militia" this thing falls into.