Tom Bullweed Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 A round fired over the berm will result in a match DQ! Glad no one was injured or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uno Mas SASS #80082 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 A Six inch or thereabouts would have to be naval or emplaced artillery. I think the largest field piece during the Napoleonic Wars was about 4 inches. You just don't go dragging a ton and a half 6 incher around. That's the main battery of a First Rate Ship of the Line! A 36 Pounder. Just what the heck were they doing? And, can I play too? Kari Byron, the redhead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 A Six inch or thereabouts would have to be naval or emplaced artillery. I think the largest field piece during the Napoleonic Wars was about 4 inches. You just don't go dragging a ton and a half 6 incher around. That's the main battery of a First Rate Ship of the Line! A 36 Pounder. Just what the heck were they doing? And, can I play too? Kari Byron, the redhead? Here are the photos that they twitted that day. Someone had an account on something that kept them after Mythbusters deleted them. http://laslow.net/2011/12/07/mythbusters-and-damage-control/ I suspect it was that little home built job in the top photo, and on the left side of the second photo. If you Look Here the bomb disposal range is in the light patch just NNW of A. Ball came to rest around B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Windshadow Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 ok so not a 6" 32 pounder then: looks like about a 3 to 4 " ball from the photos of the damage also reports of it being softball sized fits the photo evidence I am amazed that they have their bomb range in such a built up area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 There's a big freakin' difference between disposing of bombs and firing projectiles; a fact which seems to have escaped notice by the Mythbusters crew. When a bomb is detonated, the fragments are small and lose energy in a hurry. The blast radius is small enough to be contained within the area. When a cannon projectile is fired, it has WAY more kinetic energy and is not inclined to lose it easily. It will also not tend to bury itself in a berm like a rifle bullet. Instead, it will bounce and roll as it continues dissipating energy into anything in its path like houses, roofs, and cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 BMC, I wish I could tell you it didn't happen, but it did. The added BOOM!!! was the giveaway that something was wrong. The range was set cold. They got out sighting devices to determine where exactly the round would have gone with a max charge. Sure enough, they found the impact spot in a remote area of a state park. And then there was the new lieutenant who was getting his orientation to the 4.2" mortar. These are the ones that had cheese slices for propellant. The sergeant explained that it took both heat and pressure for the cheese slices to "explode", but if you pulled off a slice and lit it with a match, it would burn and create enough heat to cook a C-rat. The new lieutenant tried to be helpful and extinguish the cheese slice after the demonstration. Instead of letting it burn out or cooling it with water, he tried to tamp out the fire with his boot. The cheese slice was already hot, and his foot added pressure. I understand it was not a pretty sight as he lost everything below mid-shin. Not a happy ending to that little mishap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 ok so not a 6" 32 pounder then: looks like about a 3 to 4 " ball from the photos of the damage also reports of it being softball sized fits the photo evidence I am amazed that they have their bomb range in such a built up area Probably the same mind set of the land developers as here in Warshington State. Find a gun range with lots of open land around it, for good reason, and then build a bunch of houses there and complain about the noise and flying bullets. Our gun range has been in the woods since Moses was a baby. Built a bunch of high end middle income houses there. One guy shows up at our meeting with a whole bullet, intact, claiming that it fell in his front yard. When it was politely explained that it could not have been an expended bullet and still be in the case with a pristine primer, he became indignant and threatened to take the matter to court. We agreed that was his best avenue. Same thing happened with the airports. Build one, and the developers will buy up the land and then complain about the noise level. I am trying very hard to understand the mind set of some folks. Not too successful tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Windshadow Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Well this is the first through discussion I have read of the thing http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/cannon-balls-size-matters/ And I can not for the life of me understand why they were shooting east when the long axis of the bomb range and highest berms (and also the softest berms from what I recall of old shows) it was only 700 meter from the gun to the houses that were hit if they had been shooting from the location of the bunker north they would have had far more wiggle room in the event of an "incident " Why were they shooting East? other shows I recall when they were shooting (rather than just blowing stuff up) at the bomb range I am sure they were shooting north. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Good find, Doc. Thanks for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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