Ian M
Well-Known Member
I sense that Dave King is itching to purchase/build/acquire a new gun - the handcannon thread tells me that. Now anyone who knows Dave understands that he is willing to shoot about anything, he likes to break new ground with his guns, ammo and optics. Well, I think l have the answer how he can scratch this itch...
First - go to your nearest Home Depot, late at night, say about four o'clock in the morning. Casually place one of their nice oversized carts into the back of your Chevy. This is only borrowing now, after you move on to another gun you no doubt will return it.
Then go to your nearest metal salvage emporium, also knows as junk dealer, and buy a piece of heavy-walled pipe, about 8 point six inches across and three feet long. Get them to weld one end shut with a real heavy piece of steel, maybe one inch thick. Then drill a 1/4 inch hole in the bottom, just above the closed end. You guys get where I am going with this. Go back to Home Depot and buy a couple of ratchet straps, so you can tether the piece of pipe in the shopping cart, naturally the open end will be pointing up and out of the cart. All you need now is something for ignition, some propellant and of course - a projectile.
Propellant is easy, go out and buy about ten pounds of black powder, does not matter what type FFG will be OK. Then go to a hobby shop and buy some cannon fuse, they have it ready made, but knowing Dave, he can conjure up some by crushing some FFG and rolling into a piece of paper, sort of like a home-rolled cigarette. Then you need a few projectiles - one trip to a ten-pin bowling alley will fix that. Get as many old balls as you can mooch.
Now since you are a depredation hunter, you might consider draping camo cloth on the sides of the shopping cart and upping the size of the wheels a bit, to make it easier to push your new gun into position. You should also consider improving the performance of the ten-pin balls by plugging some of the finger holes full of wadding. Those balls will be silenced since the holes make for a whistling sound as the ball decends from about 1800 feet elevation, depending on the angle you shoot from.
So then you take the rig out to your hunting area. I know you have satelite maps and gps info for all the good spots. You will have to fire a few shots so you can get some drop data for your computer program, but that is easy. Suggest starting with two pounds of black powder, that will reach out to 950 yards without any problem.
So - when those pesky deer come out to feed they will think they heard a far-off clap of thunder. They will never think of looking up, way up... which is where the 16 pound, low BC, high energy projectile will be coming from. We will all be waiting to hear about terminal performance - don't expect you will get much for mushrooming but penetration will probably be complete and then about seven inches into the dirt underneath the deer. The meat will be very tender, since the entire body will be impacted by the projectile.
Not sure if you will have to chock the wheels of the cart. Don't forget there is lots of storage underneath for spare bowling balls. Might want to spray paint the ten-piin balls blaze orange, easier to find for re-use.
Dave, just trying to think of a new and different shooting challenge. I recall the guys up in Alaska shooting bowling balls at glaciers, why not kill a few dep deer with one. Might try a low shot, skipping the ball a thousand yards or so across the clover field to get a "strike".
First - go to your nearest Home Depot, late at night, say about four o'clock in the morning. Casually place one of their nice oversized carts into the back of your Chevy. This is only borrowing now, after you move on to another gun you no doubt will return it.
Then go to your nearest metal salvage emporium, also knows as junk dealer, and buy a piece of heavy-walled pipe, about 8 point six inches across and three feet long. Get them to weld one end shut with a real heavy piece of steel, maybe one inch thick. Then drill a 1/4 inch hole in the bottom, just above the closed end. You guys get where I am going with this. Go back to Home Depot and buy a couple of ratchet straps, so you can tether the piece of pipe in the shopping cart, naturally the open end will be pointing up and out of the cart. All you need now is something for ignition, some propellant and of course - a projectile.
Propellant is easy, go out and buy about ten pounds of black powder, does not matter what type FFG will be OK. Then go to a hobby shop and buy some cannon fuse, they have it ready made, but knowing Dave, he can conjure up some by crushing some FFG and rolling into a piece of paper, sort of like a home-rolled cigarette. Then you need a few projectiles - one trip to a ten-pin bowling alley will fix that. Get as many old balls as you can mooch.
Now since you are a depredation hunter, you might consider draping camo cloth on the sides of the shopping cart and upping the size of the wheels a bit, to make it easier to push your new gun into position. You should also consider improving the performance of the ten-pin balls by plugging some of the finger holes full of wadding. Those balls will be silenced since the holes make for a whistling sound as the ball decends from about 1800 feet elevation, depending on the angle you shoot from.
So then you take the rig out to your hunting area. I know you have satelite maps and gps info for all the good spots. You will have to fire a few shots so you can get some drop data for your computer program, but that is easy. Suggest starting with two pounds of black powder, that will reach out to 950 yards without any problem.
So - when those pesky deer come out to feed they will think they heard a far-off clap of thunder. They will never think of looking up, way up... which is where the 16 pound, low BC, high energy projectile will be coming from. We will all be waiting to hear about terminal performance - don't expect you will get much for mushrooming but penetration will probably be complete and then about seven inches into the dirt underneath the deer. The meat will be very tender, since the entire body will be impacted by the projectile.
Not sure if you will have to chock the wheels of the cart. Don't forget there is lots of storage underneath for spare bowling balls. Might want to spray paint the ten-piin balls blaze orange, easier to find for re-use.
Dave, just trying to think of a new and different shooting challenge. I recall the guys up in Alaska shooting bowling balls at glaciers, why not kill a few dep deer with one. Might try a low shot, skipping the ball a thousand yards or so across the clover field to get a "strike".
