Yes it could use handles. It's not stainless it's 1018.
Shot it off for the first time today. The powder chamber is 1.25 dia x 1.25 deep. It takes 400 grainsFFFg to fill the chamber to the top. Great BANG! but no golf ball in sight. 100 grains of FFFg toped with a ball of aluminum foil to fill the chamber, was sending a golf ball,with a pretty good report, about 120 to 130 yards shot at a 60 deg angle.
Now I want a bigger one 12 pounder maybee.
Frank
Before you go bigger you need to learn the one you have and then maybe move up to pop can size before you take a jump. I have a 6 pounder and it is just right on the edge of requiring a crew to set up and shoot.
Mortar barrel angle should be 45 degrees. Range is controlled by size of powder charge. 400 grains in a golf ball mortar is a waste of powder. Half the fun of shooting the mortar is seeing the ball fly. If you can;t see the ball in flight why not jsut shoot blanks.
Reduce your charge to 25 grains and start there. Work up 5 grs of powder at a time and adjust until you are dropping the ball about 100 yards. Keep notes on how far each powder charge sends the ball. Set a target out at 100 yards and see if you can hit it. That's tough to do, but a lot of fun.
The next step is to order steel or zinc golf balls and shoot those. You will get a much greater satisfaction for shooting those than golf balls. Go to the GBO cannon classified and you will find a listing both zinc and steel balls. The Steel balls are cheaper but were temporarily sold out. The may be back in stock by now. I prefer zinc. Zinc is softer and doesn't bounce around and make sparks like the carbon steel balls do. The plus side to the metal ball, is you can go pick them up and shoot them again. i also have some concern about barrel wear with the steel.
One last thing, start planning on coming to Montana in 2015.
