disarming a cannon

[alwion]

Have a friend just purchased a bronze sira lankin? deck swivel gun. using a stick, It either has a lot of crude or is still loaded. anyone have suggestions of how to unload it, its 1"+ bore, would expect its an iron ball. the touch hole is fairly large, we haven't messed with that yet

[CarlS]

Not sure there is just one good answer here.  To start with I'd turn the cannon up on end and pour some sudsy ammonia down the barrel and let it soak a while to maybe loosen up some crud.  Then maybe get a long rod and create a chisel-shaped end on it and see how much crud can easily be removed.  it might be softer under a crust.  I see this often in wood fuse shells when cleaning out the fuse hole.   Anything else I can think of would be a mess and hard on the cannon tube and shot if there is one.  That small bore will make it a challenge.

[alwion]

I have also asked in a gunsmith forum, suggested pressure washer, compressed air, and grease packed into the fuse hole with a rod. any other ideas would be appreciated. if the ball is iron, would hate to try a metal rod

[Dave the plumber]

 lantaka, is one name for them .                 Why bother unloading it ?  Its not dangerous now. Can you see down the barrel ?

[CarlS]

Regarding the rod you use it gently enough that it crumbles dirt but won't harm iron.  With that cannon it is most assuredly a solid shot and the tapping on the ball might help knock it loose.  Even being loose it will still be quite en effort to extract it with all the crust on the ball and bore.  If there is any concretion it will be very hard to get it out without some traces of your efforts.  Another idea I had was to use zinc-n-lye to at least clean the exposed surface.  I'm not sure what color it would leave the bronze bore but at that depth it is probably not a big issue if it helps get the ball out.

Dave: While you and I know it is almost certainly safe if the authorities inspected it they would not assume it to be if still loaded with a ball.  But Alwion's owner is willing to gamble that never happens then I agree about just leave it as is. 

[alwion]

we are going to try the pressure washer route in the spring (maybe) and see if itd dirt and flush the fuse area, won't hurt it and I would feel better, not sure my friend will follow through though, he may just let it set. Thanks all

[speedenforcer]

I would leave it as is and enjoy the history. After all these years why would it pose a danger now.