List of the largest cannon by caliber

• Stone balls: Cannon of extraordinary bore, which fired stone balls, were first introduced at the turn of the 14th to 15th century in Western Europe. Following a logic of increasing performance through size, they had evolved from small handguns to giant wrought-iron or cast-bronze bombards within a span of just several decades.
• Iron balls and shot: By the 16th century, however, a general switch from stone balls to smaller, but much more effective iron projectiles was in full swing. This and the parallel tendency towards standardized, rapid-firing cannon made the enormously costly and logistically demanding giant guns soon obsolete in the European theatre.
• Explosive shells: In the Industrial Age, artillery was again revolutionized by the introduction of explosive shells, beginning with the Paixhans guns. Breakthroughs in metallurgy and modes of production were followed up by new experimentation with super-sized caliber weapons, culminating in the steel colossi of the two World Wars. In the post-war era, the development of extremely overpowered artillery was gradually abandoned in favour of missile technology, while heavy guns are still demanded by various arms of the service.

Cannon by caliber

Stone balls

Image	Caliber	Name	Type	Produced	Place of origin	Made by	Remarks
	890	Tsar Cannon	Bombard	1586	Tsardom of Russia	Andrey Chokhov	1 made; it is debated whether the cannon was ever fired ; never used in combat; 1 made; 1 survives
	820	Pumhart von Steyr	Bombard		House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Empirerefn|group="CB"| Bown indicates a larger bore of, but Hollenback says that Kritoboulos, a contemporary source, indicates a circumference of 12 spans and concludes that in this case the smallest of three possible sizes of span is the correct unit, giving 0.745 m for the bore. Hollenback also notes that granite cannonballs dating from the siege of Constantinople had a diameter of 0.711 m and could have been shot from this weapon using a wooden sabot. Iron balls and shot Heyday: 16th to 19th centuries. The list contains only cannons of caliber of 6 inch or larger. Image Caliber Name Type Produced Place of origin Made by Remarks 508 Dahlgren smoothbore cannons, XX inch 1864 American Civil War John A. Dahlgren 4 made; never used in combat 508 [Rodman gun|M. 1864 20-inch Rodman gun|Rodman gun] 1864 American Civil War Thomas Jackson Rodman 2 made; 2 survive 508 20 inch "Perm Tsar Cannon" or "Perm Giant" Naval gun 1868 Russian Empire Motovilikha manufacturing plant 1 made; a total of 314 shots were fired in tests; never used in combat; 1 survives 390 Roaring Meg Mortar 1646 Kingdom of England Created by Colonel Birch for the Siege of Goodrich Castle 286 Dal Madal Kaman/Dala Mardana 1565 or 1742 Mallabhum, Malla dynasty Jagannath Karmakar 1 made; according to an Indian local legend of divine intervention, fired only once in battle; 1 survives 280 Kanone Greif Scharfmetze 1524 Electorate of Trier Master Simon 1 made; evidence of being fired exists; no evidence of use in combat exists; 1 survives 280 Jaivana 1720 Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur Riyasat 1 made; fired once; never used in combat; 1 survives 254 Zamzama 1757 Lahore, Durrani Empire Shah Nazir 2 made; used in combat; 1 survives 206.2 68-pounder gun 1841 UK William Dundas No. built In excess of 2,000 174.8 36-pounder long gun 1600s France In use from 1600s to 1800s, thousands made 152 Jahan Kosha Cannon 1637 Bengal Subah, Mughal Empire Janardan Karmakar 1 made; 1 survives Twenty-inch Rodman and Dahlgren smoothbore cannons were cast in 1864 during the American Civil War. The Rodmans were used as seacoast defense. Although not used as intended, two 20-inch Dahlgrens were intended to be mounted in the turrets of and. Both Rodman gun and Dahlgren gun were designed to fire both shot and explosive shell. Explosive shells Heyday: 19th to 20th centuries. The list includes 16-inch guns and larger calibers. Image Caliber Name Type Produced Place of origin Made by Remarks 914.4 Mallet's mortar Mortar 1857 UK