Turning back the clock: Hog Heaven Muzzleloaders fire old-fashioned guns, cannon at annual rendezvous outside Troy

John Fisher poured black powder down the barrel of his swivel cannon and compacted it in the breech. He then picked up long strands of grass from the wet ground and packed it down the barrel.

Tom Wilson, who was aiming the cannon, said the grass, which acted as wadding between the powder and the ball, also seals the powder’s combustion gases to provide great force, and thus, distance, on the ball.

Finally, Fisher packed a one-pound, one and a half-inch diameter lead ball down the barrel. He inserted a red fuse, struck a match and lit the fuse.

“Fire in the hole,” Fisher yelled.

The ball fired from the cannon, a loud boom echoed through the dense forest and white smoke from the blast dissipated quickly.

Firing the cannonballs was just one activity at the Hog Heaven Muzzleloaders’ annual rendezvous this past weekend in a large meadow northwest of Troy.

Fisher and Wilson, HHM members, fired three cannonballs around midday Saturday outside the encampment.

The target – 2-foot by 3-foot and made of steel – sat about 150 feet away against the mountainside and took three cannonballs before it was hit.

Fisher said the swivel cannon was designed to be mounted on the deck of a ship for “crowd control,” as opposed to sinking ships.

The particular cannon was used predominantly from the 17th to mid-19th centuries.

Fisher said he bought the cannon from Dixie Gun Works in Union City, Tenn.

About 50 people, many dressed in 18th and 19th century clothing, camped in tepees and other shelters of the era Friday to Sunday.

The annual rendezvous has been hosted every year since the club was formed in 1980; 1986 marked the first year it was hosted at its current location.

Fisher and Wilson both dressed the part of 18th and 19th century men.

Fisher wore leather moccasins he had sewn, buckskin pants, a wool coat and a felt hat.

Wilson wore leather boots, elk hide britches, a rectangular-patterned long-sleeved cloth shirt, a light green vest, or “westkit,” and a brown felt hat. He carried a cow horn on his side, which held his main powder charge for his muzzleloader rifle.

Besides the brief cannon firing, rifle shooting was a common occurrence Saturday.

Charles Whiteley fired a .64-caliber musket.

Whiteley poured gunpowder down the barrel, dropped a lead bullet down, used a ramrod to ram down the lead ball, pulled the hammer back, placed a percussion cap on the hammer, took aim and fired at his target. There was a target at each firing station along a nearby trail.

Whiteley said the cap has a small explosive charge in the bottom of it so when the hammer strikes it, the cap makes a small explosion and sets off the powder charge inside the chamber.

Whiteley, whose father was shooting a pistol nearby, said as long as you know how to operate a muzzleloader rifle, it can be the only firearm one needs.

“It’s a fun activity; something to do with Dad every year,” he said.