Gruson 57mm turret gun M. 1892

 

 

 

 

Bulgarian designation :

57-мм куполно оръдие “Грюзон”

German designation :

5,7cm fahrbare Panzerlafette (Fahrpanzer)

Calibre :

57mm L/25.6

Weight of the barrel :

172 kg

Weight of the breech-block :

16.5 kg

Weight of the armour housing :

2378 kg

Weight with armour housing :

2550 kg

Weight in marching order :

3600 kg

Length of the barrel :

1.460 m

Length of the bore :

1.272 m – 22.3 calibres

Rifling

length :

986 mm – 17.3 calibres

twist :

progressive, 1 in 30 to 1 in 150 calibres

Barrel grooves

number :

24

depth :

0.4 mm

width :

5.62 mm

Armour

lateral :

4 mm

top :

40 mm

Cartridge :

weight :

685 g

shelled :

4.030 kg (shell and shrapnel)

4.465 kg (case shot)

charge :

625 g of black powder (shell and shrapnel)

400 g of black powder (case shot)

Smokeless battering charge :

230 g of cubic powder M. 89 (shell and shrapnel)

200 g of cubic powder M. 89 (case shot)

Shell

length :

3.37 calibres (common shell)

3.4 calibres (ring shell)

weight :

2.72 kg – charge : 90 g

fuze :

percussion : 60 g

max. range :

5500 m

Shrapnel

weight :

2.72 kg – charge : 30 g

88 bullets x 8 g

fuze :

time and percussion : 285 g

max. range :

5500 m

Case shot

weight :

3.8 kg

140 bullets x 19 g x 15 mm and x 24 g x 16 mm

max. range :

500 m

Muzzle velocity :

430 m/s

Angle of descent :

at 100 m – 0° 2’

at 500 m – 0° 16’

at 1000 m – 1° 19’

at 1500 m – 3° 09’

at 2000 m – 5° 05’

at 2500 m – 7° 08’

at 3000 m – 9° 15’

at 3500 m – 12° 12’

at 4000 m – 16°

at 5000 m – 25° 04’

at 6000 m – 39° 10’

Elevation :

+ 10° / - 10°

Traverse :

360°

Track :

600 mm

Transport :

drawn by two horses

Remarks :

Quick firing gun in a mobile armour housing of Gruson design (patent n° 367,617). The gun was mounted in an armoured hemisphere sitting on top of a cylindrical housing for two gunners. In German fortress it was used in special concrete trenches with 60cm narrow gauge railway, making possible a quick movement. It could also move along the road on a horsecart. Quick firing gun denotes simply that the gun used a quick breach and ammunition where the shell and the cartridge were one item, speeding up the loading process.

May. Nyagul Tzvetkov tested this gun in the factory and in 1892 thirty guns were bought for the forts of Slivinitza, Belogradchik and Vidin. In 1913 four guns were captured by the Serbians near Belogradchik. According with gen. Zhivkovic, general commanding the Belgrade Detachment, in 1915 in the defence of the capital Serbian army used also two “Gruson 57mm guns in steel turrets”. Some other guns were captured by the Armιe d’Orient in 1918 and two at present are placed at the entrance of the Athens Military Museum.