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Mountain Artillery, later known as Pack Artillery, was a type specially adapted for roadless and mountainous countries. The normal method of transport was on mules or ponies. The 2.95 Q.F. Mountain gun was the first to be fitted with a buffer.The gun recoils in a circular cradle which is fitted with two buffers allowing a short recoil of 14 inches.
Commercially produced by Vickers Sons & Maxim, the 2.95 QF was not adopted by the British for mountain artillery but was chiefly used in tropical Africa and was carried by bearers. It was supplied to the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria (30 guns) as part of the West African Frontier Force. Ammuntion used was shrapnel, case shot, star shell, common shell and the 18lb double common shell.
Maximum range - 4,825 yards.
Weight -236lbs (gun)
Total - 830lbs
The American army purchased either 20 or 30 directly from Vickers-Maxim, and built the remainder under license at Watervliet Arsenal near Albany, New York, to a total of 120 guns. They were used in various places, but finally concentrated in the Philippine Islands, woefully obsolete, when war arrived in 1941. They continued in use throughout the 1941-42 campaign until the surrender there in April and May 1942.
The Portsdown Artillery Volunteers with the 2.95 Q.F. Mountain Gun at Fort Nelson
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Diagram of the 2.95 QF Mountain Gun
Firing the 2.95 QF gun at Fort Nelson July 2008
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The PAV firing the 2.95 Mountain gun at Kelmarsh Hall July 2008 (Photos Greg Hornsey PFS)