First of all great camera work! We came out from California in 2009 and won this event. The gusting cross winds were so strong that day that we had to hold seven feet to the left of the target to get a hit. We sacrificed our first round as a sighter that we purposely skipped approximately 30 feet short to gauge the wind drift (nothing but trees behind the targets thus no way to see impacts or misses). In the course of the remaining nine shots, we hit the paper three times and placed six on the backer. Only one other Gun Crew was willing to brave the high winds that day and they failed to place a single hit on the paper or the backer. On the previous day we placed all ten shots on the bottom of the backer just below the scoring rings. Having never fired beyond 600 yards before at our home range and not having any optics with us capable of seeing 3" holes at 1,200 yards, we were guessing at the elevation settings. I am confident we would have completely dominated both days if we could have had even one practice shot at 1,200 yards prior to this event to correct our sight dope. Battery D 5th US, Anthony Variz gunner...

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

I didn't make it to the match that year, but at times I've held off 4-6 feet in years past to get on target with a 12-15 MPH quartering breeze from behind. And optics, though helpful, don't always save the day. The most recent year (Sept. 2019), mirage on Sunday was the worst I have EVER seen on that range. We could hear the shots hitting target (we had 8 out of 10 hits on the board) but absolutely could not see where, even with a 60 power Leica spotting scope. Charlie Smithgall had nearly as many hits with a 20-pounder, and couldn't see his hits either. We ended up with one in the paper and one edge-cut. Absolutely couldn't compensate, with mirage rolling and boiling right to left more than 6 feet deep!

@artillerybuff2000

4 жыл бұрын

@@JohnWellsJr We shoot large bore rifles now from 1000 to 2000 yards. You can actually use the mirage to your advantage by using it to read wind direction and velocity. Long range shooting is very rewarding, I just love it! But I do miss the big guns. Had to sell my matched pair of rifled Parrotts, my 12 Pdr. Napoleon, plus three limbers, two cassions and a pair of 24 Pdr Coehorn Mortars before I retired 5 years ago...

@burtvincent1278

3 жыл бұрын

Amazing hobby but like all hobbies it looks like it could grow to be expensive.😉

I can't imagine a better way to spend an afternoon.

Don't often get to see them firing an actual projectile. Thanks for posting.

impressive accuracy

@xyzct

5 жыл бұрын

No kidding!

By the way, the match actually takes about 50 minutes to fire the 10 rounds per team. We've done all the heavy lifting for the viewer (!) by editing out the 4-5 minutes required to safely and carefully reload, reposition, and re-aim the field piece between shots. Each gun recoils backwards quite briskly about 8-10 feet with every shot. Check the other Grayling video on this channel to see the guns in motion.

@scoireamerica1609

3 жыл бұрын

This is something I would like to attend, where may I find information?

@JohnWellsJr

3 жыл бұрын

@@scoireamerica1609 This year's match has been cancelled due to Covid concerns at the military base. The host organization usually posts information on museumandcollector.com/camp-grayling/ though they can be a bit "hit and miss(!)" about posting dates well in advance. Keep an eye here: facebook.com/HistoricArtilleryCompetition and here: facebook.com/NorthSouthSkirmishAssociation for information about target competition with historic weapons. If you're interested in more than just artillery, check out the N-SSA recruiting video here. I've belonged to this organization for nearly 30 years. kzread.info/dash/bejne/n4Odm8etprjSkbg.html

Each 6-gun battery required 14 6-horse teams and seven spare horses (91 horses total). The South was always short of horses. The teams towed the six artillery pieces and limbers, six caissons, one battery wagon, and one traveling forge. Each caisson carried two ammunition chests and the limber carried one ammunition chest at 50 rounds per chest. That's 150 rounds times 6 caissons equals 900 rounds per battery. If you combine that firepower with the tactics of the war it is not hard to imagine massive casualties.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

Actually for 3" rifles, assuming chests are full, each gun travels with 200 rounds of ammunition. 50 in the gun limber, 50 in the caisson limber, and 100 more in the 2 chests on the caisson itself, totaling 200 per gun. Plenty of firepower. Though 4 different types of ammunition are available (Solid, shell, case shot, and canister) numerical breakdown of the various types seems to have varied from battery to battery, even gun to gun, subject to available supply, and "subject to the needs of the service." In over 25 years of live fire competition with the Parrott, I've had the opportunity to fire hundreds of solid shot (bolts), plus, on occasion and STRICTLY on military bases, exploding common shell with both time fuse as well as percussion, and also canister. I've observed case shot in action from a 24-pdr howitzer, but never fired it from the Parrott.

Dang I live in Michigan and we drive through grayling to get to my grandma's cabin if she would have either had that cabin in 2012 or if it wasn't such a long trip to get to her cabin I might've asked my parents to see if I could watch this

I love this video.

i wanted to see the guns recoiling as well

@JohnWellsJr

5 жыл бұрын

Look at my other video "civil war artillery with full military loads "

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

Here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/d4BlldOumMa7fdo.html

@monumentstosuffering2995

3 жыл бұрын

Me too.

These men are amazing.

At first in was like," are they shooting a really bad Minecraft nether portal"

Is this the terrifying whistling that round shot was said to make that I’ve always read of and longed to hear? How amazing would a tucked away camera catching the incoming would be!

@MrFishman55

4 жыл бұрын

This video has a good capture of the whistle sound. kzread.info/dash/bejne/nIBlps2ria-dYNY.html

@6thmichcav262

Жыл бұрын

There is a video from 1990 on KZread with that view. Search 3 inch cannon rapid fire-you’ll find it.

Amazing accuracy. I doubt in the heat of battle they were this accurate, but man that would be scary!

@boonanaman2739

3 жыл бұрын

historical accounts state that the union soldiers were particularly accurate. military training does wonders. also don't forget in the civil war 1000 yards would be like being a mile away in today's time. not totally safe but not close enough for much worry

Very impressive!

@jwellsgnr

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Cheers!

That's very impressive for being 1000 yards out and using smooth bore cannons.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

These are rifled cannons, not smoothbores. The left gun is a 3" Ordnance Rifle, the right gun is a 10-pounder Parrott Rifle (also 3" rifled bore). Projectile is a 10 pound bullet shaped projectile with a brass cup on the base that expands into the spiral rifling grooves when the powder charge explodes. That spins the projectile and stabilizes it for accurate flight over long distance. Powder charge is 1 lb GOEX 1F black powder, ignition is by friction primer and lanyard for the Parrott. The gunner for the Ordnance Rifle uses quills and a linstock with slow match for ignition.

Молодца 👍

What powder charge and what kind(composition) of projectile are they using for these 1,000 yd, targets?

@jwellsgnr

7 жыл бұрын

For the 10-pdr Parrott, and the 3" Ordnance Rifle, the charge is 1 lb 1F GOEX black powder.

@jwellsgnr

7 жыл бұрын

+jwellsgnr Projectile is 10 lb bullet-shaped with brass cup bolted to the base. The cup expands upon firing to lock the projectile into the spiral grooves of the rifling.

@pommel47

7 жыл бұрын

Is the 10 lb. bullet cast iron or other metal? Are you using modern cast or machined bullets?

@jwellsgnr

7 жыл бұрын

+J.L. Roberts Cast from zinc diecast alloy, machined to .015" under bore size. Zinc is nearly the same density as cast iron (original material) and much easier to cast and machine.

@pommel47

7 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. Yes, zinc seems like an excellent alternative. Is your zinc bullet a solid round nose or hollow point, and is it reuseable or must it be recast everytime? How do you make the copper cup?

I know its a salty thing and probably will never happen, but man, I would love to hear all of these going off at once and continue to load and fire as fast as they can just to hear 50% what a real battle would have sounded like. And when I say 50% I mean obviously there is no one firing back at them and so shells exploding isn't part of it. I just think it'd be cool to see all of them going full speed boom boom boom boom

The sound is superb with a full load. Did anyone suffer orificial bleeding from the shock wave?

@JohnWellsJr

3 жыл бұрын

Only if the Parrott round created the orofice! ;-)

Thanks for this video...AMAZING ..I have no idea what cannons you are using.Are you using 3 inch ordnance rifle cannon OR breech loaders?I'm just throwing out guesses.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

Left gun is a 3" Ordnance Rifle. RIght gun is a 10-pounder Parrott Rifle (same bore diameter). Both are muzzle-loaders. The roughly 5 minutes to load each gun between rounds is edited out so you didn't all fall asleep! ;-)

@kevinhoulihan6321

3 жыл бұрын

The Parrott had a 2.9 bore but after Gettysberg they were bored out to 3 inch so as to prevent jaming if using Ordnance ammo.@@JohnWellsJr

Amazing accuracy for such old guns. No wonder Waterloo and Gettysburg had such carnage. But you missed a trick with the filming …. should have done it professionally and it would have been fascinating.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

Hey, If you're a professional videographer, you're welcome to join us at the next match. I burned through about $1300 worth of ammunition at a match, so my video budget consisted of my wife, and my Sony HX200V. Ya get what ya pay for... ;-)

@3vimages471

4 жыл бұрын

John Wells Jr it's a long way from England! Loved the guns and your event and I would gladly have helped if I was there. Keep up the great work fella it must be so much fun firing those big guns.

@wirelessone2986

4 жыл бұрын

3vimages...this is rare dont be rude..

@sjonnieplayfull5859

2 жыл бұрын

@@wirelessone2986 Well, he took it like a champ, and retalliated in kind. Counter battery fire was on target 😁

what "bullet" drop do they see at 1000 yrds?

@JohnWellsJr

5 жыл бұрын

Don't know a figure for bullet drop but midrange elevation is roughly 37 feet above line of sight. Time of flight is about 3.6 seconds. Drop can be calculated from that number.

@milano61

4 жыл бұрын

@@JohnWellsJr Well, it the gun and the target are the same height above sea level then the "bullet drop" would be 37 feet.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

@@milano61 No, 37 feet is midrange height above line of sight. Actually, Bullet Drop would be distance covered during 3.6 seconds of gravitational acceleration straignt downward if the projectile were just dropped from a given height toward the ground. If line of bore and line of sight were both horizontal, bullet drop would equal how far below point of aim the bullet would strike the target, and would be roughly the same distance as difference between line of sight and true line of bore at the target. Bore is always aimed above line of sight in order to deliver the projectile at point of aim.

I’d like to see them do rapid loading and shooting like in the war. They fired 2 or 3 shots a minute didn’t they ? That would be a great show !

@JohnWellsJr

2 жыл бұрын

Canister was occasionally loaded and fired 2-3 times a minute, but only by abandoning safe loading practices. The vent was still thumbed, but no sponging between shots. Only done when your life depends on it! We've done the canister drill with dummy rounds. Two men running rounds from the limber. Load, ram, prick and prime, clear the wheels, FIRE. You can do it almost as fast as you can say it. but SUPER-hazardous! Normal rate of fire was a carefully aimed shot every 3-5 minutes even in the heat of battle. Gen Henry Hunt (artillery reserve commander at Gettysburg) actually reprimanded the Union gunners for wasting ammunition by firing too quickly. He wanted slow, deliberate, aimed fire.

Very surprised I can’t hear the round penetrating the target or driving in and out of the soil.

@jwellsgnr

11 ай бұрын

Actually you CAN hear it hit the wooden target. The targets are a thousand yards from the camera. It takes nearly 3 seconds for the sound to reach the camera after it strikes the target. Watch the target. When the hole appears, count slowly to 3 when you see the hole and you'll hear a distinct bang in the distance. A miss hitting the dirt is less distinct, and sounds like "thup!” (The sizzling hiss you hear after the guns fire is the projectile in flight. And if you have good speakers, you will occasionally hear a fluttering sound after impact. That is the rapidly spinning projectile wildly yawing as it whines off into the distance.)

If they have to go to a NG base for the competition, where can they go to practice?

@JohnWellsJr

3 жыл бұрын

Can't speak for the other teams. We do not practice anywhere but a military range with full service loads due to the extreme hazard of ricochet. For instance, even though on this range our rounds touch down 20-30 yards behind the 1000-1200 yard targets, they find ourspent rounds well over a mile behind the targets. The danger to innocent civilians just doesn't justify practice anywhere but where you have absolute security of your downrange against intrusion by the public. An exception could be made for shooting into a near vertical face of soft earth MUCH higher than the targets, with no rock outcroppings, but even then, it should be an highly experienced team shooting at known calibrated range so that point of impact can be predetermined with a high degree of precision. Safety first, second, and third!

@christianpatriot7439

3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnWellsJr Did actual gun batteries in the Civil War have the same problems? One of my 3-great grandfathers was in a CSA artillery battery. The unit was at Gettysburg, but I don't know if he was with it.

@JohnWellsJr

3 жыл бұрын

@@christianpatriot7439 I actually do not know where artillery training and practice with live fire ammunition took place during training for the Civil War batteries. For all I know, the first time they actually fired their guns was "in anger..."

@christianpatriot7439

3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnWellsJr From what I know about my 3-great grandmother, my 3-great grandfather's artillery training may have come at home.

A cavalry unit working an artillery piece??? I'm confused...

@xyzct

5 жыл бұрын

The artillery unit was out riding.

@JohnWellsJr

4 жыл бұрын

N-SSA teams are based on original unit designations, but they are allowed to compete with any N-SSA approved Civil War weapon, regardless of branch of service of the original CW unit. It's all about target competition in the N-SSA. It's NOT a reenactment! ;-)

@richardlahan7068

4 жыл бұрын

Historically, cavalry typically used 3 inch Ordnance Rifles. During the Indian Wars they used 12pdr Mountain Howitzers for mobility.

Firing Parrott rifles with full military load is only for brave (or insane people). Those rifles were prone to burst even when new.

@jwellsgnr

3 жыл бұрын

Nope. Only the siege calibers, 50-Pdr and up. Ours has a Paulson Brothers rifled steel liner installed in a South Bend Replicas barrel. The liner alone is stronger than the whole original barrel.

@kevinhoulihan6321

3 жыл бұрын

That is an urban myth based on partial facts. 10 pounders were prone to Rim failures which caused many a crew in a battle to cold chisel the end even so as to continue to fire. The Ironworks in Richmond made nineteen 20lb. Parrotts copied from the one they captured at Bull Run. 17 of them blew up during extensive use. General Hunt in a Ordinance report describes how a 30lb. Parrott under his command blew up. But only after it had fired over 5,000 Rounds of ammo.

View final targets at: img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jwellsgnr/DSC01862_zps3gcl3brb.jpg and img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jwellsgnr/DSC01860_zpsynssy7b4.jpg

its not a duell inless their shooting at each other! )))))))

@ratbastard1811

6 жыл бұрын

you first shitbird! show us how!

@milano61

4 жыл бұрын

@buffbeezer Good one!!! Too much plastic for me!!!