Cool post.
A buddy of mine had a two pounder that he used to target shoot with. He added a steel liner to the barrel and used sash weights from old windows as projectiles.
He also has a 30-foot mural on his barn of an Eagle holding a banner reading "The right to keep and bear arms."
For me personally, a Boys ATR would be better for deer hunting than a pack howitzer.
Hehehehe....
I know that Doonesbury is officially out of favor here on FR, but I can't help but think about that strip when Duke is showing off his gun collection to an NRA rep.
"...and that's my 81 mm mortar."
"You use a mortar for deer hunting?"
"Yeah, I like to soften up an area before I hunt it."
"Isn't that rather rough on the trophy?"
"Yeah, but it saves time. I'm a busy man."
I found this site several months ago, the THE COEHORN MORTAR CANNON FERAL CAT HUNT had me laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair....
I am one of those who is unfamilar with artillery cannon talk, so I found the descriptions interesting and informative. I did witness an interesting use of a cannon last summer, however.
I was visiting a rancher who has an amazing collection of 19th Century firearms used in the West--bufffalo guns (and he does have some buffalo which he shoots from time to time, BTW); Winchester and Springfield rifles and carbines; Colt .45 6-shooters, etc. Hundreds of them.
He also has a cannon. I don't know the description, but it is the kind the calvary used in the late 1800's--so it may well date to the Civil War. It is pretty big and mounted on wheels like the one in your pictures.
Anyway, there was this HUGE bee hive in a tree close to his house and the noise was bothersome, so he filled the cannon with Seven Dust, aimed at the bee hive and let her rip. It covered the whole tree, knocked a bunch of little limbs off and a couple of bigger ones. It also solved the bee problem.
So I guess this is how to hunt bees in Texas with a U.S Calvary Army Cannon.
This is a very nice thread....thanks for posting.
BTW, can you please include me in your artillery ping list?