Saw these on another forum www.pocketcannons.com. Cool little cannon for entertainment or defending the fortress. Would this be considered a destructive device in NJ or could it actually be legal? I guess its a primitive weapon no different then a black powder gun.

Aside from that. I can see the manufacturer getting sued over people injuring themselves or neighbor with these little things.

How about one of these?  Made by Bellmore Johnson Tool co, for Winchester, an 1898 Signaling Cannon.  Uses 10 gauge 2 7/8" 240 grain black powder blanks. 

Mine is chromed with rubber tires and has a 12" barrel.  Hell of a noise maker.  Perfect for those early morning flag raising ceremonies.  Or 4th of July.  I'll  fire it for you some time.  Awesome smoke pole esp when i make them with Pyrodex.  Goes just like the vid link. Made for navigating fog on old sailing ships.

so i just gots to ask- you shoot more than just blanks?

NO it is not capable, 10 gauge blanks only.  The steel is not tempered for any pressure.  It is not true cannon by NJ definition as it cannot fire a projectile, was made 1898 or later, and uses fixed ammunition.  FYI, a NJ FID holder can legally posses a cannon in NJ.  NJ2C:39 1-c. exempts devices used for distress signaling, line throwing, safety, or similar purposes.

COOL!  Nice signalling cannon!

 

A group I'm with has a 5-Pounder on a carriage.  We light it off w/ 5 ounces of real black powder....last month we brought it to a middle school in NJ (along with other things that go BANG, lol)!  Did an entire Living History Day.  Kids get to use linstock to ignite the cannon (with eyes and ears on, of course).  We do a mortar, a 10 ga. SxS scattergun, a flintlock rifle, etc., etc.

You do that at an nj school? I won't even pick my daughter up from school if I have ammom in the car. Lil

that's an amazing oportunity for the kids to get to see firearms properly and safely used. I wish all schools did something similar.

Not that we ever did such a thing, but years ago I "heard" about someone who took 1-1/2" XHHW (I think it is close to schedule 160) pipe and welded an and cap to it and mounted it on to a piece of plate steel to make a redneck cannon.  They would use an M-80 type firework and drop it in then drop in a golf ball.

 

Again, this probably never happened, it was "probably" an urban myth!  But those golf balls would go a mile!

I realize this is a very old thread. But, the itch to build something has started again. Are cannons legal in NJ or are they destructive devices? I would assume that under .50cal and with a barrel greater than 16" its a a muzzloder rifle. How about a golf ball cannon with a 16" barrel? On the smaller side. How about one designed to fire .17 pellets or BBs with a couple grains of BP and having a barrel thats no more than an inch or 2 long.?

I want one of the desktop ones that use a 209 primer. I think that'll launch paper clips at desk mates sufficiently

 

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