British RML M1877 2.5-Inch Gun

By Crusader1307

This innovative Field piece was designed in 1877. In theory, a “light” Gun, it was specially constructed to be easily “”broken down” into 4 component parts that could be “carried” (or packed by 2 Work Horse's or Mules). The Gun fired a 7-pound Solid or Canister Shot Shell to a maximum effective range of 3,000 yards. When fully assembled, the RML weighed 800 pounds. Due to it's highly mobile applications, The RML was a chosen favorite of The Boer Wars in Africa (especially in Mountain fighting, where it saw most of it's service). Still popular into the early 20th Century – version made their way into the early years of World War I. A major drawback of the RML however, was the massive amount of smoke it produced (thus exposing it's possible “hidden” positioning), as well as a lack of sighting (tangent) components. The RML had to be fired by Gunner's “line of sight”.