Anyone else have one? I recently found one in the garage, my father said he received it as a gift circa-60's. It had a ball stuck in it from over 20 years ago, managed to pull it using a drill bit and by turning it by hand (no, I do not have a ball puller..)

 

Looks like it shoots .50 balls.

 

Trying to figure out what type of BP to use in it, planning on shooting very light blank loads (no ball) not looking for a kaboom,

 

Any advice??

FFg will work fine with it. Not sure of the charge.  I have a 10ga 1898 signaling cannon that uses 1/2 oz (220g) charges, way to much for this application

Any idea where to buy a small quantity of FFg in NJ? Or nearby PA? Cabelas?

How small, pounders are the lowest in retail. In PA, Dixons, Tanners, J&J Pyrotechnics, Bass Pro and Gander Mountain used to carry, may still.

A pound is more than enough - thanks!

Anyone else have one? I recently found one in the garage, my father said he received it as a gift circa-60's. It had a ball stuck in it from over 20 years ago, managed to pull it using a drill bit and by turning it by hand (no, I do not have a ball puller..)

 

Looks like it shoots .50 balls.

 

Trying to figure out what type of BP to use in it, planning on shooting very light blank loads (no ball) not looking for a kaboom,

 

Any advice??

 

After a thorough cleaning and inspection with a Bore Light (also available at Dixon's), make sure that the ignition pathway is clear of oil and grease and that there aren't any huge rust spots that would create an unsafe condition.  Then load with 30-50 grains of REAL black powder (as T-Bill suggested), point in a SAFE DIRECTION and ignite a compressed blank charge.  Making a compressed blank is easy:  pour-in loose black powder, then apply a 1/8" .50 caliber (if that's the true bore size) Over-Powder Wad made from compressed cardboard (also available at Dixon's).  Use a Range Rod w/ Jag to seat card on top of powder.  Tamp down very firmly 4-5 times to thoroughly seat the hard card upon the charge.  The better the seating job, the more blanks you can fire sequentially since more of the powder charge will actually burn COMPLETELY while it's inside the bore.  Proper seating of the over-powder card also makes for a bigger BANG!

 

Good luck with your signalling cannon!

 

Dave

Thanks, guys!

 

I'll try and get some pics of this posted.

 

Can't wait to try it