jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:Whyy introduce the complexity of threads when you can have simple locking lugs as in a bolt-action rifle?
Perhaps for the same reason the cannons in the original post used threads instead of locking lugs?
A 3" diameter cleanout operating at 60 PSIG max pressure has ~400 pounds of force on it. For a 4" cleanout it is ~750 pounds of force.
Besides, in a bolt-action rifle isn't the chamber sealed by the cartridge and not the bolt? The bolt provides the holding force but the actual gas seal is created by the casing. In the absence of a cartridge case the bolt-action mechanism has to provide both the holding force and the gas seal.
A threaded breech plug could provide the seal. Of course, if you are hacking threads out of a cleanout it's ability to seal is probably pretty well destroyed.