Posted 10 years ago
hotairfan
(388 items)
This is a wrought Iron hand forged gauge that was used to gauge the cannon ball before it was dropped down the cannon barrel. If the cannon ball got jammed before reaching the base of the charge, the cannon would be no more use than a boat anchor, thus the importance of such a tool.
I have been looking for one of these for many years and found this one at an antique swap meet. The seller told me the only reason that he was selling it was that he found another one in better condition and sold me this one to defray the cost of his purchase of his nicer one
Photo #2 shows the belt clip by which the cannoneer would keep his gauge handy. Photo #3 shows the gauge opening. Photo #4 shows the hand forged weld that holds the tool together. The circular gage shows some distortion and misshape and I thought of trying to reshape it, but old wrought iron is like glass and I might wind up with two pieces of a once historical artifact. I decided to leave it as it is. I believe that this distortion is why the previous owner searched and purchased another gauge.
Bloody hard to find! In all the gun shows, museums etc., I've never seen the real thing. Drawings, yes. Rare find.
wow....I've never seen one of these in person. Fantastic.
hotairfan.....what is the diameter of the circle? Thanks!
The circular diameter is 4 ''
4" is a non-standard size. The only 2 examples I can find are the 18 pdr. Blakely & the 20 pdr. rifled howitzer. I'm searching U.S. history but it followed on the European standards. Of course when rifling came on the scene, there were oddball sizes before being standardized. The 6 pdr was 3.67" & 12 pdr was 4.62". Your shot gauge was almost certainly not made by a gov't armory. I'm puzzled. (of course that's not unusual!) LOL
Just thought of something else. There were 4.2" & shot would of course be smaller for windage.
I'm not sure of the exact inside diameter of the gage blunderbuss, as I said in the description, The hole is not exactly round anymore and it's difficult to tell the true diameter. If there was a way to re-true the diameter without destroying the gage, I would. I just don't want to take a chance on destroying the relic. Heat is out of the question, that could break the hammered weld and would certainly remove the great patina that has formed over the years.
sorry to be the cause of this confusion. I was just curious to know the about size of the item so I can keep an eye out for one......of course I will never see one but, hey, you never know.