doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT ... other hobbies besides shooting

The cannon we used to shoot was made from a section of a rifled 75 mm cannon barrel, AIR. The owner created measured and pre-made charges of black by cutting a piece of cardboard to bore size, placing the powder charge in the center of it, and gluing a round piece of tissue paper to the cardboard (enclosing the powder).In use we would carefully ram the charge down bore against the breech with the power charge facing the breech plug, then take a little steel prick and push it down through the touch hole, penetrating the tissue. Then a length of cannon fuse would be carefully inserted down the touch hole into the punctured tissue paper and into the charge.

The projectiles would be patched with a snug fitting cloth patch. I've seen oranges cut pine tree limbs off that were half the diameter of the orange. Funny story about the owner: He took a slice off the cannon barrel about 3/8" thick to use as a ring gauge for sizing the projectiles. He was standing in the fruit section of a local supermarket in front of the bin of loose oranges, trying them for size with his ring gauge. He'd test several, find them either too large or too small in diameter, and replace them into the bin. Every so often he'd find one exactly the right size and put it into his shopping cart. He noticed a woman watching him. When their eyes met she said to him "Yer awful particular about yer oranges, ain'tcha? He just nodded and went on about his sizing making a great show of it.

He would bring the cannon out at the SC State Muzzleloading Championships that were hosted by our home club, mostly for the enjoyment of the kids, and I would help him load a fire it. They absolutely loved it. He downsized some loads to the point that we could load one with an orange, tilt the barrel way up, and the kids would stand downrange and catch the orange with their hands, kinda like a "blooper". The owner was a very close friend of mine and a Marine aviator. He flew F4-U Corsairs in WWII and Korea. Absolutely the most interesting man I have ever been close friends with.

Very interesting thread that I just now got time to read!

In my old age, I've become more interested in fishing than any other hobby. I love to fish running water in the creeks and rivers in my area, but lately have really gotten interested in fishing our big reservoirs using a Livescope. This device shows what's in front of the boat in real time and allows you to cast directly at the fish. It's not as easy as it sounds, and the first thing you will discover if you get one is that 99% of the fish that look at your bait won't hit it.

The best time to catch some is when they are in schools and have to compete for your lure. It's really exciting to see a school of 100 big fish swimming towards you and then have them race each other for your lure when it hits the water. My grandson and I had a good trip a couple of days ago.

I've also started using BFS baitcasting tackle that adds a lot of sport to fishing. These little reels will cast very light lures with ease, and are usable with light action rods. It's relatively new technology, so I have to build my own rods to get something suitable. I let some of the bigger ones get away with the light tackle, but we are just having fun and not trying to beat anyone.

Congratulations Gil!