I have a number of photographs and the manual 1919 edition....can anyone shed any light as to when the hydraulic oil reservoir tank was fitted to guns.
The tank seen on the barrel of the gun.....the 1919 manual has a lot of detail and drawings, however some WW1 photos show the gun without this fitting.
I am aware that the 18pdr was fitted with a reservoir tank, and later a modified recoil/buffer mechanism post 1916.....due to the original recoil springs wearing out.
On the 18 Pounder it wasn't only a problem with recuperator springs wearing out and breaking - the oil in the recoil buffer would overheat during extended firing.
Hot oil has much lower viscosity so the hydraulic recoil buffer didn't perform to spec.
Perhaps the British found they ran into the same problem with the 6 inch howitzer - I would have thought the lower rates of fire on the howitzer would have allowed the oil
Thanks, would you think this would have been around the same time frame ????? 1916, or later......I am not trying to tie this down to a specific date, but the year.
