Crafting Packed Gunpowder and Recoil Springs in Create Big Cannons

guide

Packed gunpowder, spring wire, and internal recoil springs form the mechanical backbone of high-velocity artillery and rapid-fire autocannons in Create Big Cannons. While primitive cast-iron mortars can operate with loose propellant charges, modern automated artillery pieces demand dense, stable munitions and tensioned damping springs to manage massive recoil stresses. Mastering mechanical compacting, wire drawing, and casting allows engineers to construct reliable autocannons and quick-firing artillery pieces.

Compacting Dense Packed Gunpowder Charges

Standard powder charges can become bulky when storing ammunition for large artillery emplacements. Fabricating Packed Gunpowder compresses loose explosive powder into dense explosive charges:

Position a Mechanical Press directly above an unheated Basin.
Route loose Gunpowder into the basin using hoppers, chutes, or mechanical arms.
Compacting exactly three units of loose Gunpowder under the mechanical press compresses the material into one unit of Packed Gunpowder.
For nitro-based propellant systems, three units of Guncotton can likewise be compacted inside the basin to yield one block of Packed Guncotton.

Packed explosive cylinders provide maximum kinetic expulsion without taking up unnecessary chamber volume, making them the preferred propellant when loading high-pressure steel cannons and heavy railway siege guns.

Drawing Spring Wire and Assembling Recoil Springs

Autocannons rely on high-tension internal springs to cycle breech blocks between successive shots:

Slicing an Iron Sheet using a kinetic Mechanical Saw cuts the plate into one strand of Spring Wire.
Alternatively, running a steel sheet through the saw yields three strands of Spring Wire, delivering significantly higher material yield from industrial steel foundries.
To form the completed spring, process the wire through a sequenced assembly line under a Mechanical Press for 3 consecutive pressing loops on a Depot or conveyor belt to wind and compress the raw wire into a finished Recoil Spring.

Finished recoil springs serve as the kinetic damping core needed to construct modular autocannon assemblies.

Casting and Boring Autocannon Recoil Springs

Unlike loose Big Cannons which disperse recoil through mount carriages, autocannons integrate mechanical recoil buffers into the barrel assembly itself:

Carve an Autocannon Recoil Spring Cast Mould by processing any standard wood log on a Mechanical Saw.
Assemble an in-world Cannon Cast structure with the wooden moulds and pour molten metal into the cast stack. Pouring molten bronze yields an Unbored Bronze Autocannon Recoil Spring, pouring molten cast iron produces an Unbored Cast Iron Autocannon Recoil Spring, and pouring molten steel produces an Unbored Steel Autocannon Recoil Spring.
Mount a Cannon Drill on a mechanical piston network and drill through the unbored casting to create an incomplete autocannon recoil spring.
Finally, right-click the bored casing while holding a manufactured Recoil Spring to insert the spring core, finalizing the functional recoil spring block.

Upgrading to Quick-Firing Breech Mechanisms

To achieve high rates of fire on heavy artillery without sacrificing mechanical safety, breech mechanisms can be upgraded with rapid toggles:

Assemble a Quick-Firing Mechanism on a crafting grid using one Lever, one Cogwheel, and one Large Cogwheel.
Mount the mechanism onto a completed, bored Sliding Breech block of a Big Cannon by right-clicking it to convert the breech into a quick-firing breech.
The quick-firing breech does not accept rotational power; it is cycled manually by right-clicking, or automated using a Create Mechanical Arm to handle rapid shell extraction and reload cycles for coastal artillery and armored gun batteries.