Extremely rare American Field Cannon!

US Model 1905 3 inch Field Artillery Cannon
100% original and legal to own. This M1905 US Marked 3 inch Field Artillery gun made at Watervliet Arsenal. Original wooden wheels, complete with both protective medal plates top and bottom. Scarce item to own. Used during the Mexican Border campaign.

  Sorry - Sold May 1, 2007

This gun is in very nice condition.  Looks nice - shows nice – and would make an excellent museum addition or it could be fired in reenactments or whatever!

 The breech is currently frozen, but there is no obvious reason for it, the cannon experts that have looked at it told us it would take heat to free it up.  We do have the firing pin unit although it is not hooked up to the firing lever.  It can be fired with a lanyard.  If you remove the unit there is then an opening into the breech so it would be easy to make it fire a propane flame etc.

There is some light pitting of the metal on the grab bars where the artillerymen would ride, and the bottoms of the little tool boxes are rusted.  The top covers of the trail have a light pitting.  It obviously was outside in a park at one time.  It has been sandblasted and primed/painted.  The outside of the entire tube is very nice as the metal is quite solid.  The inside is in about average condition.

The M1905  US Army etc markings are crisp and very nice.  The shield, both top and bottom are in very good condition.  The wheels are excellent, but we can't say that they are original but they look like they are to us.  All in all it is a very nice gun in excellent condition and quite rare.

A once in a lifetime opportunity!

75mm Model L 30 1909 Krupp Cannon

This 1909 cannon is virtually BRAND NEW - it was NEVER put into service - it was only test fired - and NEVER stored outside!!!  It is just as it was originally delivered by the Krupp factory to the Argentine military and has always been oiled and maintained!  You will never see another 98 year old cannon like this one anywhere at any price!

A huge 105mm Model 1917 Krupp

From the Swedish Jönköping  Army A6

Three 75mm Model L 30 1909 Krupp Cannons

We now have just acquired three fantastic Krupp Breech loading Cannons in Argentina!

We have to say that they are in the best condition we have ever seen. They are complete, with the tool boxes, the stands, ALL the moving parts, and the breaches are in excellent working condition. The shields are complete. The wheels are like new and all the three cannons have the rear handle in great condition. All the paint seems to be original.  They have NOT been demilitarized and would have to be for import to the USA.

On the cannons barrels it reads "Krupp Modelo Argentino 1909 " and the serial numbers with a large Argentinean shield . They weighs 1100 kg (2425 pounds ) each. The total length: 161.4 inches, width: 43.3 inches  and the height: 52 inches.  

We also have also two beautiful military cannon supply carriages for these Krupp Cannons with four wheels. These carriages are in the pristine condition too, and they are complete. Both have the original canvas tops and they have the ammunition box behind the seat.

 World War I German 7.6cm "Minenwerfer" Trench Mortar

On Original Carriage with restored wheels!

A Very Rare Original German Mortar in "Fantastic Condition" !

 SPECIFICATIONS

  LENGTH: About 60 inches

  WIDTH: 42 inches at the wheels

   MUZZLE DIAMETER: 101 mm 

  BORE DIAMETER: 76 mm

  WEIGHT: Estimated at 500 lbs.

  Range: 300 to 1,300 meters (328 to 1,422 yards) with up to 5 powder charges.

  Detachment: 4 + 2 men

  Rate of fire: 20 Rounds per minute

  Elevation: 47°-74°

  Ammo Types: High Explosive, Gas.

Wheels: The wheels have been "replaced"  with the original brass hubs and iron fittings being used. They were done by Hansen Wheel in South Dakota and are identical to the originals.

The men in the detachment were required to haul and manhandle the mortar into action.

 

This is an extremely rare find.  It is one of the few original German Mortars or cannons that we have seen that is in this pristine condition. 

Sorry - SOLD!      

German Mortars (Minenwerfer) of WW1

General Information:
Also developed as a light artillery piece, the 7.6mm Light Minenwerfer was initially transported on a carriage, and this combination was pulled by either horse or vehicle. This weapon could also be dismounted from the carriage and placed on the ground to fire. This ground firing method providing for a much more stable firing platform and afforded a slight increase in maximum range. Later on as the war settled into static trench warfare, the weapon was more commonly set up as shown and used in the high arc firing mode. Eventually discarding the carriage as a means of transport, the weapon would then be transported by three of the crew simply by adding the carriage wheels to the axle on the base plate and securing shoulder straps between the weapon' base plate and the three crew members and then man-pulled from position to position.

Each Minenwerfer Company was assigned two 7.6cm mortars. There was one Minenwerfer Company per each Infantry Regiment.

References:
"World War I Trench Warfare (2)" - Dr. Stephen Bull and Adam Hook, Osprey Elite Series.
"German Storm Trooper 1914-1918" - Ian Drury and Gerry Embleton, Osprey Warrior Series.

     

German 25-cm Minenwerfer in action!

In addition to the 25-cm version two others of 7.6-cm (2.99-inch) and 17-cm (6.7-inch) were later produced. Except for size all three were similar in construction.

The 25-cm minenwerfer was a rifled muzzle-loading mortar firing a shell with a pre-engraved driving band. A short shell was at first employed but by 1917 had become obsolete. A longer HE shell was adopted as shown in Fig. 18A. The shell was described in a 1918 publication by the British Army as having 'great moral and destructive effect due to concussion even against troops in dugouts.  Also, it could clear a space 33 feet (10 m) or more in diameter in a barbed wire entanglement. While others fired other types of shell, e.g. smoke and gas, the 25-cm seems to have been restricted to HE. Propellant charges were first dropped down the barrel, then the base of the shell inserted in the muzzle so the driving band fitted the rifling and slid down to the breech. Ignition of the propellant charge was by friction tube.

All three minenwerfer were mobile with the wheels being removed on coming into action.  Unlike the British and French the Germans were prepared to some extent for the trench warfare which began towards the end of 1914 during World War 1. Having studied the action around Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) - and no doubt with an eye to the future - they had developed the 'minenwerfer' (mine thrower), a rifled mortar, manufacture of which commenced in 1908-09. By 1914 160 of 25-cm (9.8-inch) caliber were available. (Ref: Mortars in Miniature)