Netherlands: The 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1871 is a 19th-century Swiss and Dutch field gun.

It next started to transform the bronze 8-pounders and short 24-pounder grenade guns of the siege artillery into 10.5 cm RBL's.

Therefore, the Swiss field artillery, which had the excellent 10.5 cm cast steel RBL, then wanted to replace its rather recent 4-pounder rifled muzzle loaders.

[5] The project proposed by Colonel Bleuler assumed that the Swiss army was less mobile due to the terrain, and that it therefore made sense to instead opt for a gun with better fire-power.

[7] In the end the committee opted for the 84 mm gun, primarily because it was more accurate and destructive on the longer ranges, where its projectiles hit at a smaller angle.

In March 1871 the Dutch therefore sent two artillery officers to Switzerland to study the 8.4 cm Feldkanone Ord 1871.

[12] In early 1872 the gun arrived in the Netherlands and was successfully tested against the Dutch 8 cm rifled muzzle loader (RML).

Later a similar gun with a Krupp barrel was introduced, and this got named Kanon van 8 cm A. staal, for 'steel'.

[15] However, in 1874 the then minister of defense decided to expedite matters, and so all 140 guns had been cast by 1 January 1875 for 336,000 guilders.

[18] For 1878 the plan was to produce 58 guns, these would become 320 guilders a piece cheaper by using recycled bronze.

[23] On 24 April 1878 the Swiss Federal Council decided to modernize the field artillery by adopting a built up steel Krupp barrel.

Tests of these barrels were positive, and in January 1887 it was decided to procure 56 of these for the newly organized leichte Positionsartillerie (light siege batteries).

The steel bronze version was placed on a fortification carriage that also fit the other 8.4 cm guns.

In order to absorb recoil it rolled back and upward on rails, and was returned to its position by gravity.

[25] On the budget for 1880 an extraordinary demand was made of 700,000 guilders for 60 steel bronze guns.

[26] In 1880 the Dutch trial with steel bronze guns for the army failed unexpectedly.

[27] In 1880 the defense minister then decided to buy a 84 mm gun from Krupp, later known as 8 cm staal.

The Dutch also reported the barrel to be 2,100 mm long, and put the weight at 434 kg.

[30] The Dutch reported that they had shortened the barrel by 10 cm, just like had been in Switzerland, and that this had only a very minor effect on velocity.

To gain leverage, one of the poles sticking upwards on the side of the barrel (see e.g. the photo of the gun in the Waadtländisches Militärmuseum Morges) was placed in an opening at the end of the carriage.

During transport two gunners stood on foot boards that were fixed to the gun carriage,[33] and held on to these poles.

The total length of the gun and carriage was 3,5 m, width (on the axels) 1,7 m, track 1,4 m. The diameter of the wheels was 1,44 m. The barrel was 1,13 m above the ground.

The other 293 Swiss 8.4 cm Feldgeschütz Ord 1871 were to be mounted on wooden carriages.

The elevation screw was moved a bit, and near the axle a small toolbox and a seat for one of the crew was made.

The ammunition box was made of pine covered with tin, and was strengthened at the corners.

The arm rests were of iron and attached to the lid of the box, which opened towards the horses.

[35] With a standard charge of 840 gr black gunpowder the initial velocity of a 5.6 kg grenade was 396 m/s.

The purely cylindrical part of it was 125 mm long, and the explosive charge weighed 315 gram.

Between the upper and lower rings, the grenade was wound in rope covered with grease and graphite, in order to prevent deposition of lead inside the barrel.