Russia

Putilov 76.2mm M1900 Field Gun

The 76.2mm M1900 field gun was pretty powerful, considering its weight. It could fire a 6.4kg shell at a muzzle velocity 590 m/sec to a maximum range of 6,7km. In action it weighed about one ton. It actually had a recuperator system, although not a technically advanced one. The barrel was mounted on a carriage which slided backwards on top of the trail, an oil buffer in the trail acting as a recoil brake. Inside there were 40 india-rubber 'doughnuts' which were compressed during the recoil stroke and then expanded again to return the barrel into firing position. It was a design born obsolete, and the relative backwardness of the gun was well demonstrated in the Russo-Japanese War. Officially it was superseded by the excellent 76.2mm Putilov M1902, and put into reserve stores. 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the Russian Army suffered in the opening battles of 1914, but as soon as new M1902’s were available, they were again withdrawn. My model is made from Ace Models very good plastic kit, built with some detail additions. Click on the thumbnails below to see more pics of this model.

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