The guy was just trying to have a little fun

[cantlogin]

and relive some history.

Pa. war buff now faces felony cannonball charge | PoconoRecord.com

 

[Notmuchlonger]

He could have taken someone's eye out

 

[freebird5825]

Um...um...
I'm actually "speechless" on this one.
Savor the moment.

 

[calmloki]

Not like he was actually shooting at his neighbor....

 

[travelover]

Honestly, some neighbors will b!tch about anything.

 

[FIREd]

This guy must have had a blast...

 

[freebird5825]

Good old Wikipedia...
from Cannon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Western cannon during the 19th century became larger, more destructive, more accurate, and could fire at longer range. One example is the American 3 in (76 mm) wrought-iron, muzzle-loading howitzer, used during the American Civil War, which had an effective range of over 1.1 mi (1.8 km).

Doing the physics and math here on the back of an envelope...
Distance to the neighbor's house, cannon azimuth and elevation angle, wind direction and speed...

 

[harley]

Doing the physics and math here on the back of an envelope...
Distance to the neighbor's house, cannon azimuth and elevation angle, wind direction and speed...

C'mon everybody. It was a ricochet! It's not his fault! It could have happened to anybody.

 

[Nords]

C'mon everybody. It was a ricochet! It's not his fault! It could have happened to anybody.

He's probably thinking that if he'd used a little more powder then the cannonball would have gone right through instead of ricocheting...

 

[donheff]

Hey, link posters, help us out and summarize:

A self-proclaimed Civil War buff now faces a felony charge for accidentally firing a 2-pound cannon ball through the wall of a neighbor’s home. The cannon ball ricocheted into a nearby house.

 

[RonBoyd]

Hey, link posters, help us out and summarize:

Okay: buff accidentally richocheted house.

 

[Nords]

Hey, link posters, help us out and summarize:

I'm no fan of naked links myself, but the OP's link was interpreted by the vBulletin software to read:

Pa. war buff now faces felony cannonball charge

Good enough for me.

 

[calmloki]

For those with a desire to get in touch with their neighbors, or who just like things that go boom, here's a link to pictures and story on a bowling ball mortar:

Bowling Ball Mortar Page: Docsmachine.com

"Let's do that AGAIN! Rod out the fuse hole, make sure there aren't any errant embers, pull the mortar up out of the divot it created, weigh out another charge of powder, another bowling ball... This time I was watching downrange with the camera pointing at the cannon... Holy Creeping God, ladies and gentlemen! That ball was screaming out of there! I'd wager it landed over 600 yards downrange.

I should have brought out my Radar Chrony. I'd guess that ball wasn't moving over 700 fps, possibly as low as 400 fps, but jeez, think of the mass! That ball's what, eight to ten pounds?!? What's the Hatcher's Index of a projectile weighing fifty-thousand grains moving at 400 fps? "Body armor" against this thing is eight feet of dirt over a concrete bunker"!

 

[calmloki]

Or for real fun - anvil launching - lets see what the neighbor thinks of THAT!

YouTube - How to Shoot an Anvil 200 Feet in the Air

 

[calmloki]

In the "You could put an eye Out" class, the not so lowly Spud Gun:
The Spudgun Technology Center - Your Source for Spudgun Parts, information, and more!

YouTube - Potato Cannon Blows up - Spud gun explosion