76-mm divisional gun M1902

76-mm divisional gun model 1902
76-mm divisional gun model 1902 in the Finnish Military Museum, Helsinki, Finland.
Type	Field gun
Place of origin	Russian Empire, USSR
Production history
Produced	1903-1931
Specifications
Weight	combat: 1,092 kg (2,407 lbs) travel: 2,380 kg (5,247 lbs)
Barrel length	2.28 m (7 ft 6 in) 30 calibers
Shell	Fixed QF 76.2 x 385mm R
Shell weight	7.5 kg (17 lb)
Caliber	76.2 mm (3 in)
Breech	interrupted screw
Carriage	fixed trail
Elevation	-3° to 17°
Traverse	5°
Rate of fire	10-12 rpm
Muzzle velocity	589 m/s (1,930 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	8.5 km (5.28 mi)

The 76.2 mm divisional gun model 1902 (Russian: 76-мм дивизионная пушка образца 1902 года) was a Russian light field gun used in the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, Russian Civil War and a number of interwar armed conflicts with participants from the former Russian Empire (Soviet Union, Poland, Finland, Estonia, etc.). Modernized versions of this gun were employed at the early stage of World War II.

This gun, known as the "three-incher", (трёхдюймовка) was developed by Putilovski Works in Saint-Petersburg in 1902. The lead designers were L. A. Bishlyak, K. M. Sokolovskiy and K. I. Lipnitskiy. It incorporated many new features for that time - carriage with recoil devices, traverse and elevation tracking mechanisms, precision sight for direct and indirect firing, manual interrupted screw breech and single-piece ammunition loading.

For simplifying the mass production process designers used in the gun's construction cheap types of carbonized steel without or with minimal use of rare and expensive nickel-, manganese- or chromium-added types of steel. Early version had two seats for the crew on both sides of a barrel, from 1906 they were replaced with an armoured shield. The shield had a specific design: an outer shield, with a big rectangular opening, and a smaller, inner shield behind it. The upper and lower portion of the bigger shield were folding during transport.

The gun had fragmentation shrapnel and canister ammunition. More specialized types of projectiles included smoke, incendiary, and chemical rounds. Many ammunition pieces were French originated. Limbers could carry 40 or 44 rounds in a light artillery and 28 rounds in a mounted artillery, while caissons carried 48 rounds in both cases.

M1902 divisional guns were the mainstay of Russian Empire artillery and were accepted well by the army. Their characteristics were at the same level with similar 75-mm French and German guns. The gun was used in action for the first time in the Russo-Japanese War at the Battle of Telissu, but proved ineffective due to lack of crew training and the outdated conceptions of the senior artillery officers. The gun was also used in World War I. After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 M1902 guns were employed by different factions: bolshevist Red Army, monarchist or counter-revolution White Guard, nationalist forces in Russian-minority areas, national armies of Poland and Finland and simply anarchists and bandits throughout the vast territories of former imperial Russia.