mega_swordman wrote::?: Sometimes I just don't get you Jack.

It was an exclamation about the shattered cannon

Fork in hell

Looks to me like the recoil of the barrel broke the t-fitting.

The mass of the chambers and pressure bottle wan't to keep that part of the gun stationary when you fire it.

The barrel and valve assembly recoils and all the force is concentrated on that t-fitting. The combination of the recoil force and the fact that the system is still at nearly full pressure is just too much for that little fitting to handle, even though the gas pressure is well within it's spec.

You need some way to transfer all of the recoil energy from the barrel assembly to the resevoir + air bottle assembly. Or, like others suggested, use much larger fittings in that part of the gun.

Perhaps add a bracing plate where the red line is in the attached drawing.

thanks for the tips, the cannon was not stable at all without the wooden stabilizer becasue the entire weight of the valve and barrel would have been on the T Joint