76 mm divisional gun M1902

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time in the Russo-Japanese War at the Battle of Telissu, but proved ineffective due to lack of crew training and the outdated conceptions of the senior artillery officers.[5]

The M1902 was also used during 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. In some episodes the gun saw its first anti-tank usage. The White Guard and intervening Allied forces used a small number of tanks, primarily French Renault FTs and British Mk Vs or Whippets. The M1902 gun with its high muzzle velocity was an effective weapon against such targets with only anti-bullet armour protection. In the 1920 Polish-Soviet War M1902 guns were again used against Polish FTs.

A 7.62 cm FlaK L/30 anti-aircraft gun at the gunfire museum Brasschaat.

Due to a string of Russian defeats during the first two years of World War I large numbers of M1902's and their ammunition ended up in German hands. A combination of factors led the Germans to issue M1902's to their troops as replacements.

These factors included:

• An underestimation of light field artillery losses during the first two years of the war and an inadequate number of replacement guns being produced.
• An underestimation of ammunition consumption, inadequate production and resulting shortages.
• The superior ballistic performance of the M1902 compared to German designs.

Once production of German guns and ammunition caught up during the last two years of the war the M1902's were converted to anti-aircraft guns on a number of different high-angle mounts and these continued in German service until the end of the war with German ammunition.[6]

Romania had a considerable number of World War I guns of 75 mm and 76.2 mm. Some models were modernized at Resita works in 1935 including M1902. The upgrade was made with removable barrels. Several types of guns of close caliber were barreled to use the best ammunition available for 75 mm caliber which was explosive projectile model 1917 "Schneider". The new barrel was made of steel alloy with chrome and nickel with excellent mechanical resistance to pressure which allowed, after modifying the firing brake, the recovery arch and the sighting devices an increase of the range from 8.5 km to 11.2 km and a rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute. During World War 2 these guns also used Costinescu 75 mm anti-tank round. These upgraded field guns were used in all infantry divisions in World War II. [7] [8]

Poland captured large numbers of M1902 guns in a course of the Polish-Soviet War and impressed them into service as a standard piece of the mounted artillery, designated 76,2 mm armata wz.1902. In 1923, there were 568 guns wz.1902 in inventory.[9] Most were converted to wz.02/26 guns in 1926-1930 (see below), however, Poland also retained some of the guns in the original 76 mm caliber to use existing stocks of ammunition. There were 89 of original guns available at the outbreak of World War II, among others, the sole gun used during the Battle of Westerplatte on 1 September 1939.[10]

Estonia used 16 M1902s on eight railway artillery platforms from 1920 to 1934, when the platforms were transferred to the Estonian Armored Train Regiment, in which they served from 1934 to 1941.[11]

• 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. German equivalent
• Canon de 75 modèle 1897 French equivalent
• Ordnance BLC 15-pounder British equivalent
• 3-inch M1902 field gun US equivalent
• 10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze Austrian equivalent