We tried that once.
My brother does period shooting (not powder at each other… live rounds at targets, but in uniform, etc.) Casts his own conical bullets, pours his own powder… really kind of neat.
He wants to be on the mortar team … but of course a 1:1 coehorn mortar is expensive.
So one year for Christmas I gave him a 1:10 scale mortar model. Came with a kit to build a wooden sled … the brass mortar shoots a 1 inch ball. (see “yorktown mortar” at http://www.cannon-mania.com/kits-functional.htm )
We tried it out in the backyard, and I got to thinking it looked about the right size for a large scale “Dictator” type car … I wanted to see how far the recoil would send the car … we figured a few 4’ lengths of straight track would do it.
We got a Bachmann 20’ flatcar and a couple lengths of track … put in a flagged ball, and about 50 grains … lit the fuse…
BOOM!
Mortar flipped over vertically (fortunately the sled didn’t break.) Car went galley west. Instead of rolling backwards, it flexed and jumped straight up from the rails landing about 2 feet from where it started… but was otherwise undamaged. Ball went about 50 yards into the woods.
Ah well.
Matthew (OV)
