BL 12-pounder 6 cwt gun

The Ordnance BL 12-pounder 6 cwt was a lighter version of the British 12-pounder 7 cwt gun, used by the Royal Horse Artillery in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

History
Problems arose when the standard BL 12-pounder 7 cwt gun was used in the great Indian cavalry manoeuvres of 1891. The carriage was found to be too complicated, and dust caused the metal surfaces of the axle traversing device to seize. It also proved too heavy for horse artillery, which was intended to support cavalry in battle, to manoeuvre.

The 12-pounder 6 cwt gun was therefore developed in 1892, when the new more powerful cordite replaced gunpowder, as a lighter version of the BL 12-pounder 7 cwt gun. It had a barrel 18 in shorter, on a lighter and simpler carriage, and it entered service in 1894. In 1899 a primitive recoil-absorbing system was added. The weapon was made obsolete in British service by the acquisition of the modern quick-firing Ehrhardt QF 15-pounder in 1901, and was replaced by that and later by the QF 13-pounder from 1905.

The early No. 56 Fuze burned too fast, a maximum of only 13 seconds, and hence could only be time set for a maximum range of 3700 yards. The No. 57 "Blue" Fuze was introduced during the Boer war. It had a slower burning powder train and hence could be time set for ranges up to 5800 yards. A maximum range of 6000 yards was quoted in use in the First World War.

Second Boer War
The gun was used by the Royal Horse Artillery, and together with the BL 15-pounder, it provided the main British firepower. Eighteen guns were also used by the Royal Canadian Artillery in this war. A total of 78 guns fired 36,161 shells.

World War I
A battery of 6 guns served in the East African Campaign as the 8th Field Battery. It arrived with the Calcutta Artillery Volunteers in October 1914, and the guns were towed by teams of oxen.

Surviving examples

 * The Central Museum of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Shilo Manitoba
 * One piece made in 1901 and marked "RCD 1907" on gun-metal sight mount, with King Edward VII cypher and crown inletted in top of barrel, parked in front of Stethem Hall, the HQ building of CFB Kingston.
 * Gun used by "D" Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery, at Leliefontein. Preserved at the Canadian War Museum
 * The Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage, used to carry the coffin of the deceased during State funerals in the United Kingdom. In this role it is not pulled by horses but by ratings of the Royal Navy. State funerals are normally reserved for the monarch although a few notable non-monarch individuals like Winston Spencer Churchill and Lord Mountbatten have been given this honour, the most recent such funeral being Queen Elizabeth II's on 19 September 2022.