✅ SOLVED I have a signal cannon I believe it looks old

C

Cjanes

Tenderfoot
Oct 26, 2019
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Here is some pics of a signal cannon I believe? It appears to be old from what I can tell also it looks like someone tried to clean it in one of the areas unfortunately. It also has some weird wear on the top of barrel near the mounting lugs ( sorry to butcher the actual names of the parts or areas of the cannon. ) any help to I'd this would be great and of course value would be great also. Thanks a Lot everyone this is a great websitemml 20191026_111310.jpg20191026_111002.jpg20191026_111002.jpg20191026_111314.jpg20191026_111320.jpg
 

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Cjanes said:
Well the touch has not been sealed and i have
some pics of bore for you to see I'm not sure if your into giving value at this sight but thats something I would like even a ballpark figure
View attachment 17661578View attachment 1766158View attachment 1766159
Click to expand...

Yep... I thought so... she's good to go... (upon reviewing thread second time thought the touch was open after enlarging your photos )

Value = What someone is willing to pay... not being a smart arse... just the nature of these things.
 

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The nearest parallels to your little gun are 18[SUP]th[/SUP] and 19[SUP]th[/SUP]century small calibre cannon made in the Netherlands or the Dutch East Indies.What makes me think Dutch is the use of copper alloy, the general proportionsand the small size. The reason that makes me think more likely to have beencast in Asia is the slight clumsiness of the proportions but mostly the raisedtouchhole pan which you tend to find on Indian and Indonesian pieces. The decorative dots are also found in these sort of cannon.
You need to get hold of a book- “The Visser Collection (Volume 2 –Ordnance)which has a large number of illustrations of bronze small calibre Dutch andIndonesian pieces- PDFs of the book appear to be available widely on theinternet.
Henk Visser died in 2006 and parts of his collection were sold at Bonhams- theartillery lots begin at 176 but theseare only the beauties in his collection. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14956/#/!
 

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Nice barrel!! I don't think it was a signal cannon but maybe a firing miniature. Can you put a dowel or tape measure all the way down the bore to the touch hole? My grandsons and I have several cannons, from 8" to 24".long. There's a gunworks that sell firing model 14' Napoleans for about $500. Black powder is available and louder that pyrodex. The weak point that I see in some older small cannons is the way the trunions were installed. I too feel that it may be Asian made, but still a very nice piece!!!
 

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Important Safety-Warning:
ONLY black gunpowder should be used in any "firearm" (which includes cannons) that was made for black powder usage... including Reproductions of black powder firearms & cannons. Modern explosives/propellants are much more powerful "per gram of weight" than simple black gunpowder. More than a few people have gotten themselves killed or maimed by violating the black-powder-only rule. Please don't become another one.
 

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Tony in SC said:
Nice barrel!! I don't think it was a signal cannon but maybe a firing miniature. Can you put a dowel or tape measure all the way down the bore to the touch hole? My grandsons and I have several cannons, from 8" to 24".long. There's a gunworks that sell firing model 14' Napoleans for about $500. Black powder is available and louder that pyrodex. The weak point that I see in some older small cannons is the way the trunions were installed. I too feel that it may be Asian made, but still a very nice piece!!!
Click to expand...

In a real cannon... nothing is "installed".

True firing items like this ... and yes even "toy cannon" that were intended to be fired... were always cast as one solid piece.

IF it has "parts"... DONT FIRE IT.

The exceptions of course would be breech loading.
 

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I can appreciate how important it is from a 'historical perspective' to be able to say that this is a 'working piece' of history. Personally, I see this as representation of our past, on how war used to be fought hundreds of years ago.
I see this cannon simply as a beautiful, displayable, conversation piece that will stimulate interest in our countries history to whoever sees it. :thumbsup:

My only suggestion, is that a proper 'period appropriate' carriage be constructed to display this piece correctly for future generations to enjoy.

Dave
 

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Smithbrown said:
The nearest parallels to your little gun are 18[SUP]th[/SUP] and 19[SUP]th[/SUP]century small calibre cannon made in the Netherlands or the Dutch East Indies.What makes me think Dutch is the use of copper alloy, the general proportionsand the small size. The reason that makes me think more likely to have beencast in Asia is the slight clumsiness of the proportions but mostly the raisedtouchhole pan which you tend to find on Indian and Indonesian pieces. The decorative dots are also found in these sort of cannon.
You need to get hold of a book- “The Visser Collection (Volume 2 –Ordnance)which has a large number of illustrations of bronze small calibre Dutch andIndonesian pieces- PDFs of the book appear to be available widely on theinternet.
Henk Visser died in 2006 and parts of his collection were sold at Bonhams- theartillery lots begin at 176 but theseare only the beauties in his collection. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14956/#/!
Click to expand...

Good call on the origin. Those dots are a pretty solid indication of Asia.
 

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ANTIQUARIAN said:

I can appreciate how important it is from a 'historical perspective' to be able to say that this is a 'working piece' of history. Personally, I see this as representation of our past, on how war used to be fought hundreds of years ago.
I see this cannon simply as a beautiful, displayable, conversation piece that will stimulate interest in our countries history to whoever sees it. :thumbsup:

My only suggestion, is that a proper 'period appropriate' carriage be constructed to display this piece correctly for future generations to enjoy.

Dave
Click to expand...

Actually Dave this would have been a toy... errr of shall we say... a real toy / novelty cannon.

Real and just a deadly as a large one.

I personally have a belief that THIS SIZE could / might have also been used as a "personal canon"... a form of protection that could be set towards a doorway.

Although I have no basis of fact for this theory... but hey... whatever.
 

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I’d have that as a front door security system, loaded with a black powder charge. Just to watch someone breaking in crap their pants when it goes off
 

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Anduril said:
FWIW, I was watching one of those Civil War reenactment things on TV, or YouTube...
They showed a cannon firing in super-slow-motion.
I never realized how much un-burned gunpowder shot out the muzzle of these things!!

Aside from that (and I guess it would only matter if gunpowder were in short supply), the cannon is an effective, if simple, piece of artillery that can get the job done.
Click to expand...

The cannon shot from the video was most likely a reenactment load - no projectile... That means there is no back pressure to help keep the powder in the barrel to burn more efficiently. Consequently, much of the powder is simply blown out the muzzle. Also, reenactment artillery crews sometimes mix steel wool in with the powder to make a bigger flash.
 

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DCMatt said:
The cannon shot from the video was most likely a reenactment load - no projectile... That means there is no back pressure to help keep the powder in the barrel to burn more efficiently. Consequently, much of the powder is simply blown out the muzzle. Also, reenactment artillery crews sometimes mix steel wool in with the powder to make a bigger flash.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 

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DCMatt said:
The cannon shot from the video was most likely a reenactment load - no projectile... That means there is no back pressure to help keep the powder in the barrel to burn more efficiently. Consequently, much of the powder is simply blown out the muzzle. Also, reenactment artillery crews sometimes mix steel wool in with the powder to make a bigger flash.
Click to expand...

Amazingly, I have remembered the exact video. (I'm even impressed myself.) :)
Link: https://youtu.be/MgqIWDPMALk?t=162

The link is time-marked to the exact spot, but the entire 14-minute video is definitely worth watching.
Very cool.
 

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