Historic context :

satisfied by the 6 inches 190 puds siege guns delivered by Obuchov in 1877, the Russian army requested the creation of an even bigger calibre based on the same gun. The Obuchov company delivered two such prototypes of 8 inches in 1882, but in only in 1892 that the so called '8 inches siege gun M 1877' (often and more logically called '8 inches siege gun M 1892', and often designated as LIGHT (!) guns were adopted by the Russian army.

Obuchov Works only manufactured 23 such guns, while the Perm arsenals made 44 of them. In 1914, these heavy guns with an obsolete technology and modest perfromances were taken out the reserves and fortresses and sent to the Tsar's army as heavy artillery weapons.

Some of these guns were captured by the Greman during WW1 and used on the West Front. Others continued to be used by the Soviet army until 1923.

Technical data :

• Complete description : 8 inches gun M 1877 / 1892
• Design year : 1892
• Calibre : 203.20 mm (8 in)
• Weight in firing position : 5130 kg + plateform 1860 kg
• Weight for transportation :
• Tube length in calibres : 17.00
• Grooves : 0 unknown
• Projectile weight : 98.4 kg
• Initial speed : 291 m/s
• Fire rate :
• Range : 6400 m
• Elevation range : -8 to +45 degrees
• Direction range : none