I welcomed in the new year and new millennium with
a cannonade (all blanks). First the smallest, then the middle one,
and at the stroke of midnight, the largest one. The
echoes from the big one were still coming back after several
seconds. I suspect it was much the loudest noise in
this area at midnight.
The larger cannon is a Herreshoff Saluting Cannon which
is designed to fire 10 ga. blackpowder blanks. It is really loud. I
(foolishly) chose to fire right at midnight, rather than
go back and get the earplugs left behind in the house. I'm
still a little deaf in one ear two days later (but getting
the hearing back gradually). I got this one recently from
Cannon-Mania.
It is very much like the other two in shape and design,
although much newer.
The smaller cannon was to be found in every dime store and hardware back in the late 40s and early 50s. My grandfather (who first interested me in firearms) made me this one when I was about 8 years old. He bought the casting at the local hardware, polished it, and made the carriage from teak and brass. He is long gone now, and this little cannon is one of my treasures.
I found the middle sized cannon in a rock shop. It was a
very rough casting, but I cleaned the bore out to .410"
and loaded it (heavily) with black powder, a .410 shotgun wad,
and a lead ball. Setting it in a pit, I touched off the long
fuse and went behind a tree. The cannon survived and has been
a source of nice bangs with light loads of black powder and
wad only. I made the carriage from oak to roughly match the
one my grandfather made for me.
Thus do we lead our children and grandchildren.