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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 1157)
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Bulgaria

Canon de 75mm Mle 1904 Schneider-Canet PR

Light artillery

Contributor :
Massimo (Flickr) Foti     
     
     
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Location :
Bulgaria
Sofia
Military Museum
Coordinates : Lat : 42.68890 / Long : 23.34990
General comments on this surviving gun :


Identical items in the same location : 1
Items covered by this file : 1


Historic and technical information
Denomination :     75 Mle 1904 (Schneider PR) Origin :       ( Schneider)          

Historic context :

When in 1884 the French Government deleted the interdiction of exporting war material for private industries, the Schneider Works in le Creusot, that was already involved in this market by manufacturing guns or guns parts as a contractor for the Frech State Arsenals, decided to invest and go for it.

using technological and metallurgical innovations as well as industrial acquisitions, this newcomer took less then 20 years to acquire a worldwide celebrity thanks to modern original artillery systems developped by the brilliant engineer Gustave Canet, who had joined the Schneider empire thanks to the acquisition of the Ateliers d'Artillerie du Havre in 1897.

The high protectionism of the French Army for the State works and arsenals prevented France to take advantage of the remarkable innovations and technologies of Schneider who kept selling themto numerous countries in the world. It only used that company as a contractor for the reglementary guns until the very last years before WWe protectionisme. The adoption the the Schneider catalog models before the war and during it is a major factor of the rebirth of the French Artillery during the war, leading it to the numerical and often technological superiority compared to its allies and enemies in 1918.

The canon de campagne de 75mm PR ('PR' = 'Puissant, système de récupération de recul à Ressort') is one of the modern fieldguns born from the collaboration between Schneider and Canet. It was equipped with a steel tube, a shield, and a Schneider sliding block breech mechanism. This gun was the only one in the Schneider-Canet system to be equipped with a hydro-spring recoil recuperation system (hydraulic brake, spring recuperator) instead of the hydro-pneumatic one, as requested by the customer.

It was delivered in similar versions to Portugal (144 guns) and Bulgaria (324 guns produced until 1907). This latter nation, going to war on Germany's side in 1915 had soon to use Krupp and Ehrardt made shells with its weapons.

Technical data :

  • Complete description : 75 mm fieldgun M 1904 Schneider-Canet PR
  • Design year : 1903
  • Calibre : 75.00 mm
  • Weight in firing position : 1062 kg
  • Weight for transportation : 1766 kg with ammo trailer
  • Tube length in calibres : 32.00 (26.5 calibres for the rifled part only)
  • Grooves : 24 constant angle 6 degrees
  • Projectile weight : 6.5 kg
  • Initial speed : 500 m/s
  • Fire rate :
  • Range : 6000 m
  • Elevation range : -5 to +16 degrees
  • Direction range : 6 degrees total range


Sources
  • Schneider et Compagnie - Matériels d'artillerie mis en service sur les fronts alliés 1914 - 1917           Collectif                     1917  
  • Bulgarian Artillery 1878 - 1918 https://www.bulgarianartillery.it/                           
  • Schneider et Compagnie - Matériels d'artillerie et bateaux de Guerre       Collectif                   Imprimerie Générale Lahure   1914