Certification for artillery pieces???

[Mark Britton]

Is there such a thing as a certification for an artillery piece that will be fired at living history events? If so, what does the certification certify? and who does the certifying??

Mark Britton

[Kanawha Riflemen]

There is a school for re-enactor artillery. The manual they used is based off of what we call re-enactorism. Meaning they made changes for it to put safety first, not that its wrong, but changes have been made. For me personally where I work at for South Mountain, even though I had artillery experience, I had to be retrained in artillery according to the 1860 manual and discussions about the safety of the modern artillery manual and the actual manual, there seems to be an opinion that the actual 1860 manual is best used and is far more safe than the one that is being used at mainstream events. This was just an opinion. I don’t want to make anyone mad. This year I have to go through a complete training course of one week with the state of Maryland to become certified as a black powder expert on small arms as well as artillery and a safety officer. For us to do living histories and such through the state as well as the NPS, we have to be trained accordingly. As employees of the state and NPS we have to have certification.

There is a school of artillery through the National Civil War Artillery Association. If you google it you’ll find it. Just contact the NCWAA and see if you as a living historian would need it. When it comes down to it, you need to know the basics as well as the drill and what to do in the event of a misfire. One wrong move can have a serious consequence. Maybe some one else can answer your question better than me. But this is what I know. Good luck and artillery is cool and you'll have a lot of fun with it. Just remember drill and safety!
_______________________________
John A. Miller
Monterey Pass Battlefield
South Mountain Battlefield
Heritage Development Committee, OMF

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

Hallo!

I think he may be asking less about the safety of the crew in regards to drill and procedure than whether an original or repro tube has been "inspected" in some certifiable way ( X Ray, Magnaflux, etc.,) for damage, flaw, or problems in casting such as when a barrel is cast around a steel sleeve or the details of the form and construction of the breech, etc.,??

Curt
Not That I Know Of Mess

[sedlakchristopher]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

Mark,
If you meant an inspection of the actual gun, check out my past thread at

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11517

Sent you a PM also...

Regards,
Chris Sedlak

[James Brenner]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

If you live close to a military installation and/or depot, it may be possible to have the tube borescoped. Borescoping is a visual inspection of the bore and breech. The borescope consists of a rotating mirror, powerful light, and a magnifying lens that will show cracks, pits, gaps (or lack of) in the bore, breech, and rifling.

I think there was a how-to article several years ago in the Muzzleloading Artilleryman magazine (now The Artilleryman) for people who wanted to build their own borescope. Unfortunately, I no longer have my collection of back issues, but a note to the editor (Pete Jorgenson?) ought to get you a copy.

I hope this helps.

[cannoneer]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

I believe that South Bend Replicas will certify a tube. I have inquired about having a tube that has been sitting out behind a building for years cleaned up and check out to put in service for blanks only. They said that they would clean it up and "proof" it.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

Hallo!

Danger Will Robinson.

"Proofing" a barrel or tube merely serves to show that the barrel or tube is capable of withstanding the pressures and dynamics of THE charge it just fired.
The theory is that if it survives that larger charge, it should be able to withstand repeated charges of lesser strength.

However, stress points, pressure bulges/rings, micro and macro fractures, and other flaws in the casting, turning, use, or possible abuse may have produced boo-boo's about to reach their castastrophic failure point on the next firing or the tenth or the hundreth or the thousandth.

Others' mileage will vary...

Curt
Heretic

[cannoneer]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

Curt,
Thanks for the insight. You have a great point considering the age of the barrels in question.

[3rdUSRedleg]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

N-SSA Cannon info;

http://www.artilleryreserve.org/Examples/cannon.zip

N-SSA Mortar Info;

http://www.artilleryreserve.org/Examples/mortar.zip

[artillerybuff]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

If you live close to a military installation and/or depot, it may be possible to have the tube borescoped. Borescoping is a visual inspection of the bore and breech. The borescope consists of a rotating mirror, powerful light, and a magnifying lens that will show cracks, pits, gaps (or lack of) in the bore, breech, and rifling.

I think there was a how-to article several years ago in the Muzzleloading Artilleryman magazine (now The Artilleryman) for people who wanted to build their own borescope. Unfortunately, I no longer have my collection of back issues, but a note to the editor (Pete Jorgenson?) ought to get you a copy.

I hope this helps.

We use a 6' long digital bore scope camera made by Milwaukee. Rigid has a nice one as well. They can be extended out to 30'.

They are illuminated with zoom and will give you an excellent view of the bore, breech, and vent from the inside. Every Battery should have one and inspect their pieces regularly.

Anthony Variz

[Jeffrey Cohen]

Re: Certification for artillery pieces???

I'm thinking of getting the Milwaukee scope. I was going to ask about it. Thanks for the heads up
Regards,
Jeffrey Cohen