6 3" FIELD GUN MODEL 1902

3-inch division cannon wz. 1902 was a Russian and Soviet 76.2 mm towed field gun from the First World War and the interwar period. Its first prototypes were built at the beginning of the 20th century, and serial production was carried out in the years 1903-1931. The initial velocity of the high-explosive shell fired from this gun was up to 588 m / s, and the rate of fire of 10-12 rounds per minute, with a maximum range of 6,500 meters. Division gun wz. 1902 was developed on the basis of many solutions of the great French 75 mm mle 1897 cannon. It was a relatively light gun, small in size and - at the beginning of the 20th century - with a good rate of fire, although lower than its French counterpart. The gun was mass-produced at the Putilovsky plant in St. Petersburg, and in order to make production cheaper, the use of metals such as nickel or manganese was reduced to a minimum, which, however, affected the service life of the serial guns. Division gun wz. 1902 was the main infantry support cannon in the Russian army throughout World War I. After the creation of the Soviet Union, the gun was still produced, and its extension was the wz.1902/30 gun. Division gun wz. 1902 also found its way to the equipment of the Polish Army, with a large number of it recalibrated from 76.2 mm to 75 mm in the 1920s.