For the purpose of this list, the development of large-calibre artillery can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projectiles used, due to their dissimilar characteristics, and being practically incommensurable in terms of their bore size:

1-inch iron shot. 3.5-inch. 12-pdr. Blakely Rifle.

Jun 6, 2022 · Depending on bore diameter, typical Civil War canister shot was as small as .65 inch and as large as 2 inches. Some canister rounds have been found that were packed with nails, pieces of hinges, and other scrap metal.

A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century.

The gauge (in American English or more commonly referred to as bore in British English) of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter (bore diameter) and other necessary parameters to define in general a smoothbore barrel (compare to caliber, which defines a barrel with rifling and its cartridge).

Instead of hollow casting (that is, forming the bore by casting the gun around a core), Maritz cast the gun solid, then drilled the bore, thus improving its uniformity. But although the bore might be drilled quite smooth, the outside of a cast-iron gun was always rough.

Round shot diameter, weight and cannon bore values for various British cannon types taken from the "Gunners Rule" c. 1590 [Museum of Artillery].

The bore of the cannon were made larger to allow for the rough casting and rusting of the cannonballs, as well as the irregularities in the casting and boring of the gun. The difference in diameter is termed "windage".

The Mountain Howitzer was a light, smooth bore cannon designed to shoot a heavy projectile with a light powder charge, contained in a sub-caliber chamber at the bottom of the bore. Because of its light weight, it was much handier than other cannons of similar caliber.

This article models the ballistics of smooth bore cannon firing round shot. Ballistics software currently available is almost entirely devoted to ogive head, cylindrical projectiles. Ballistics tables catering for spherical bullets are only applicable to calibre less than ~1 inch.