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MORTARSIntroduction
A well built mortarwill providemany oursof safe entertainmentndenjoyment. {ith a maximumange f near'l y ive hundredards, t canshoota beercan (ft l led with sand r gravel)with amazingccuracy. . lany lackpowder lubs haveadded rortar ir ing to their l ist of contestevents.
PartsList1. One iece6u X 12u o l id steel shaf t ing2. one2" X 10" Steel shaft3. Two ol id steel b locks 3"x 4" X 2"4. One 0" X !i" threadedodwith twonuts5. Eight - 2' - #I0 wood cre ws6. Four 4Lz" 3k" bolt andnuts7. Four 3" X #10woodscrewsB. Six feet 2u X 4" f i r or p ine9. l4aterials o construct arryinghandles optional)NOTE: le canassumeo responsibil ity or the mannern which he enclosed
informations used.To construct he barrel f irst locatea mastermachinest.Heshould
accomplishhe followingworkon the 6" X 12" steel shaft.a ) . Dr i l l a p i lo t center o leand henenlarget to 2 3/4". The
enclosed rawingshould e fol' lowed losely.b). Turna buil noseon the butt endof the shaft ing(an alternate
taper maybe used .r ih no functlona'leffect) .c). Mill a half round l ot in the butt endof the shaft to accept ne
trunion shaft ing.d). Turn he outsidediameter f the trunion smooth.
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- a -
e). Arc-weld he trunion to the butt-end of the shaft.f ) . Dr i l l a 2" ho le in the centero f the 3" X 4" X 2" s tee l
Dr i l l a 2 :3 /8" ho les hrough he shaf t . Cut the p i l low b ' lock nrnachne the surfaces iat.
s) . Dr i l l the smal l ouchho le .h), Ali metal work on the barrel (tube) is nowcomplete. To
aga ins t us t , the barre l ( tube)shou ldbe E i ther browned, lued,b lack . (Theor ig ina ls werepa in tedb lack)
b l o c k .h and
prevenEor painted
In constructing h e vloodenarriage, select the best gradeof woodposs ib le . F i r o r p ine are acceptab le , u t oakvJou ld e by far the best .Fol ow the enclosed iagrams arefully. A1 wood oints shouldbe giued(as t.lell as bolted) for extra strength. For the mostprotection, thewooclenarriage shouldbe sanded mooth nd covered ither clear varnishor pa i .
UsingTheBeerCan ,lortarAlrvays ememberhat your mortar s not a toyl Usegood udgeirent nd
comrnonensewhen i r ing i t . The o l lowing u les shou idbe fo l lowed:(1). Try to locate a sourceof cannon owder. If this can not be
found, use FGor FFG ot^rder. i ' lever se black blasting powder it ignitestoo s lowly fo r sa t is fac tory resu l ts in our mor tar )
(2) , A fu l l powder hargewi l l f i l l the powder av i ty compie te ly .Th is shou ldbe comple te ly a fe in a proper ' ly es igned ndwel l bu i l t mor tar .Themortar nay be used .rih as l i t t le as 1/3 powder harge or f ir ing.
(3). l lo w adding s necessary or use in our mortar. It comes ut ofthe barrel burning andmayset f ire to the sumounding reas.
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-3-(4). Rememberhat mortars can be very dangerouswhenused mproperiy.
NEVER, repeat, never bendover and ook into the barrel of a mortar.The emptationmaybe great, but keepc)ear of the muzzleat all t imeswhen oad ingor f i r i ng .(5). For the best resu'lts, use dynanie fuse forignit ing the motar.Buyplenty and experiment ith different lengths to determinehe bestburning t ime (experirnent way romyour powder ndmotar).
(6). Beerandsodacans are the best and most practical projecticlesyou can use. Fil l themwith clean, d.ry and. Youmustcrimp or tape eachcan to insure that the sanddoesnot trickie out. Thought wouldbe farntoreexpensive, ou could have ron balls cast to f it the fore of yourmor tar . These a l1s , pa in teda br igh t co lour ,wou ldbe ra la t ive ly easyto find if you havesome apablespotters down ange. If you are usingactual cannonballs, ry to avoid a very soft impactarea. The ball maybury itself one or more eet deepon landing.
(7). After fir ing clean both the bore andpowder hamber ith blackpowder olvent. To accomplishhi6, you will needswabs f two differentdiameters. Youcan make our oun swabs y nail ing pieces of sheepskin rcloth bags o the end of a cut off shovel handle. l. lhen thorough wab-bing has beenaccomplished,ou mayclean the touch hole by running a smalldiameterbrass rod through t.
Yourcomple tei r ing sequences as fo l lows:(1). Sr,rabore with black powder oivent.(2). Swab ollderchamber ith black powder olvent.(3) . Clean ouchho le wi th brass od.(4). Pourmeasured owder harge nto cavity.(5). Insert dynamie fuse into touch hole.
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-+ -(6). Checko see hat your target area s clear and ight fuse.(7). Stand ackandawait detonation.If for someeason, he flanc goesdownnto the touch hole anddoes
not ignite the charge do not panic! Wait at least ten minutes eforeap-proachinghe mortar. D0NoTL00K NToTHEBoRE oRANYREASoNI pproachv/ith extrenE are. From neside, use he brass od to clear the touchhole. Cut and nsert a new useand ry again. After f ive moreminutes.if the motarsti l l hasnot gone ff, youmusthave ottenhold of some adpowder. In this case ake a smallmetalcan ull of waterandpour t intothe bore of the bore. BECERTAINOKEEP LEARFTHE ORETALLTIMES!Wait or f ive moreminutes nd hendumphe entire mess ut andbeginover.
Aiminq ourMortarWitha lit t le practice,youwill be amazedith the range ndaccuracy
youcanachieve ith the mortar. To ncrease our accuracy,oumaywantto experiment ith a gunners$g|;gq!. similar to the oneshovrn ere. Byusinga constant owderharge ndprojecti lesof uniformweight'youcanexperimenthe angle n which he mortar in degreesrom he quadrant)sfired comparedith the resultant ange.
BurstingProjecti lesand mpactCharEesA burstingprojecti le is one hat is set (usuallyby fuse or powder
train) to burst ln the alr. An mpact harges one hat is rigged odetonate hent contacts nother bject.
It is this writers opinion hat bothburstingprojecti les and mpactcharges re inherentlyunsafe ndnot suitable or sport mortar ir ing.0f the injuries I knowo haveoccurred hile usingsport rnortars, lmosta l I have een s a resul t o f usingburst ing ro ject i lesand mpact harges.
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-5-CAUTIoN: heabovenformation asbeen
sources hat we feel to be accurate. l,lecaneither the mannern which his informationmay esult from ts use. Always heck ocal
compiled ndpresentedromassumeo responsibil ity or
is used,or anyactions hatlawsbeforedischarging ny
black powdedevi e!Theoriginal idea for theseplansand his writefrs interest in b'lack
powdermortarscamerom an artic'le in the March 974 ssue of Gunsolaqazieby trlasn t. lJl l iams.
Copyright1977DELTARESSTD.
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