He Built A 3/4 Scale Civil War Cannon

He built a 3/4 scale Civil war cannon AG WORLD Ag World 17-1-18 "It's authentic to the last detail and fires just like the real thing," says Wayne Bashore, Mifflintown, Penn., about the 3/4 scale cannon he built. The cannon is mounted on 42-in. high wooden wheels and is patterned after Guinnessburg Civil War cannons. The 54-in. long steel barrel shoots 2 1/4-in. dia. steel cannon balls up to 1/4 mile. "People enjoy it because it really makes aloud noise when it's fired. I use a Dixiecup of powder each time I fire it which is about all my neighborhood can stand," says Bashore. "I pull it with a garden tractor. There are handles on each side of the tongue so it can also be moved around by hand. During the Civil War, if the horses that pulled it got shot, soldiers had to pull the cannon themselves. An aiming hole is mounted on the tongue. You puta stick in it and squint down the barrel in order to aim it." A ramrod and "swab" are stored under the cannon's axle. The ramrod is used to ram a bag of powder into the barrel, then to ram the cannon ball. A 4-in. long fuse is then stuck into a"touch hole" on top of the barrel and lit. After the cannon has been fired, the "swab" (a paint roller mounted on the end of a wooden rod) is dipped in water and used to clean out the barrel, making it ready for the next shot. "The swab cleans out any smoldering paper left over from the bag of powder and keeps the next bag from catching on fire too soon," says Bashore. "It'll use up about 1 lb. of powder for seven shots." Bashore works in a railroad car factory and used an axle designed fora rapid transit railroad car for the barrel, lathing it out. He used sq. steel tubing to build the cannon's axle. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wayne Bashore, Rt. 2, Box 201, Mifflintown, Penn. 17059 (ph 717 436-2204).

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