"There is one other Nahrkampf gun I have seen which is held by the Liverpool (NSW) council. It is an interesting one in that it is a very abbreviated variant of the C96n/A made in 1918 by Rheinmetall, with a serial number in the 13,000 range. This is a few thousand higher than any other C96 I have seen, and sits in the range usually seen for LMW and FK16, etc.
The gun's features are that it is built on the standard C96 trail, but has transverse bar mounted quick detachable seats held on by swing bolts and presumably wingnuts. The gun has no wheels, but wheel diameter is small as per Nahrkampf, which is indicated by the position of the brake arms. These in turn are held rigidly in place by tie rods from the front brake handle, instead of the braided cable of the earlier guns. This arrangement bypasses the brake tensioning drums on the inner sides of the hubs, so the hubs for this gun may not have had the drums at all. The tie rod is not long enough to accommodate a standard 53in diameter wheel.
The breech ring is sloped and squared as per the FK16 guns, and the breech block is also of the FK16 pattern. There is no sight bracked mounted on the cradle, and the mounting plate bolt holes have been blanked off with cheese head machine screws- looks original fit, as I cannot see anyone after the war going to the trouble. Looks like gun was used with open sights.
The Liverpool example is a 1918 made gun through and through, with manufacturing expedients such as rough machining on the breechring etc, so is not a rebuild of older components. The barrel dust guards are of the flat FK16 type rather than the nicely faired earlier type."
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I understand the Nahrkampf guns were built as new guns rather than recycled FK 96 n.As but this one seems to have the breech from an FK 16. Has anyone heard of a similar practice on other Nahrkampf guns? Are there any other Nahrkampf survivors?
The second gun is perhaps more interesting - quoting from Damien again.
"I have seen one other interesting C96 variant in a private collection, made by Krupp in 1917. It was very carefully and expensively set up as an infantry gun and has been confused for a Nahrkampf gun, although all were ultimately used for close combat. This one has had the axle cut off outboard of the trail sides and another smaller axle mounted about a foot behind it. The wheels are small hub type probably for front wheels of a German GS wagon. The shield has no seats and is quick detachable from the trail. The rear of the trail over the spade has a curious cradle attachment used for mounting a counterweight, noting that the gun's balance is now more front heavy with the set back axle to facilitate manoeuverability. The other interesting feature is that the barrel can be removed from the cradle without the painful gutting of the recoil system in order to withdraw the buffer cylinder to the rear. Instead, the breech ring lug has cut-outs at 90 + 180 degrees to allow the buffer cylinder to be rotated 90 degrees and disengaged in situ. The protective end cap for the buffer cylinder that also prevents the cylinder from rotating & unscrewing in use is beautifully hinged with a quick release detent instead of the standard cap with retaining claws and two securing bolts."
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Damien says this one is an IG L/27 (it's noted in Jager's book). Are there other survivors of the 7.7cm IG around? It seems that the IG was a much more modified gun than the standard references suggest.
I think we'll have to revisit the articles on the 7.7cm derivatives on Landships in view of this information.
Regards,
Charlie
-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 8th of December 2011 12:33:41 AM
-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 8th of December 2011 12:38:13 AM
