×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Infantry Arms Warships & Submarines Military Pay Chart (2023) Military Ranks
Advertisements
HOME
ARMOR
MODERN ARMIES
COUNTRIES
MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE
BY CONFLICT
BY TYPE
BY DECADE
WORLD WAR 1

Land Systems / Battlefield


42-Line Field Gun Model 1877


107mm Breech-loaded, Towed Field Gun [ 1877 ]



Built in Germany and adopted for 1877, the Model 1877 field gun was still in play with Russian forces when World War 1 arrived.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/11/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]
Advertisements
Like other global powers that committed to World War 1 (1914-1918), the Imperial Russian Army went into battle with many weapons from another century. Such was the case with pressing the 42-Line Field Gun Model of 1877 (M1877) in combat - the weapon being a 4.2-inch (106.7mm) system with physical features akin to artillery pieces of the Napoleon battlefields. The type was originally a Krupp product of Germany and first examples emerged from German factories before serial production was handled by the Obuhov Factory in Russia itself.

The gun tube sat on its mounting hardware in the usual way and this hardware was affixed atop a two-wheeled, heavily-spoked carriage system to be towed. Overall weight of the system was 2,675 pounds with a barrel measuring two meters long. The gun was modern to some extent as it utilized a horizontal breech-loading arrangement in which projectile and charge were sent through the breech as opposed to "down the muzzle". The wheeled carriage assembly allowed for some base mobility by the crew when fine tuning the shot and furthermore promoted ease of transport when affixed to a vehicle or "beast of burden". Outgoing shells left the muzzle at a velocity of 1,350 feet-per-second and maximum firing ranges peaked at 5,800 yards when using the standard 27.5lb High-Explosive (HE) shell.

Due to the nature of the static fronts that soon developed across during World War 1, it became important for armies to invest heavily in in-direct fire weapons such as mortars and howitzers which allowed gunnery crews to "drop" explosive and fragmentation shells down upon enemy positions. The key limitation of the M1877 system was its design for "line-of-sight" firing which limited its tactical usefulness on the evolving battlefield - the exiting projectile maintained a relatively flat trajectory by design. As a result, the weapon found better use in the later Russian involvement as a static fixture in fortified positions along Russian shores, protecting vital sea lanes from enemy forces where the direct fire nature of the Model 1877 could give the gun better value.

The weapons were in circulation longer than expected and some were taken over by the neighboring Finns during 1918. These went on to see considerably longer service lives for their final shots were not recorded until March 1940 during the Finnish-Soviet war - known as the "Winter War" (1939-1940) - as part of the fighting of World War 2 (1939-1945).©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
Advertisements

Specifications



Service Year
1877

Origin
Russia national flag graphic
Russia

Crew
6
CREWMEN
Production
400
UNITS


National flag of Finland National flag of Russia Finland; Imperial Russia
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Fire Support / Assault / Breaching
Support allied forces through direct / in-direct fire, assault forward positions, and / or breach fortified areas of the battlefield.


Length
6.6 ft
2.02 m
Weight
2,679 lb
1,215 kg
Tonnage
1.3 tons
LIGHT
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base 42-Line Field Gun Model 1877 production variant. Length typically includes main gun in forward position if applicable to the design)
1 x 107mm (4.2") gun barrel


Supported Types


Graphical image of an artillery gun tube/barrel


(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)
Dependent upon ammunition carrier.


42-Line Field Gun M1877 - Base Series Designation.


Military lapel ribbon for the American Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of the Bulge
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Kursk
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental military vehicles


Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective campaigns / operations.

Advertisements




Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies


2023 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons.

View day-by-day actions of the American Civil War with CivilWarTimeline.net. View day-by-day actions of World War II with SecondWorldWarHistory.com.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)