7.7 cm FK 16 (Light Field Gun)

Light field artillery piece on two wheeled Box trail. The gun has a horizontal sliding breech block, and has a splinter-proof Shield. wheels are wooden spoked. Weight of projectile 5.89/7.2 kg; Muzzle velocity: 602/545 m/sec. Breech ring number 14137; FMA M 303 GBD, GS 8010 BV; 8127. Firing pin missing, breech in working condition. Sight bracket mount in working order. Painted in a post war three colour Autumn 1918 scheme, of earth brown, dark sand and light blue. This gun was captured by the 3rd Battalion in France. Breech ring number 14137

This weapon was one of the latest type German 7.7 cm field guns and was used chiefly towards the closing stages of the war. With a longer barrel, and a carriage that allowed for a greater angle of elevation, than the mark that it superceded, this gun had a longer range. In addition to its ordinary shell it was provided with a special stream-lined high explosive projectile with which attained a maximum range of 11,702 yards or nearly twice the normal maximum of the older type of 7.7 cm FK 96/06 n/a gun.

The weight of the stream-lined shell was 13 1/2 Ibs. and that of the ordinary shell, 16 Ibs; while a rate of fire of up to 20 rounds per miute could be maintained. The gun and its carriage weighed about 26cwt. This piece was manufactured in 1917 and captured by the 3rd Australian Battalion during operations in France. At the end of WWI there were still 3,020 of these guns in use by German artillery units. Although these 7.7 cm weapons were useful, being lighter than their 10.5 cm counterparts, and had reasonable range, their shells were too light to inflict significant damage upon the elaborate fortifications which came to characterize the war after the first few years.