What began as an outreach for troubled youth led to a Gillette-area machinists’ shop becoming a black powder cannon and mortar factory.
“We built a cannon and shot it, and it was so much fun, we had to build more and more and more,” Karl Milner told Cowboy State Daily.
For years, he hosted kids’ cannon shoots on his rural property every August and hopes to revive the tradition.
“We’ve had up to 500 kids out here in one day,” he said. “My place is full of little valleys, and by the end of the day, those valleys would be full of black powder smoke.”
Milner’s cannons and mortars come in a variety of sizes. Some are miniature .50 caliber pieces, like a tiny replica Revolutionary War naval cannon owned by Cheyenne mechanic Geno Stecks.
Others are large enough to blast bowling balls hundreds of feet into the air.
“That simulates how they used to shoot mortars over castle walls,” Milner said.
Giving Troubled Kids A Hand Up
Years ago, Milner started a hunter education program for troubled youth.
Those who completed the program received a firearm and got to go on the hunt of their choice.
When he found out about an incident of a youngster severely injuring himself when his makeshift pipe cannon exploded, Milner didn’t want that happening to any of the kids he mentored.
So, he sat some of his kids down and went over parameters of safely building a cannon – the proper materials to use, and just how precise the design would have to be.
“And one kid said, ‘Now that we’ve designed it, can we build it?’” Milner said.
And so, they fired up the machinery in his shop and built that cannon, and a tradition was born.
Kids Cannon Shoots
About 15 years ago, he started hosting the kids cannon shoots – during the third weekend in August “right before school starts,” he said.
It gave the opportunity for kids “to do something they would otherwise never have the opportunity to do” in a safe, controlled environment with adult supervision, he said.
The last big event was in 2019, “then Covid shut us down,” Milner said.
After that, he was told by the local fire marshal that, with the grass completely dried out, cannon shoots in August posed too much of a wildfire risk.
“I have to agree with the fire marshal, August is just too dry,” he said.
However, there’s hope that the kids cannon shoots can be rebooted, perhaps in May.
Gillette-area machinist Karl Milner builds black powder cannons and mortars, and hosts cannon shoots on his rural property — and kids are included. (Courtesy Karl Milner) 
Gillette-area machinist Karl Milner builds black powder cannons and mortars, and hosts cannon shoots on his rural property — and kids are included. (Courtesy Karl Milner) 
Gillette-area machinist Karl Milner builds black powder cannons and mortars, and hosts cannon shoots on his rural property — and kids are included. (Courtesy Karl Milner) 
Gillette-area machinist Karl Milner builds black powder cannons and mortars, and hosts cannon shoots on his rural property — and kids are included. (Courtesy Karl Milner)
Remaking A Russian Monster
The key to successful cannon making starts with the right materials, Milner said.
For steel cannons, he relies on the same grade of steel that’s used in modern firearm barrels.
“You want your steel to have some stretch to it,” he said. “If you have a hard steel, it will fracture, instead of stretch, under the pressure of black powder explosions.”
Brass and bronze are also viable options, because of their flexibility.
With his skill and the equipment at his disposal, Milner can crank out smaller pieces in about a day.
Larger cannons and mortars take more time.
On Monday, he was busy in his shop working on a scaled down replica of the Russian Tsar Cannon, a project that’s taken him about 8 months so far.
The original Tsar Cannon, or “Bombarda” was built in Moscow in 1586, and is still displayed there.
One of the largest artillery pieces ever made, the Russian Bombarda has a 35-inch diameter barrel, and was made to hurl one-ton cannonballs.
But it was so ridiculously huge and difficult to move, it was never used in battle, Milner said.
His version of the Bombarda isn’t quite so gigantic. He’s designing it to fire bowling balls, not one-ton spheres of lead.
Trying To Get It Going Again
Moving the kids cannon shoots to May will solve the fire hazard problem, although the property can by terribly muddy at that time of year, Milner said.
But if he can get the events going again, he promises loads of fun.
For mortar shots, the challenge is to land the projectiles in upright culverts, he said.
He sets out 55-gallon drums for flatter, long-range shots from cannons.
It challenges the kids to learn about ballistics and calculating projectiles’ flight paths, he said.
“They get to learn the physics of trajectory. They get to learn how to safely load and fire the cannons,” Milner said.
His biggest challenge in getting the shoots rolling again has been finding volunteers.
“That the hardest part, getting the adults to come out and help,” he said.
For safety’s sake, he likes to keep a ratio of almost one adult for every child.
And during past events, Army reservists, firefighters, and local law enforcement officers have pitched in.
And it’s not only the kids who get to have fun, he added.
“I’ve seen plenty of smiles on adults’ faces,” Milner said.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
