Identify this gun - a quiz!

[Bezzo]

I will reveal all in a day or so. But for now here are the photos....

[joroas]

I will reveal all in a day or so. But for now here are the photos....

...or not!

[Damas]

Is it a Pheasant?  A 17lb mounted on a 25lb carriage.

[NickNascati]

Maybe a Dynamite Gun?

[dadlamassu]

Looks like it is on the carriage of the Vickers 105mm gun model 1922.   I cannot find a picture of one with such a long barrel in my books so it might be a prototype or modification for or by a foreign buyer.  The 105s were bought by Lithuania and Latvia and I've seen one in Spain modernised with pneumatic tyres.

[Vanvlak]

Why is there a Pucara in the background is what I'd like to know  

Ah, I know what it is, but I'm not giving the game away as I cheated.
Bezzo - I'm sending a pm to prove I have the answer.  

[Belisarius]

A Pucara with a red nose, partly obscured by a dopey looking gun " thingy " .

[Vanvlak]

A Pucara with a red nose, partly obscured by a dopey looking gun " thingy " .

No, the Pucara is the one in the second pic at far left.

[pocoloco]

Is it some type of an avalanche cannon?

[Arlequín]

Nope you got me, I know it's a Mark IVR carriage as used with the 18pdr, complete with the 'hydro-pneumatic' recoil system for the Mk. IV Gun... but that barrel and breech block has me... plus there is a thread for a muzzle brake, which is something I haven't noticed on interwar artillery before.

   

[Johan]

Vickers 1931 Squeezebore gun

[Arlequín]

Very interesting, cheers for sharing that.  

The bit about the carriage is misleading though, as it is the standard Mark IV gun carriage introduced in 1918, which was initially used with the 18 pdr and subsequently the 25pdr (as well as the M.1922 105mm); albeit with changes of wheel types and a brief replacement by the split-trail Mark V carriage.

I thought the gun might be a nice scratch build for VBCW. The trail which is usually the hard part is straight 25pdr.

Certainly, but leave the 25 pdr as it is and you have a MK. IVP 18pdr (provided there is no muzzle-brake). Swap the barrel out for a WWI style 18pdr barrel and you have a Mk. IIP 18 pdr. Swap the wheels for spoked ones and you have a horse-drawn 25pdr (yes they existed)... put wheels on like the gun here has and you have a MK. IVR 18 pdr (or swap wheels and barrel for a MK. IIR). That trail goes a long way!

   

[dadlamassu]

The MkIV carriage was used on the 18pdr and the 18/25pdr.  This latter was a 25pdr barrel and breach fitted onto the 18pdr's MkIV carriage and was called 18/25pdr or 25pdr Mk1.  It was used quite extensively in the early war period.

The standard 25pdr (or 25pdr Mk2) used the 25pdr MkI carriage which had its main visual difference from the 18pdr MkIV carriage in that it was "bent" to allow firing as both gun (lower register) and howitzer (upper register).  It also allowed the use of super charge.

25pdr Mk1 on 18 pdr MkIV carriage (18/25pdr)


25pdr Mk2 on 25pdr MkI carriage (25pdr)


The turntable was used by both carriages to give a very stable platform which allowed the gun to get into action quickly and also increased accuracy.

[Vanvlak]

I thought the gun might be a nice scratch build for VBCW.

I was thinking precisely the same thing 

[Arlequín]

The MkIV carriage was used on the 18pdr and the 18/25pdr.  This latter was a 25pdr barrel and breach fitted onto the 18pdr's MkIV carriage and was called 18/25pdr or 25pdr Mk1.  It was used quite extensively in the early war period.

You're quite correct about the 25 pdr MK. II on the MK. I carriage, but the '18/25 pdr' or '25 pdr MK. I' (as it was called on the drawings) was nothing more than an existing 18 pdr MK. IV on a MK. IV or V carriage, with the original barrel liner replaced by a slightly thinner one to allow 25 pdr shells to be fired (which is what I think you were implying in any case). Note the 18 pdr's distinctive flared muzzle and the 'interrupted screw' breech on your photo.

As you said, the first purpose-built 25 pdr barrel was the MK. II  

For the curious here's an 18pdr MK. II (or maybe a MK. III) on a MK. IV carriage in France 1940.



The limber is the older 18pdr type, as the 18 pdr and 25 pdr shell trays were not interchangeable apparently. Don't ask me the difference between the two limber types, I don't know.



Australian 18pdr MK. II on a MK. IIP 'pole' carriage (I think) in 1942 apparently.  

Finally a 18/25 pdr on a MK. IV carriage with the original spoked wheels of 1918... taken in 1940.