The 76 mm gun model 1900 (russian: 76-мм пушка образца 1900 года), also called 76 mm Putilov M1900 gun, was a light quick-firing field gun of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

used in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

and a number of interwar armed conflicts with participants from the former Russian Empire (

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Poland and Finland).

History

The M1900 has been developed in 1900 by

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

s of the Putilov Plants. Since 1898 the Imperial Russian Army was looking for a new field-gun and Krupp, Shamona and Schneider sent in their designs. The decision was made in favor for the M1900 and it became the first Russian gun with a recoil system and at the same time the first Russian 76.2-millimetre field gun. The guns were manufactured in the ''St. Petersburg Plants''.

Employment

The M1900 saw the first action in the

and was superior to its Japanese counterpart, the Type 31 75 mm Field Gun and in particular, the Type 31 75 mm Mountain Gun, in regards of the rate of fire and range. The Japanese knew about this disadvantage and compensated this with numerical superiority. The gun saw further deployment during World War I. Though technically obsolete a number of M1900, however, appeared in the first part of the war to replace heavy losses the Russian Army suffered in the opening battles of 1914, but as soon as the successor of the M1900, the

76 mm divisional gun M1902 The 76.2 mm divisional gun model 1902 (russian: 76-мм дивизионная пушка образца 1902 года) was a Russian light field gun used in the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, Russian Civil War and a number of interwar arme ...

, were available, they were withdrawn. In the

in 1917/18 the M1900 were used by both parties. Soon after the new

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

sold or handed over some of the M1900 to some of the new Baltic States and such nations under Soviet influence such as Finland. Poland also received some of the guns and converted the original 76.2-mm (3-in) to 75-mm (2.95-in) caliber to match their existing artillery which consisted of French-made

Canon de 75 Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

. In 1918 there was a total of 21 76 mm gun M1900-pieces in Finland.

Specifications

The gun has an upper and a lower gun-carriage. The upper gun-carriage slides, resting on grooves along the rail of the lower gun-carriage. In the trail is an oil buffer, acting as a recoil brake, which includes 40 india-rubber ''doughnuts'' which were compressed when the gun was fired. After the recoil stroke the ''doughnuts'' expanded again and the barrel returned into firing position. The barrel is reinforced with a thermal sleeve. The breech-block equipped with a so-called French turn breech-block with a turn bar, the first one on a Russian gun. The recoil system of the gun did not turn out to be sufficiently effective and that is why the number of manufactured guns remained low. * Calibre: 76.2 mm * Length of barrel: 31.4 cal * Weight of projectile: 6.4 kg * Muzzle velocity: 590 m/s * Maximum range: 6.7 km * Elevation: −6° to +11° * Traverse: ± 2.5° * Weight (in firing position): ca. 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs)

Gallery

File:76 K 00 Hämeenlinna 4.JPG, A M1900 in the Hämeenlinna Artillery Museum, Finland. File:76 K 00 Hämeenlinna 1.JPG, A M1900 in the Hämeenlinna Artillery Museum, Finland. File:Model 1900 76 mm Russian Field Gun 1.jpg, Info-board of the M1900 in the Hämeenlinna Artillery Museum, Finland. File:Russian positions in the passes of Liao-yang.jpg, Dug in M1900 of the

3rd Siberian Army Corps The 3rd Siberian Army Corps was an Army corps in the Imperial Russian Army. Composition 1905: * 4th Siberian Rifle Division *7th Siberian Rifle Division 1914: *7th Siberian Rifle Division *8th Siberian Rifle Division The 8th Siberian Rifle Divis ...

, 1904 File:Cosacos Artilleros de Terek.jpg,

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

with a M1900, 1914

External links

Landships II, 76.2mm Putilov M1900 Field Gun

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:76 Mm Gun M1900 Field guns Artillery of the Russian Empire 76 mm artillery World War I artillery of Russia Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia Kirov Plant products