The Reffye 75mm cannon (French: Canon de campagne de 5 de Reffye modèle 1873) was a French artillery piece of the 19th century, developed by the French artillery General Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye, superintendent of the works at Meudon.[1] The weapon was adopted by the French Army from 1873. It was a 75mm rifled breech-loading cannon, equipped with a breech screw, initially made of bronze.
Screw breech of the Reffye 75mm cannon.
The sliding breech block, and the interrupted screw used for sealing were advanced features, but the perfect sealing of the breech would only be achieved with the invention of the de Bange obturator. The cannon used shell cartridges for ammunition.[2] It would be soon superseded by the Lahitolle 95mm cannon (1875) and especially the De Bange 90mm cannon (1877).
↑ "France will have at the end of the year 1875, 495 batteries of six cannons each, of calibres 5 and 7, with Iron cartridges, the pieces, breech loading, on the Reffye system." in Locomotive Engineers Journal - Page 69 by Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.) 1875
↑ Age of Great Guns: Cannon Kings and Cannoneers page 30 by Frank E. Comparato
↑ Warfare and Armed Conflicts Page 3 by Micheal Clodfelter
The Chassepot, officially known as Fusil modèle 1866, was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It replaced an assortment of Minié muzzleloading rifles, many of which were converted in 1864 to breech loading. An improvement to existing military rifles in 1866, the Chassepot marked the commencement of the era of modern bolt action, breech-loading military rifles. The Gras rifle was an adaption of the Chassepot designed to fire metallic cartridges introduced in 1874.
A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front (muzzle).
A mitrailleuse is a type of volley gun with barrels of rifle calibre that can fire either all rounds at once or in rapid succession. The earliest true mitrailleuse was invented in 1851 by Belgian Army captain Fafschamps, ten years before the advent of the Gatling gun. It was followed by the Belgian Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863. Then the French 25 barrel "Canon à Balles", better known as the Reffye mitrailleuse, was adopted in great secrecy in 1866. It became the first rapid-firing weapon deployed as standard equipment by any army in a major conflict when it was used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
A rifled breech loader (RBL) is an artillery piece which, unlike the smoothbore cannon and rifled muzzle loader (RML) which preceded it, has rifling in the barrel and is loaded from the breech at the rear of the gun.
This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces' ordnance (weapons) and ammunition. The terms may have slightly different meanings in the military of other countries.
An interrupted screw or interrupted thread is a mechanical device typically used in the breech of artillery guns. It is believed to have been invented in 1845.
The Armstrong RBL 7-inch gun, also known as the 110-pounder, was an early attempt to use William Armstrong's new and innovative rifled breechloading mechanism for heavy rifled guns.
An Armstrong gun was a uniquely designed type of rifled breech-loading field and heavy gun designed by Sir William Armstrong and manufactured in England beginning in 1855 by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. Such guns involved a built-up gun construction system of a wrought-iron tube surrounded by a number of wrought-iron strengthening coils shrunk over the inner tube to keep it under compression.
Charles Ragon de Bange was a French artillery officer and Polytechnician. He invented the first effective obturator system for breech-loading artillery, which remains in use. He also designed a system of field guns of various calibers which served the French Army well into World War I: the Système de Bange.
The de Bange 90 mm cannon was a type of field artillery piece developed in France by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange in 1877, and adopted by the French Army that same year. It superseded the earlier Reffye cannon (1870/73) and the Lahitolle 95 mm cannon (1875).
The Lahitolle 95 mm cannon was a French cannon of the 19th century, developed in 1875 by the artillery commander de Lahitolle. The Lahitolle 90 mm was the first French field cannon made of steel, and one of the first to be equipped with a screw breech. It was adopted by the French Army in 1875 and later superseded the Reffye and de Bange 90 mm cannons. An improved version, the Lahitolle 95 mm, was developed in 1888.
The Reffye 85 mm cannon was a French artillery piece of the 19th century, developed by the French artillery General Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye, superintendent of the works at Meudon. The weapon was adopted by the French Army from 1870. It was an 85 mm (3.35-inch) rifled breech-loading cannon, equipped with a breech screw, initially made of bronze.
Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye was a French artillery general of the 19th century, and superintendent of the works at Meudon. He was a former ordnance officer for Napoleon III. He also established the gun manufacture in Tarbes.
The Montigny mitrailleuse was an early type of crank-operated machine-gun developed by the Belgian gun works of Joseph Montigny between 1859 and 1870. It was an improved version of the "Mitrailleuse", invented by Belgian Captain Fafschamps in 1851 which was a fixed 50-barrelled volley gun.
The Canon de campagne de 80 modèle 1877 or De Bange 80mm cannon was a field artillery piece used by the French Army before and during World War I.
The Canon de 240 mm L modèle 1884 was a heavy artillery piece originally employed as coastal artillery and later converted to siege artillery and railway artillery roles. Mle 1884 guns were used in both World War I and World War II.
The Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 was a French heavy mortar employed as siege artillery during the First world war.
The Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 – was a French piece of siege and field artillery which was widely used during the First World War and despite its obsolescence, it was still in use by some nations during the Second World War.
The Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 - was a French howitzer designed by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange and employed by the French army during the First World War.
The 120 mm Armata wz. 78/09/31 and 120 mm Armata wz. 78/10/31 were field guns produced in Poland and used by Poland during World War II and Finland during the Continuation War.
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