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Finland

Finnish Artillery pieces
Guns with recoil system

Used in the Winter War

Part I

 

 (The contents of this page are based on the book "Itsenäisen Suomen Kenttätykit 1918 - 1995"
by Jyri Paulaharju, Published by Military Museum of Finland, 1996")

 

The designation of guns in Finland was, and is, as follows:
- The first number is the Caliber of the gun in millimeters (mm)

- Then the letter that follows identifies the type of the gun
K = cannon
H = howitzer
LK = gun short
VK = mountain gun
VH = mountain howitzer
RK = infantry gun
KH = gun-howitzer
- The last number is the year of development (or when it was accepted in service or some other year used to identify the model)

General information of artillery weapons and shells

 

 

 

  • Light cannons

75 K 97
75 K 01
75 K 02
75 K 40 Arg
76 K 00
76 K 02
76 LK 10/13 & 13
76 K 22
76 K 23
76 RK 27 & 27-39
76 K 36

105 VH 10
114 H 18
122 H 10 & 122 H 09

150 H 06
150 H 14 J
152 H 10
152 H 09-30
152 H 15/17

105 K 13
105 K 34
105 K 36 (105 KH 36)
107 K 10/13

 

Note:
The characteristics of the guns are with a normal shrapnel (High Explosive) projectile.
The barrel length can vary by different sources

 

Light cannons

 

Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

75

36.3

7.24

550

-11 - +18

7.9

1 140

75 K 97
Picture source: "Field guns in Finland 1918-1995", p.55

The French 75 K 97This gun of French origin was the first really modern field gun, with the first successful hydraulic recoil system. It can be claimed to be the most widely used light field gun ever produced. 12 of the 48 guns bought came fast enough to be used in Winter War.

The gun on the left was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

75

31

6.5

496 - 503

-7 - +15.5

8.1 - 9.6

1 037

The 75 K 01
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

12 of these German guns (with 7 166 shells) were donated by Norway in February 1940.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

75

30

6.4

484 - 493

-3 - +15

8.3 - 9.3

1 000


The 75 K 02
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

This gun was built under license in Sweden. During the mobilization phase, Finland bought 12 of them. The total number used in Winter War was 60 (including 12 gun lent and 12 used by Swedish voluntary force SFK) and 15 848 shots were fired.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

75

37.3

6.35

417 - 633

-5 - +45

8.3 - 11.8

1 435

The 75 K 40
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

Argentina had ordered 12 of these guns from Sweden. In January 1940 Finland bought 8 of these guns after long negotiations.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

30

6.58

593

-6 - +17

8.75

1 040


The 76 K 00
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

This gun was the most important light field gun in the war between Russia and Japan. It was designed by a Russian General Engelhardt and a total of  2 400 gun were produced in 1901-1903.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

30

6.35

460 - 605

-6 - +16

7.9 - 10.6

1 106

76 K 02
Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia 1", p.172

This gun was designed by L.A.Bishljakov, K.M.Sokolovski and K.I.Lipinski in the Putilov factory, Imperial Russia. It was based on 76 K 00 and it was influenced by the French 75 K 97. By the start of WWI the 76 K 02 was the primary field artillery piece in the Russian army. It was originally designed to fire direct-fire, but proved to be also good in indirect-fire. It's main drawback was that it didn't elevate enough and this led to many variations later on. This gun was used in the civil war by both the reds and the whites (armed with captured guns) , and a total 179 guns were captured. Modernized versions of this gun were used by the Finnish army to mid 90's (mostly in training purposes and firing ranges) . 265 050 shots were fired by these guns in the Winter War.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

16.5

6.35 - 6.78

371 - 380

-6 - +28

6.5 - 7.0

627


The "counterattack gun" 76 LK 13
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

This gun was a Russian modernized version of the 76 VK 09, which was manufactured by the French Schneider gun factory. The 10/13 model had the barrel of an old 76 LK 10 installed on a new carriage. This was made, because the 76 LK 10 was a direct-fire weapon only. During the Winter War 85 774 shots were fired with these guns.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76

36.4

4.82 - 6.35

440 - 590

-5 - +43

3.0 - 10.6

1 500

The 76 K 22
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

In 1924 Finland ordered 4 of these French guns for evaluation. It didn't fulfill the expectations and no more guns were ever ordered. The 4 guns fired 344 shots during the Winter War.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

36.1

4.82 - 6.35

403 - 590

0 - +65

10.6

1 338


The 76 K 23
The gun was photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

This gun was manufactured by Saint-Chamond gun factory and 4 guns were, like the 76 K 22, bought for evaluation purposes in 1926. This gun failed also the expectations and no more guns were bought. The main weakness was that the carriage was too weak. It could use the same shells as the 76 K 02 (characteristics above) . 644 shots were fired with these guns during the Winter War.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

16.5

4.82 - 6.61

387

-6 - +35

3.0 - 8.1

780

The older model 76 RK 27, with the cartwheels
The improved regimantal gun 76 RK 27-30 with "disc wheels"A back view of the the 76 RK 27This weapon was developed from the 76 LK 13. It was produced in two versions, the most visible difference were the wheels. During the Winter War 54 of these regimental cannons (there were 6 of them in each Soviet infantry regiment) were captured (mostly on the battlegrounds north of lake Ladoga) , and some were put to use immediately firing a total of 4 075 shots.

The upper gun was photographed in the Military Museum in Helsinki, Finland. The guns on the left and right were photographed in the Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

 

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Caliber

Barrel length

Shell weight

Muzzle velocity

Elevation

Max range

Weight in action

mm

cal

kg

m/s

deg (°)

km

kg

76.2

51.1

6.4

688

-5 - +75

3.0 - 13.6

1 620

The reason for the gun's nickname is clearly visible in this picture
The gun was photographed in the Military Museum in Helsinki, Finland.

The production of this excellent gun began in mid 30's and was in front line use in 1939. 37 guns were captured during the Winter War and some of them were put into use almost immediately. It was nicknamed "The rat's tail" because of the long barrel. 3 171 shots were fired during the Winter War by the Finns.

 

 

Continue to
Finnish Artillery pieces, guns with recoil system
Part II

Go to

Finnish Artillery pieces, guns without recoil system

Finnish Artillery

Artillery weapons in the Winter War

See also

General information of artillery weapons and shells


For questions about picture copyrights, see 'Sources' page

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