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Why OC? Because my neighbor might fire siege weapons at my house!

AbNo

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Jun 8, 2007
Messages
3,805
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...res-cannon-hits-neighbors-house-57650817.html

A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.

William Maser, 54, fired a cannonball Wednesday evening outside his home in Georges Township that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away. The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities said nobody was hurt.

State police charged Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

No one answered the phone Friday at Maser's home. He told WPXI-TV that recreating 19th-century cannons is a longtime hobby. He said he is sorry and he will stop shooting them on his property, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

This was too good to good to share with just the PA folks. :)

'cause well, it IS kind of funny.....
 

Gator5713

Lone Star Veteran
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
591
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Aggieland, Texas, USA
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He got 400yds out of it? Including a ricochet?!?!?!
Dang! That seems pretty good for an old cannon!
Glad no one was hurt, but this was rather stupid... funny, but stupid...
 

Hendu024

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Apr 8, 2009
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445
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2010567/posts

That happened early last year in Chester, VA. A friend of mine was installing underground electric lines a couple hundred yards from this guy's house when the cannonball blew up. He thought his crew had hit an existing power cable and blown the transformer. He said a few people reported shrapnel that came through their windows more than 250 yards away. Craziness.
 

jeeper1

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Sep 29, 2008
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692
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USA
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He got 400yds out of it? Including a ricochet?!?!?!

I get that distance out of my golf ball mortar and the bore is only 2.5 diameters long. Cannons do much better.
 

HankT

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Feb 20, 2007
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AbNo wrote:
...history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.
Probably a GLOCK...
 

Neo

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
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181
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Huntsville, AL, ,
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AbNo wrote:
A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.

OK, How do you accidentally fire a canon? It seems to me that he would have, at least, had to:

  1. Load thepowder
  2. Ram the powder
  3. Load the ball
  4. Ram the ball
  5. Insertthe fuse
  6. Light the fuse
 

Tomahawk

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Joined
Oct 1, 2006
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5,117
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4 hours south of HankT, ,
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jeeper1 wrote:
He got 400yds out of it? Including a ricochet?!?!?!

I get that distance out of my golf ball mortar and the bore is only 2.5 diameters long. Cannons do much better.

400 yds is nothing, even for an antique.

And, yeah, in order to accidentally fire it, he had to perform a lot of steps, involving loading a weapon that is very difficult to unload except by firing. So how did he intend to unload it when he was done endangering his and his neighbors' lives, I wonder?
 

HankT

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Tomahawk wrote:
And, yeah, in order to accidentally fire it, he had to perform a lot of steps, involving loading a weapon that is very difficult to unload except by firing. So how did he intend to unload it when he was done endangering his and his neighbors' lives, I wonder?
Goof with a cannon....
 

9MM Owner

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
66
Location
Winchester, Virginia, USA
imported post

Tomahawk wrote:
jeeper1 wrote:
He got 400yds out of it? Including a ricochet?!?!?!

I get that distance out of my golf ball mortar and the bore is only 2.5 diameters long. Cannons do much better.

400 yds is nothing, even for an antique.

And, yeah, in order to accidentally fire it, he had to perform a lot of steps, involving loading a weapon that is very difficult to unload except by firing. So how did he intend to unload it when he was done endangering his and his neighbors' lives, I wonder?
I did CW reenacting years ago shooting black powder cannons. Some posible causes of his "accidental firing" (not know about the cannon or how it was being loaded) could have been a miss-fire if there was a problem with the fuse causing a delayed ignition. Another posibilty is if he had been firing the cannon just prior to the incident, the tube would have been hot enough as to cause a premature firing "IF" the round in question had been rammed home (without cleaning the tube after the previous round was fired) leaving hot enough material in the tube. In which ramming the destrucive round hard enough could have caused the powder charge to tear and leak onto the burning material or hot metal tube causing premature firing (posibally while moving a loaded cannon).
 

jeeper1

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692
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USA
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It was a ricochet!
It was not a "NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE FROM HELL!!!!!!!!!"
William Maser used poor judgment in shooting a cannon close enough to a house that a ricochet could hit it. And now he's going to pay the price for it.
 

Tomahawk

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Joined
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Messages
5,117
Location
4 hours south of HankT, ,
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9MM Owner wrote:
Tomahawk wrote:
jeeper1 wrote:
He got 400yds out of it? Including a ricochet?!?!?!

I get that distance out of my golf ball mortar and the bore is only 2.5 diameters long. Cannons do much better.

400 yds is nothing, even for an antique.

And, yeah, in order to accidentally fire it, he had to perform a lot of steps, involving loading a weapon that is very difficult to unload except by firing. So how did he intend to unload it when he was done endangering his and his neighbors' lives, I wonder?
I did CW reenacting years ago shooting black powder cannons. Some posible causes of his "accidental firing" (not know about the cannon or how it was being loaded) could have been a miss-fire if there was a problem with the fuse causing a delayed ignition. Another posibilty is if he had been firing the cannon just prior to the incident, the tube would have been hot enough as to cause a premature firing "IF" the round in question had been rammed home (without cleaning the tube after the previous round was fired) leaving hot enough material in the tube. In which ramming the destrucive round hard enough could have caused the powder charge to tear and leak onto the burning material or hot metal tube causing premature firing (posibally while moving a loaded cannon).

Yeah, all that is good.

But you don't explain why he was loading a cannon in the first place when he was not on a range.
 

jeeper1

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I would suppose that he had a range on his property. Lots of people do.
 

Decoligny

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Location
Rosamond, California, USA
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Neo wrote:
AbNo wrote:
A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.

OK, How do you accidentally fire a canon? It seems to me that he would have, at least, had to:

  1. Load thepowder
  2. Ram the powder
  3. Load the ball
  4. Ram the ball
  5. Insertthe fuse
  6. Light the fuse
It wasn't the firing that was accidental, it was the through the wall part.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
imported post

Tomahawk wrote:
jeeper1 wrote:
I would suppose that he had a range on his property. Lots of people do.
Well, if you ever build an artillery range uprange of my house, please let me know when you are playing around with your toys!:p

What!?!?!Notification? There is no statute in VA requiringyou to notify!

No, no, no. Obviously, the correct solutionis "balance of power!"

If he puts in a practice range, you install a 6-gun battery pointed his way.

Just call Grapeshot. He'll help you site the guns. (Probably wait around all day hoping for a "provocation", too. If the "noisy" neighbor is Yankee-born, even better.)

"Fire mission. Battery adjust..."

:D
 

ixtow

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Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
5,038
Location
Suwannee County, FL
imported post

Neo wrote:
AbNo wrote:
A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.

OK, How do you accidentally fire a canon? It seems to me that he would have, at least, had to:
  1. Load thepowder
  2. Ram the powder
  3. Load the ball
  4. Ram the ball
  5. Insertthe fuse
  6. Light the fuse
I was going to type the exact same question and list...
 

jay75009

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
377
Location
somewhere, somewhere USA
imported post

AbNo wrote:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Pa-man-fires-cannon-hits-neighbors-house-57650817.html

A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home in Uniontown, Pa.

William Maser, 54, fired a cannonball Wednesday evening outside his home in Georges Township that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away. The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities said nobody was hurt.

State police charged Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

No one answered the phone Friday at Maser's home. He told WPXI-TV that recreating 19th-century cannons is a longtime hobby. He said he is sorry and he will stop shooting them on his property, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

This was too good to good to share with just the PA folks. :)

'cause well, it IS kind of funny.....
LMAO! i dont just have to worry about thugs, now i have to worry about confederate soldiers storming my front yard and porch hahahaha
 

Sonora Rebel

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Joined
Aug 6, 2008
Messages
3,956
Location
Gone
imported post

jay75009 wrote:
LMAO! i dont just have to worry about thugs, now i have to worry about confederate soldiers storming my front yard and porch hahahaha
Give it time... they'll be a'comin'.
 
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