Cannon

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We have small but growing band of participants in the Cannon Competitions which are held occasionally through the year. Given the number of observers who stroll down to the range to watch the competitions it appears to be successful as a spectator sport too.

Essentially these cannon are a variation on the more familiar black powder muzzle loaders. Most cannon seen on our ranges are scale replicas of bygone weapons from  land or sea service. Although there are a few commercially manufactured types most are hand made one-offs or limited production examples.

One of the benefits of a newly emerging aspect of our sport is that there are few hard and fast rules to abide by. Safety is governed by muzzleloading range rules, but competition procedures are simple and cater for a variety of personal ‘interpretation’ as to what type of cannon might be successful.

Typical competition rules so far have specified the following:

Distance: 25m
Position: Cannon placed on the bench or floor, but recoil must be managed so that the cannon stays inside the firing area.
Carriage: Any type, but typically land service or naval carriage.
Course of Fire: 10 shots, best 6 to count.
Target: UIT 25/50 Metre, as for muzzleloading rifle and pistol.
Scoring: Adjustment factors applied for use of:

Given that most of the cannon are not built to a standard pattern one of the primary range safety considerations is that the cannon must not exceed the current WNSC Range Safety Certificate Limits which specify a maximum  muzzle energy of 5,160 foot pounds. To verify the performance it is necessary to gather certain data:

Then using a Muzzle Energy Computer or Round Ball Ballistic Calculator it is possible to calculate the muzzle energy.

WNSC supports the National Cannon Association of Great Britain. Information on full size cannon can be found at Mainmast Conservation. If you want to build your own model see this page.