Western cannons differ from other Playmobil cannons in having a pair of carriage wheels and they fire bullet-shaped shells (except for the non-firing versions).
I was finding it hard to decide which of two types of yellow shell came with which cannon, so I did some research. It became clear that there are actually
four types of cannon and
three types of shell (including the ‘brass’ coloured shells in three Color sets).
The four types of Western cannon:
details...
1. Firing smooth yellow shells, storage for 3 shells on the cannon itself, yellow ungrooved ramrod, smooth cannon barrel, brown wheels.
2. Firing smooth brass-coloured shells, storage on cannon for 3 shells, white ungrooved ramrod, smooth cannon barrel, smaller wheels. Color sets. Here are two examples (the rammer, shells and barrel are the same parts on both pictures)
3. Firing smooth yellow shells, shell carrier holds 5 shells, silver-grey ungrooved ramrod, smooth cannon barrel, light brown wheels. Clips hold the cannon barrel to the base.
4. Firing grooved yellow shells, shell carrier for 5 shells, silver-grey ramrod with 2 grooves, cannon barrel has 2 internal flanges, wheels brown with black rims. Clips to hold the cannon barrel to the base.
Shell-carriers of types 3 and 4 compared:
Three shell types
Smooth, yellow, found with cannon types 1 and 3:
Smooth, brass, found with cannon type 2:
Grooved, yellow, found with cannon type 4:
PlaymoDB gives part number 30023640 for smooth, yellow shells in sets 3419, 3729, 3784 and part number 30031370 for grooved yellow shells in sets 3057,3812,4072,7257,7268,7317,7619,7683. No part number known for brass shells from Color sets.
