Strange Cannon
 

Hello fellow Collectors!

I Came across a really strange "cannon". The Seller states that it was used to get screwed into a gate to clear the outside from attackes. I am really sceptical because of never seeing something like it before. Was this really a Thing?

Greetings Daniel

well that's an interesting article! It could be a sort of firing mechanism like one sees with clock gun mechanisms, gun keys, belt buckle concealed guns, etc. Many weird combinations. I've even seen a large fish hook gun mechanism that fired a ball down the throat of any large hooked fish. Yours reminds me of some gun keys I've seen-

What are the dimensions?

Yes ... a vital question !

The length is about 50cm and weight 10kg

I wonder if those are "self-tapping threads," where inserting it into a board, etc., would give it a great deal more stability and act like a handle?

It looks a little bit like some if the old time black powder log splitters that I've come across. I've seen some that are less "wedge" and more like a screw.

Let me guess, the flat part just passed the eye hook looks like someone has taken a sledge hammer to it?

The Seller states that it was used to get screwed into a gate to clear the outside from attackes. I am really sceptical because of never seeing something like it before. Was this really a Thing?
I've never heard of any such thing, it sounds slow, inefficient & a waste of time when one could simply fire a musket through a small hole with effect.

I suspect that this is a wood splitter. Hammer it part way into the end grain, pass a bar through the eye & screw it fully in & then set it off via a fuze.

google 'black powder log splitter' & similar searches.

I would humbly concur with Adrian's reasoning.

With a bit of looking I saw a log splitter with a fairly similar construction posted on this site some time ago.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=17690

Thank you all very much for your knowledge!
.

Log splitter. 100% sure.
https://youtu.be/O_iH1ESyYuc