On May 25, 1953 at 8:30 am, the atomic cannon was tested at the Nevada Test Site (specifically Frenchman Flat) as part of the Upshot-Knothole series of nuclear tests.

The test — code-named "Grable" — was attended by Admiral Arthur W. Radford and the Sec of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson; it resulted in the successful detonation of a 15 kt shell at a range of seven miles.

This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from a cannon.