DIY: A Homemade 1/9 Scale 9″ Dahlgren Cannon

Photo credits: imgur user sirkeyboardcommando

Now this is cool. A fellow who described himself as “an average 26 year old guy with way too much time on his hands” has built himself a nice little cannon. He wanted to model this kind of gun because his great great grandfather manned one during the un-civil war.

I’m not going to steal his thunder by posting everything here, just a taste.

He machined the top three pieces (top) on a lathe, then reamed the bore of each to fit the seamless tubing (second from top) that formed the barrel.

With all three sections shrink-fitted to the barrel, he was ready to proceed.

Back in the lathe to finish the profile.

He modeled the carriage after a newer cast-iron carriage.

He even made a nice setup for shooting it at the range.

That’s his dad in the background, watching the cannon fire.

Nice project. It looks like a lot of fun to shoot.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.