One big Howitzer

So I'm talking with my buddy Dave at work the other day (the Kohl's job) and somehow, someway the conversation led to an interesting revelation: He's in possession of a homemade cannon that some friends of his from the engineering dept. over at OU and he put together to launch pumpkins. Now Dave's a quiet guy from what I know of him and seems the honest type; he's a big fan of the second amendment and is very open with the fact that he owns all kinds of firearms. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm of the same persuasion, but a homemade HOWITZER?! That's a little mind boggling, but Dave set about explaining what he and his friends did to make the thing and who they got to sponsor them in the pumpkin launching competitions. Then he sent me some pics and videos:

 

 

I can't upload the videos unfortunately, but it's impressive to hear this thing fire! Here's what Dave said about its construction: Well, all ten of us put in $20. The Moore Fire dept. donated $300 (because they knew me). And my mom's work donated like $50. We found a hay wagon axle that a farmer didn't want and we gave him $20 for it. We bought the barrel and breech plug from Metal Supermarkets who we made an agreement with to put their name on the cannon if they gave us a discount. We took the barrel and plug to a machinist to get them threaded. We brought the two peices back to my grandfather's house and I made the firing mechanism and machined the plug to mount it all. Then my team had to design a way to mount the barrel to the axle. Once we figured that out we return to Metal Supermarkets to get all the pieces including the big barrel sleeve. I cut them to shape and a friend's dad helped weld it all together. The barrel was hammered into the sleeve (not easy) and tack welded into place. A mount for an adjustable tractor equipment top link was welded on, and the link was attached. A simple hitch was made and the cannon was painted. The decision for the olive drab paint was all me because I wanted it to look as scary as it really is!

It's not everyday you meet someone who can do these kinds of things. Pretty neat, eh?