[John Rogers]

Jeff is spot on about the safety issues with BP cannons. One item I did not see mentioned is where and how to get BP and that can be a tremendous headache. Additionally it is usually sold in 1 lb cans and a can might cost $$$$$$ and be good for 4 or 5 loads. Another is storage and in many places you have issues with how and where to store it. In CA it is the local fire departments and I checked with two locally and the folks I talked with had no idea what, if any the rules were??!!

The issue with embers is very true and by their nature the cannon does not shoot very clean so there is lots of embers and other possible ignition sources in the breach. Not just dumping the powder in usually does no harm, it is when you ram-rod it tight and there are sparks inside the compressed powder that the accidental boom occurs. There are several holes in the roof of the main range at our Dulzura range east of San Diego where muzzle loaders were reloading too fast and had a round ball go bang into the roof!