Several Mks of 7-pounder RML of 2 long hundredweight (220 lb; 100 kg) were tried in 1865 by boring out and rifling old SBML bronze guns, but were still too heavy.

The war began when Great Britain, fearful of what it saw as growing Russian influence in Afghanistan, invaded the country from British India.

The first phase of the war ended in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which permitted the Afghans to maintain internal sovereignty but forced them to cede control over their foreign policy to the British.

The West African Frontier Force fielded a number of guns in the War of the Golden Stool, their use being fairly heavily referenced by Willcocks, Armitage and Montanaro in their books on the campaign.

It was also employed mounted on normal field carriages with larger wheels which increased mobility in the long grass and allowed it to be towed by horses.