View source for Ordnance BL 12-pounder 7 cwt

{{Short description|British field gun}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Ordnance BL 12-pounder 7 cwt
| image              = RHA BL 12 pounder 7 cwt Gun.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = With Royal Horse Artillery crew
| origin             = United Kingdom
| type               = [[Field gun]]
| is_ranged          = yes
| is_artillery       = yes
| is_UK              = yes
| service            = 1885–1895
| used_by            = [[British Empire]]
| wars               =
| designer           =
| design_date        = 1883
| manufacturer       =
| unit_cost          =
| production_date    =
| number             =
| variants           =
| weight             = {{convert|784|lb|kg}} barrel & breech
| length             =
| part_length        = {{convert|84|in|mm|sigfig=4}} bore (28 calibres)
| width              =
| height             =
| crew               =
| caliber            = {{convert|3|in|mm|sing=on|sigfig=3}}
| cartridge          = separate loading BL, {{convert|12.5|lb|abbr=on}} [[shrapnel shell|Shrapnel]]
| action             =
| rate               =
| velocity           = {{convert|1710|ft/s|m/s}}<ref>1,710 ft/s firing {{convert|12.5|lb|abbr=on}} projectile, with {{convert|4|lb|abbr=on}} gunpowder or 15¾ oz cordite size 5 as propellant. Text Book of Gunnery, 1902.</ref>
| max_range          = {{convert|5000|yd|m}}<ref>Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. Table XII, Page 336.</ref>
| feed               =
| sights             =
| breech             =
| recoil             =
| carriage           =
| elevation          =
| traverse           = nil
}}
The '''Ordnance BL 12-pounder 7cwt'''<ref group="note">British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately {{convert|12|lb|kg}}. "7 [[Hundredweight|cwt]]" referred to the weight of the gun and barrel to differentiate it from other "12-pounder" guns. 1 long hundredweight (cwt) = {{convert|112|lb|kg}}.</ref> was the [[British Army]]'s [[field gun]] which succeeded the '''RML 13-pounder 8 cwt''' in 1885.
== History ==
The gun was initially adopted by both the [[Royal Field Artillery]] and [[Royal Horse Artillery]], and was in full service by 1885. It marked a return to [[breech-loading]] guns, after the British Army had reverted to [[British ordnance terms#RML|muzzle-loaders]] in the late 1860s following the failure of the [[Armstrong gun|Armstrong screw breech guns]].
Problems arose when it was used by the Horse Artillery in the great Indian cavalry manoeuvres of 1891. The carriage was found to be too complicated and dust caused the metal surfaces of the axle traversing device to seize.<ref>Clarke 2004, page 17-18</ref> It also proved too heavy to manoeuvre for horse artillery, which was intended to support cavalry in battle.
The [[Ordnance BL 12-pounder 6 cwt|12-pounder 6 cwt gun]] was thus developed in 1892, when the new more powerful [[cordite]] replaced gunpowder, as a lighter alternative. It had a barrel 18 inches (460&nbsp;mm) shorter, on a lighter and simpler carriage, and it entered service with the Royal Horse Artillery in 1894.
The introduction of Cordite also led to the decision that the 12-pounder was capable of firing a heavier shell up to {{convert|15|lb|abbr=on}}. A 14-pound shell was adopted and the gun became a "[[Ordnance BL 15-pounder|15-pounder]]" from 1895.<ref>Clarke 2004, page 17-18</ref> At that point the 12-pounder 7 cwt became redundant.
== Combat use ==
The gun was normally towed by 6 horses, in 3 pairs.
== See also ==
* [[Field artillery]]
* [[List of field guns]]
== Surviving examples ==
* [http://www.artillerywa.org.au/3fdregt/history.html Hobbs Artillery Park, Irwin Barracks, Karrakatta, Western Australia]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* [http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120712182551/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/u?/p4013coll11,230 |date=2012-07-12 }}
* Dale Clarke, [https://web.archive.org/web/20061021160918/http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php/title=S6887 British Artillery 1914–1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004]
* Major Darrell D. Hall, [http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol024dh.html "Field Artillery of the British Army 1860–1960. Part I, 1860 – 1900" in The South African Military History Society. Military History Journal – Vol 2 No 4, December 1972]
== External links ==
{{Commons category|BL 12 pounder 7 cwt Gun}}
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/104136 Handbook for the 12-PR. B.L. gun mark I, Land service, 1891] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/106397 Drill for the 12.5 – pr. B. L. gun on travelling field carriage. Melbourne. 1901 ?] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/art/12prBLfield.htm Diagram of 12pr B.L.7cwt Field Gun Mark I] from Victorian Forts and Artillery website
* [http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/art/12prBLfield2.htm Diagram of 12pr B.L.7cwt Field Gun Mark II] from Victorian Forts and Artillery website
{{VictorianEraBritishWeapons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:BL 12-pounder 7 cwt}}
[[Category:Artillery of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:76&nbsp;mm artillery]]
[[Category:Field guns]]