DWalt
Member
For a very long time, I had a home-made cannon (and still do), I bored a 1/2" hole in a 2" dia steel bar with a flash hole. It is about 10" long. I welded on trunnions and made a base for it. I used to fire it on the 4th of July, new years, and whenever I felt like it. I always used Bullseye, Red Dot, etc, or whatever I happened to have with paper wadding. I filled it about a third of the length of the bore, and used a firecracker fuse (the green type you see on Cherry Bombs, M80s, etc.) It made a colossal noise. I have fired mine hundreds of times but the barrel never failed. It should be safe. I live in a city now, and am sure the cops would be here in a hurry if I fired in in my back yard. It's still under my workbench, I just checked. Someone earlier mentioned flash hole erosion with smokeless powder, but I don't think that ever happened to my cannon It still looks about the same diameter as it always was.
By the way, a wall thickness of about one caliber will provide about all the hoop strength possible and yours is more than that.
By the way, a wall thickness of about one caliber will provide about all the hoop strength possible and yours is more than that.
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