The RML 9-pounder 8 cwt gun and the RML 9-pounder 6 cwt gun were British Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field, horse and naval

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

guns manufactured in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 19th century. They fired a projectile weighing approximately . "8 cwt" and "6 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun to differentiate it from other 9-pounder guns.

Service history

The 9-pounder 8 cwt Rifled Muzzle Loader was the

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...

selected by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1871 to replace the more sophisticated RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun, which had acquired a reputation for unreliability. The gun was

rifled Rifling is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such groove ...

using the system developed by

William Palliser Sir William Palliser CB MP (18 June 1830 – 4 February 1882) was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1880 until his death. Early life Born in Dublin on 18 June 1830, Palliser was the fourth of the eig ...

, in which studs protruding from the side of the shell engaged with three spiral grooves in the barrel.Skaarup, Harold A (2012)
''Shelldrake: Canadian Artillery Museums and Gun Monuments''
iUniverse.com, (p. 131) In 1874, a 6 cwt version was introduced for

horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing field artillery that consisted of light cannons or howitzers attached to light but sturdy two-wheeled carriages called caissons or limbers, with the individual crewmen riding on h ...

and was later adopted for

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

use, replacing the 8 cwt version. All variants used the same ammunition, which took the form of

shrapnel shell Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost ...

case shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. It has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies, and saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th cent ...

and common shell. The 9-pounder remained in front-line service with the Royal Artillery until 1878 when the

RML 13 pounder 8 cwt The RML 13-pounder 8 cwt gun was a British List of British ordnance terms#RML, Rifled, Muzzle Loading (RML) field artillery gun manufactured in England in the 19th century, which fired a projectile weighing approximately . "8 hundredweight, cwt" re ...

gun was introduced. It remained in use with colonial forces until 1895 and saw action in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

of 1879, the

First Boer War The First Boer War (, ), was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African Republic was known while under British ad ...

of 1881 and the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt, also known as the Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

in 1882. A number were issued to British Artillery Volunteer units, with the

1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers The 1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteer Corps was formed in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It transferred to the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908 and its successor units fought with the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division in ...

being issued with some guns as late as 1901.

Variants

* 9-pounder 8 cwt Mark I (Land Service): Introduced into the Royal Artillery in 1871. It was later withdrawn and modified for sea service. * 9-pounder 8 cwt Mark II (Naval Service): Introduced in 1873 by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark I (N.S.): A few were made for experimental trials but they proved to be too short; some were issued to the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

. In 1873, forty five were completed for use as boat guns. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark II (L.S.): A new design in 1874 for the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. Although the cavalry link rem ...

, it was longer than the 8 cwt gun but had the same

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark III (N.S.): Introduced in 1879, a modified Mark II for naval service. * 9-pounder 6 cwt Mark IV (N.S.): Similar to the Mark III with a steel jacket instead of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

previously used, and with a strengthened

cascabel Cascabel may refer to: * Cascabel (artillery), a subassembly of a muzzle-loading cannon * Cascabel chili, a small, round chili pepper * Cascabel, a Shuttle Loop roller coaster at Chapultepec Park in Mexico City * Spanish common name for ''Crotalus ...

Surviving examples

Royal Artillery Museum The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums, was first opened to the public in Woolwich in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of artillery through the ages by way of a collection o ...

(the collection is currently in storage awaiting relocation to a new site) *

Fort Nelson, Hampshire Fort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth and is a Grade I Listed Buil ...

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Once an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is als ...

Collection *

Southsea Castle Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to pr ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England *

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The B ...

Museum,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

CFB Petawawa 4 Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa, commonly referred to as Garrison Petawawa, is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Current use The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

* New Brunswick Military History Museum,

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. It is the biggest facility in East ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

* Fort Hughes (New Brunswick),

* Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club, New Brunswick *

Fort Anne Fort Anne is a historic fort protecting the harbour of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. It was built by Scottish settlers in August 1629 as Charles Fort. For the first 120 years of the fort's service period, the settlement of Port Royal, later A ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

* Fort St Catherine,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Australian Army Artillery Museum The Australian Army Artillery Museum was an artillery museum located in North Fort, on the northern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, Australia. It was formerly called the "National Artillery Museum", and had a large collectio ...

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the Local government in Australia ...

Fort Lytton Military Museum
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – gun and ammunition *

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Road ...

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Telangana State Archaeology Museum Telangana State Archaeology Museum or Hyderabad Museum is a museum located in Hyderabad, India. It is the oldest museum in Hyderabad. History Henry Cousens is the first person to have recorded in carrying out archaeological explorations in ...

, Hyderabad, India

References

External links

Handbook for the 9-pr. R.M.L. guns of 6 cwt. and 8 cwt. land service, 1889, 1892, 1895
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook for 9-pr. R.M.L. guns of 6 cwt. and 8 cwt. Land service 1895, 1901
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook for 9-pr R.M.L. guns of 6cwt. and 8cwt., (Movable armament) 1898
at State Library of Victoria

{{DEFAULTSORT:RML 09-pounder 8 cwt 76 mm artillery Artillery of the United Kingdom Field artillery Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom

Service history

Variants

Surviving examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links