My brothers and I got one of those cannon for the Civil War centennial; it was a Christmas gift in 1961. The cannon balls were hard, hollow plastic balls with holes in their centers. You put them on a central post at the cannon’s muzzle and used the ramrod to push them in. That compressed the spring wrapped around the post, and locked the trigger when the spring was fully back. You pulled a string and the ball shot out ten feet or so.
We also received muskets which fired cork Minie balls. You put a paper cap on the striker plate, and when the hammer fell the speck of gunpowder in the cap went bang. The gas was just enough to push the ball out the barrel and send it five or six feet. That Christmas my brothers and I had a merry time killing one another.
My brothers and I got one of those cannon for the Civil War centennial; it was a Christmas gift in 1961. The cannon balls were hard, hollow plastic balls with holes in their centers. You put them on a central post at the cannon’s muzzle and used the ramrod to push them in. That compressed the spring wrapped around the post, and locked the trigger when the spring was fully back. You pulled a string and the ball shot out ten feet or so.
We also received muskets which fired cork Minie balls. You put a paper cap on the striker plate, and when the hammer fell the speck of gunpowder in the cap went bang. The gas was just enough to push the ball out the barrel and send it five or six feet. That Christmas my brothers and I had a merry time killing one another.