Boring a cannon

[Johnny_L.A]

The howitzer thread got me poking around, and my recent sail on the Lady Washington found me looking at a naval swivel gun (of which the Lady has two).

This little barrel is cast solid and is ready for you to turn out the bore. A steel seamless tube with a 1" bore could be threaded and a breechplug threaded and then welded in place would make a suitable liner. The barrel would then require drilling for the liner to be inserted.

1. How would the barrel be bored? Take it to a machine shop?

2. What is this “threading” of the steel tube? I assume that it is safer to screw the tube in rather than just have it held by friction. How much of it would need to be threaded? How would the interior of the iron bore be threaded, and how much of that would need to be threaded?

3. Where would you get the steel tube? Would any steel tubing work? What thickness?

4. What’s a breechplug, and where does it go?

5. What questions am I forgetting to ask?

[Johnny_L.A]

2. What is this “threading” of the steel tube? I assume that it is safer to screw the tube in rather than just have it held by friction. How much of it would need to be threaded? How would the interior of the iron bore be threaded, and how much of that would need to be threaded?

[snip]

4. What’s a breechplug, and where does it go?

On re-read, too late to stop the thread, the penny dropped.

The breechplug would be a plug of steel that is threaded inside of the rear of the steel liner, and then welded onto it.

So would the steel liner just be held by friction? The recoil would keep it in the barrel; but what happens when things heat up, considering different expansion rates of steel and iron?

[AncientHumanoid]

Want to bore a canon? I find talking religion to it will do the trick. :dubious:

And now for the real answers…

[Muffin]

Instead of grape shot, just gripe too much.