totse.com | An Aussie Beer Can Mortar

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As a mechanical fitter I have been employed many times to manufacture tools and jigs for other tradesmen working in different departments in my unit. I have an interest in firearms (and weapons)of all types. I have used my skills to manufacture model, nad larger cannon as well as helping mates with legal modifications to there firearms. Yes I have also committed the most grevious of sins by de-activating or de-milling other wise serviceable weapons just because they were unfasionable at the time. I will never vote for that government again!!

I happened upon a large peice of brass round stock 125mm x 400mm. Too nice to be left lying around, too short for a cannon, just right for a mortar. So a quick look at my reference material and a suitable mortar shape was drawn up, scaled to give the least waste from the raw material... and just the right size to be bored to 62mm. A nice clearence diameter for a Victoria Bitter Beer Can. The exact dimentions of my mortar are unimportant, needless to say that I overengineered to some degree.

The brass stock was offered to my trusty lathe and trued up externaly then drilled and bored to size. External dimentions were basic as all a Blackpowder mortar is, is a short, thick tube. The trunnion is located at the base, just the same as the modern stokes mortar, with a wooden carrage.

Mortars and Howitsers have a common theme, use a small powder charge to lob the projectile to the desired range. Many early mortar have huge bore sizes enabling large diameter projectiles to be fired short distances, all that was needed then. In keeping with the mortar theme a powder chamber 30mm in Dia. x 30mm deep was machined into the base of the short barrel.

Initial testing of the mortar with empty and gravel filled beer cans proved dissapointing.

The thinking cap went on and the very next weekend ten concrete filled beer cans were ready for some serious R&D

"Fu** off Brat, I've just finished greasing the can, it would justabout fit your a** keep it up!" I retorted, we are really good mates!

The can launched out of that thing like a scalded cat (and we havew seen some oof those), rose to 200 meters, reached apogee (dictonary job) and tumbled into a lake at the 175 meter mark on the range (1/2 way between the turkeys and the rams. The thud of impact was preceded by the 10 meter shower of water glinting in the morning sun.

Just afterwards I was basking in wonder of what I had done, watching the thick cloud of smoke lasily drifd down range when I heared a funny noize...

"Speak up prick!" I replied as I turned to see Brat. His eyes were rolled back, in one bony hand was a beer can, in the other the powder flask and the reason he was incoherent 6" of wick clenched in between his drooling lips.

An Aussie Beer Can Mortar

by Andy