Tag Archives: Cannons

Know anybody with some Oerlikon parts gathering dust?

Posted on by Leave a comment

They basically need everything you see above in gray…

I recently talked to Clark Perks, development director at the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial and he has an 888-foot battlewagon full of armament that includes nine massive 16-inch and 12 5-inch guns, but what they are missing is a complete 20mm Oerlikon cannon.

They have the gun itself, they just need the mount and shield and can work to fab one from an original if they could work out the loan…

More in my column at Guns.com

P.S. They just got their 40mm quad mount restored– and it even fires.

Feeling like a naval AAA mount or two?

Posted on by Leave a comment

If you have a problem with low-flying German Messerschmitts or Japanese Zeroes, Rock Island Auction Company may have just what you are looking for in a pair of naval AAA mounts.

As part of their May Premier Auction, RIA has both an original early WWII fixed-dual mounted AN-M2 anti-aircraft gun for those who like their “triple-A” in .30-06 as well as a hulking WWII Navy Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

The Navy AN-M2 .30 Cal Navy MK II Mod 3 Aircraft Mount includes a rare MK 9 Mod 1 Illuminated Electronic Gun Sight

The working C&R Oerlikon 20 mm MK4 Naval Cannon has an original deck mount and gun cradle, though good luck finding 20×110mm RB ammo

More in my column at Guns.com

Sumter’s Parrotts to see renovation

Posted on by Leave a comment
The Right Face Wall of Fort Sumter contains 11 6.4-inch Parrott Rifles in the first teir casemates. They were moved to the fort in 1873 from the Augusta Arsenal and their provenance is hidden under 150 years of rust and paint (Photo: NPS/Taormina)

The Right Face Wall of Fort Sumter contains 11 6.4-inch Parrott Rifles in the first tier casemates. They were moved to the fort in 1873 from the Augusta Arsenal and their provenance is hidden under 150 years of rust and paint (Photo: NPS/Taormina)

Charleston, South Carolina’s historic Fort Sumter, famous for its role in the Civil War, received an influx of $200,000 to restore 11 vintage Parrott rifles.

The donation came from an individual who wished to keep their name private, in honor of their father, a Citadel graduate.

The guns (officially: Parrott, 6.4-inch, rifle, seacoast, Model 1861), fired 100-pound shells and are something of a mystery to the National Park Service, being shipped from Georgia’s Augusta Arsenal to the fort in December 1873. They are covered in layer upon layer of paint, rusting and pitting– obscuring their foundry numbers which would tell when they were cast and potentially where they saw service during the war between the states.

More in my column at Guns.com