Who X-Rays Artillery Tubes?

[sedlakchristopher]

Gents,

A search of this forum and Google, etc has not resulted in the answer to my question.

In light of the recent post titled Artillery Safety Questions by Doug Cooper,
my question is -
Where can and Who will X-ray and "certify" a new made cannon tube for safety purposes?
I'm not concerned that our gun is "unsafe", being a solid bronze Napoleon tube from Cannon Ltd (2006), but in the event we do want to live fire, I want to have an X-Ray done. Also, it will let us all sleep at night knowing the FULL story of our tube.

Thanks in advance,
Chris Sedlak, Bty. G - 1st PA Light

[Todd Watts]

Metalurgists should do it. You may locate one at a steel-supplier, or they can direct you to someone that can do it. Maybe even a college that has a metalurgy dept. I am not sure if they actually "x-ray" the tubes since the metal will block regular x-rays. I think what they actually do is use a dye-penetrant on suspected cracks that they locate with a bore scope. When I was at gunsmithing school, I saw this done on a receiver frame that had a tiny line on it that concerned the instructors as a potential hair-line crack. They used a purple dye, and heated it and watched for it to find its way through the crack. I don't know exactly what was done, but they determined that way that it was only a scratch and not a crack.

[116thNY]

Comrades,
I sent an email off to my former supervisor to get the name of the business that X-rayed the tubes here in Idaho. I'll post my results here as soon as I have them. This may or may not be of help depending on your region, but I hope it makes a difference.
Very respectfully,
Gary A. Keith

[vamick]

Gents,

I'm not concerned that our gun is "unsafe", being a solid bronze Napoleon tube from Cannon Ltd (2006), but in the event we do want to live fire, I want to have an X-Ray done. Also, it will let us all sleep at night knowing the FULL story of our tube.

Thanks in advance,
Chris Sedlak, Bty. G - 1st PA Light

Chris, most likely if this is a new tube it has a steel liner in the bronze...??? all new tubes Ive seen have one but Im not sure this is true for all manufacturers

[sedlakchristopher]

Gents,
Thanks for the insights. I will post anything I personally find out also.

Gary,
Our gun per special order is solid bronze and bored at 4.62"
Yes, they did a wonderful job on it. It's gorgeous.
Thanks for the advice.

Chris Sedlak

[Roger Hansen]

You can have a tube radiographed (RT) using Iridium 192, Selenium 75, or Colbalt 60. You can not have it X-rayed - not powerful enough. You would need to contact an industrial Non-Destructive Examination company (NDE). It will be expensive, perhaps several hundred dollars, but the company could tell you the best method and radiological source they would use. The NDE techs that perform the RT would be able to "rate" any flaws that may become apparent. You would need to tell them what you are looking for (corrosion around the vent, significant gouges or pits, cracks, incomplete fusion of any co-joined parts, etc). You could also test fire in safe area with a load significantly over what the tube would normally fire to proof the barrel. Need to get some experts involved if you are serious in performing a detailed inspection or proof firing.

Roger Hansen

[sedlakchristopher]

Roger,
THANK YOU for some GREAT information.
Definitely know what terms to use now and who to look for.

BUT... will our tube glow in the dark from now on?
That's not very authentic! :nerd:


Thanks again,
Chris Sedlak