The Saint-Chamont 65mm mountain gun was developed in France and was kept highly confidential.
As for France, which was more than half a century before World War II, in terms of military affairs, it was preparing for the next war based on the experience of the previous war. The result was that in every war, it was slower than its opponent. France does have unique insights into artillery technology. Artillery such as the M1897 has brought revolutionary progress. In addition, during the same period, there was an artillery patent protected by France as a high-level secret, which was later used on the Saint-Chamont 65mm mountain gun.
In 1888, Joseph Albert de Port served as the workshop superintendent of the arsenal. At that time, his rank was lieutenant colonel. During his tenure, he paid more attention to the innovation of artillery technology, which laid the technical foundation for the subsequent M1897 artillery.
In 1894, after retiring from the rank of colonel, he joined other companies to design artillery, designed an artillery piece with a soft recoil structure, and obtained a patent.
This technology was not directly used at that time. At that time, when aircraft-retractable cannons dominated the land, France decided to treat this patent as a highly confidential technology, and even prohibited arms companies from using it. Only some official departments allowed designers to carry out related design work.
In 1910, the technology patent that had been kept secret for more than 10 years was made public. Not long after, the Saint-Chamont company used this technology to develop a 65mm mountain gun. This mountain gun is not only used by France, but also exported to El Salvador. During World War I, Belgium also obtained some, and the German army also captured some.
The Saint-Chamont 65mm mountain gun is relatively light, with a total weight of 328 kilograms. It uses a wheeled gun mount that looks very thin. There are T-shaped spikes at the tail of the gun mount. Nailed into the ground to stabilize the gun body. The artillery adopts a caliber of 65 mm, and the barrel diameter is 17 times. An outer tube is set in the second half of the barrel. The outer tube is rigidly connected to the direction adjustment mechanism on the gun mount. The front end of the barrel is also covered with a small outer tube. Tube.
However, this section of the outer tube and the gun barrel are both fixed. Between the two sections of the outer tube, there is a spring that is sleeved on the gun barrel. When shooting, after the shooter completes loading and launches, the recoil force on the barrel will first press on the spring, and then the barrel will continue to recoil and compress the spring, retreating about 435 mm. The spring is basically compressed to the extreme, and all the force is applied to the gun. On the frame.
Although this system is relatively "simple and crude", it is sufficient for a 65 mm caliber mountain gun. Coupled with its eccentric screw-type breech block, the maximum rate of fire of the artillery can reach 25 rounds per minute.
In actual use, each gun will be equipped with two wheel plugs, which will be placed in front of the gun wheel. This is because the compressed spring will suddenly expand, causing the gun to "bounce" forward. The Saint-Chamont 65mm mountain gun can be easily towed by a mule and horse, and can also carry a few rounds of artillery shells. The initial velocity of the muzzle is 375 meters/second, the maximum range is 6850 meters, the weight of the shell is 4.2 kilograms, the pitch angle of the gun is -10°~45°, and the direction angle is 6°.
During World War I, Belgium sought assistance from France. Therefore, a batch of artillery originally ordered by El Salvador was handed over to Belgium and used in the defense of Antwerp. However, after capturing it, the German army did not think much of it.
The reason is that when it is launched, it sometimes misses inexplicably. Some people think that it is caused by the impact of the spring system on the barrel, while others think that the quality of the ammunition is not well controlled.
Facts have proved that the artillery soft recoil system or the hydraulic structure like the M1897 is more in line with the requirements. The spring structure of the Saint-Chamont 65mm mountain gun is indeed barely feasible for use on small artillery, but it is difficult to apply to large-caliber artillery. In addition, after the small-caliber gun has strengthened the artillery charge, it is still difficult to withstand the recoil. In this way, this technology, which was once regarded as a high-level secret by France, gradually faded out of people's sight.