[PowderMonkey]

Hello All,
I have skimmed this site for a while and decided to join to try and get an answer for a question. I don't own any full or semi 1919s but was interested in the Artillery section. What I am trying to do is find out from somebody what the BATF rules are for a homemade mortar.

What I would like to do is build a mortar for WW2 events. It would be a non-milspec 2.1 bore, no pin basically a 2 in ID thick wall weld type pipe with a cap welded on the bottom and a crude bipod with some elevation and windage but no provision for an M4 sight. I would use a 10 ounce dummy made from a Sunny D Light bottle filled with sand and use a 60 to 100 grain lifting charge of 1F black powder. The round would be lighted and dropped into the tube.

I'm not new to black powder as I shot BP in rifle muskets and have access to a full scale Model 1857 Napoleon 12PDR(3 in bore) where I did CW artillery for several years and Infantry for 14 years. I love a 1lb charge...it'll set off car alarms for a 1/4 mile around you. Anyway....

I have been to a couple of sites asking about such a project and have been told calmly "yes it's okay and not a DD" or screamed at that " You are going to Club Fed for even thinking about this out loud and they'll be knocking on your door in 10 minutes. say hello to Bubba, your new room mate for the next 10 years"

Can anybody help me with any credible info or do I need to write a letter to the BATF and get their ruling in writing? I am in Texas if that helps to determine an answer.

I figured if anybody would know the answer to this you guys here would for sure. After searching the old forumn I saw ads for repro tubes and base cups for 60mm repros so I figured they weren't illegal or I read this wrong and they are considered a DD??

Thanks for reading the post and I look forward to hearing from anybody on this.

 

[notenoughguns]

email sent

 

[ontos106]

Powdermonkey
The base cap is a titleone weapon
It's the barrel that make it a DD
A 60MM MORTAR base cap and a barrel is a DD
I have a picture of a BP mortar that look like a 60mm
but shoot beer cans
I don't think ATF will let you launch 60mm projos will BP
That would flip them out

 

[PowderMonkey]

Ontos106,
So is a piece of pipe with a bore smaller than a 60mm with a cap welded to the end incapable of taking a milspec round, considered a DD? I understand a true 60mm tube and live base cap are. What about a dummy cap that hasn't been drilled for a pin nor threaded for a tube? Is that legal to have a repro dummy cap without a firing pin hole and not threaded but welded to a repro, smaller bore tube? Is that a DD?

 

[PowderMonkey]

Dan,
Thanks for the email.

 

[30calmachinegunner]

As long as it is black powder, IE: fired by a fuse or percussion cap, bore size will have no bearing on it being a DD or not. There are plenty of 60mm blackpowder mortars out there, not to mention the bowling ball ones

 

[PowderMonkey]

.30cal.,
So as long as it's not a drop fire round like the real thing it's okay?

 

[30calmachinegunner]

actually a little more to it than that, the round cannot be self contained, projectile, powder and ignition source as one unit like a round of amunition. If you are using an ignition source such as a fuse or percussion ignition similiar to a muzzle loader you will be fine. HTH

 

[PowderMonkey]

Roger that. Thanks .30cal.

The bowling ball mortar sounds sweet. While doing some searches on mortars I found a couple of sites showing these. One of the best events we did with the Napoleon was a live shoot at Ft. Sill,OK. Solid round shot, cannister and double cannister. Double cannister with a 1 lb charge sounded like nothing I had ever heard before.

The best out there was a friend's 10 lb Parrot rifle. That one could reach out and touch compared to our smoothbores.

Thanks for all the help from everybody. There is not much info out there on BP mortars. I had seen several out at WW2 events over the years but wasn't sure of all the details of ownership.

 

[Destiny]

No problem with a 60mm BP Mortar

A few years ago I assembled a few live DD mortars and would often run across the BP mortar assemblies... they had a solid ball... never threaded for the firing pin and the cup and the barrel were welded and never threaded... and the barrel on the bottom was thicker for reinforcement. These had a hole drilled for a fuse but the end of the barrel was the proper diameter to allow for the M2 Mortar collar. They used regular 60mm rounds or soupcans full of cement...

Its doable.

Destiny

If your serious.... Check here, email him and ask what he has.

http://cranetechnologiesinc.com