QF 3 pounder Nordenfelt

QF 3 pounder Nordenfelt
At Melbourne Town Hall, 1895
Type	Naval gun Coast defence gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1885 - 19??
Used by	Many countries
Production history
Designed	1885
Manufacturer	Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company Maxim-Nordenfelt
Specifications
Weight	UK 45-cal version : 452 pounds (205 kg) barrel & breech[1]
Length	45 calibres
Shell	Fixed QF 3 lb 4 oz (1.5 kg)
Calibre	47-millimetre (1.850 in)
Breech	Vertical sliding block with locking wedge
Muzzle velocity	1,959 ft/s (597 m/s)[2]
Maximum firing range	4,000 yd (3,700 m)[2]

The QF 3 pounder Nordenfelt was a light 47 mm quick-firing naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom only deployed this gun for coast defence, and soon discarded it in favour of the similar QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun for both coast defence and naval use.

Ammunition

Ammunition was in "fixed rounds" : the projectile and brass cartridge case were loaded as a single unit. The gun used the same ammunition as the similar QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss, with either Nordenfelt or Hotchkiss fuzes. When introduced in the 1880s the propellant used was gunpowder, in British service Cordite Mark I was used as propellant from the mid-1890s onwards.

• 
  British steel shell round, 1891
• 
  British common shell round, 1891

See also

• List of naval guns

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss : Hotchkiss equivalent

Notes

References

1. Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 32
2. Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 32 quote 4,000 yards (3,700 m) with muzzle velocity 1,959 ft/s (597 m/s), for the British 45-calibres model in 1914 using 6oz 6dr cordite Mk 1 propellant.

Bibliography

• I.V. Hogg and L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.

External links

• Handbook of the 3 pounder Nordenfelt quick-firing gun. Land service, 1891