The 4 rules apply to cannons

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Treat your cannon as if it was always loaded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/nyregion/antique-cannon-found-loaded-in-central-park.html

You just have to laugh. It was a revolutionary war British cannon and when they went to clean it - it was loaded and ready to go.

Obviously, no one should be hurt but it is amusing if that ancient cannon went off - and hurt no one.

 

[sigcurious]

I do find two things particularly interesting. One that after all those years the powder was deemed to be in working condition(bet naval folk back in the day wished their powder stayed so dry), and two instead of just spreading out and burning off the powder, they moved it some place "for safekeeping".

 

[Rainbow Demon]

Black Powder is such a simple formulation that you can soak it in water for decades then dry it out and it will still go off.
If the granules break down it can cause pressure problems but other wise its still an explosive mixture.

With ancient powder removed from such a cannon the powder could have historical significance and they may wish to analyse it to discover its origin.

There were many sources for BP in those days, with variations in quality of ingrediants. Each batch was tested to determine the exact powder charge needed.

 

[sigcurious]

Yes but sitting in a park in NYC is not exactly the conditions where drying out if it became wet are likely.

 

[Alabama Shooter]

That would be awfully neat if that cannon was loaded in the 1700s. I bet some historians would like to take a look at it, especially the powder.

 

[Falcon5NZ]

Maybe they needed this guy

(Background to the video for non-Kiwi's: Over here we have an jobseek service called "seek" A few years ago they had a series of ads showing non-existant jobs, with the tagline "If it exists, you'll find it on seek". "Cannon Safety Inspector" was one of them. As soon as I read the article I thought of the ad.)