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42-Line Field Gun Model 1877

History of the 42-Line Type 1877 Field Gun

Like other world powers dedicated to World War I (1914-1918), the Russian Imperial Army fought with many weapons from another century. This was the case when pressing the Model 1877 42-Line Field Gun (M1877) in battle - a 4.2" (106.7 mm) system with physical characteristics similar to those found on Napoleon's battlefields.

The type was originally a Krupp product from Germany, where the first replicas were produced before serial production was taken over at the Obukhov factory in Russia.

The barrel sits as usual on its mounting parts, which are mounted on a two-wheeled, heavy-spoke frame system for towing. The total weight of the system is 2,675 pounds and the barrel length is 6 feet. This gun is somewhat modern in that it uses a horizontal breech loader that fires the projectile and charge through the breech rather than "muzzle down".

The wheeled frame assembly provides the crew with some basic mobility when fine-tuning the lens, and also facilitates easy transport when attached to a vehicle or "pack beast". When using a standard 27.5 pound high-explosive (HE) round, the projectile is fired from the muzzle at a velocity of 1,350 feet per second for a maximum range of 5,800 yards.

Due to the nature of the static fronts that were quickly formed during World War I, it became important for the military to invest heavily in indirect fire weapons such as mortars and howitzers, which allowed riflemen to "drop" explosives and shrapnel. Cannonballs are in enemy positions.

The main limitation of the M1877 system was its "line-of-sight" firing design, which limited its tactical use on the developing battlefield - the projectiles fired were designed to maintain a relatively flat trajectory. As a result, in subsequent Russian interventions, the gun was better used as a static mount for fortified positions along the Russian coast to protect vital sea lanes from enemy attack, and the direct-fire characteristics of the Type 1877 may have made the gun have higher value.

These guns were in circulation longer than expected and were partially adopted by the neighboring Finns in 1918. Their service life was then significantly extended, as the last shots were not recorded until March 1940 during the Finnish-Soviet war - known as the "Winter War" (1939-1940) - as part of the fighting in World War II ( 1939-1945) ).