Very Rare early 1900s Vickers British Mountain Gun (Pack Howitzer) 2.95 Inch (75mm) Shell Casing

Very Rare early 1900s Vickers British Mountain Gun (Pack Howitzer) 2.95 Inch (75mm) Shell Casing

THIS VERY RARE 75MM SHELL CASING WAS USED IN THE QF 2.95INCH MOUNTAIN GUN BY BRITISH COLONIAL FORCES FROM 1897 TO WW1 . THIS 75X157MM CASING IS MADE OF BRASS. THIS CASING IS IN BEAUTIFUL CONDITION.

 The QF 2.95 inch mountain gun was the designation given by the British to a Vickers 75mm calibre gun.  An 1897 design, the quick-firing gun (it used fixed or onepiece ammunition) was built by Vickers as a commercial venture for the Egyptian Army.
 
While never officially adopted by the British or Indian armies, the piece was fielded by the forces of several British colonies. In 1901, 30 were purchased for use by the West African Frontier Force. Intended to provide Britains West African colonies with portable firepower, the guns were allocated to batteries in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Gold Coast.
 
When the Gold Coast Regiment invaded German Togoland, it advanced with four 2.95in guns. It was this battery which, at Khra on August 22, 1914, may claim the distinction of being the first artillery pieces in the British Empire to fire on the enemy.
 
BRITAIN ONLY PURCHASED 30 OF THESE FROM VICKERS IN 1901. THEY WERE A COMMERCIAL VENTURE BY VSM RATHER THAN A DESIGN COMMISSIONED BY THE BOARD OF ORDNANCE. THE GUNS WERE USED BY SIERRA LEONE AND NIGERIAN BATTERIES DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN THE GERMAN CAMEROONS AND WERE OBSOLETE IN BRITISH SERVICE IN 1920. The US Army bought 90 of these weapons for use in the Phillipines and they were still in service at the outbreak of WW2.
 
MARKINGS:
2.95IN QF 2.95 inch calibre (75mm) Quick Fire Mountain Gun
VS&M: VS&M is the British manufacturer Vickers, Son and Maxim.
I MK1 CASE OR BORE OF THE GUN
CFF: CORDITE FILL loaded with a full charge of cordite. Refilled twice.
BROAD ARROW: UK Government Property. The broad arrow (or "Devil's Claws") symbol was appropriated by the British government to indicate the item was government issue.
1 encirled one online source indicates that it means the case was to be fitted with a mk 2 primer
A encircled with one punch mark - The encircled (A) means the shell has been fired once. The one adjacent punch marks are given for each subsequent firing when the casing had to be repaired beforehand. So this shell has been fired 2 times. This was a way the English designates there shells, so it's an English shell.
 
SIZE 75mm Diameter 157mm High
CONDITION: SOME MINOR RIM BENTS. IN GOOD CONDITION.
 
MOUNTAIN GUN:
In mountainous districts where no roads exist it is impossible to use ordinary field artillery, simply because transport on wheels is out of the question. To meet this difficulty a light mountain-gun is used, this weapon being so designed that it can be rapidly taken to pieces and the individual parts loaded on the backs of a number of mules, varying from three, in the case of the smallest gun, to five in the larger types. The 2.95- inch q.f. mountain-gun may be taken as a good example. In its case, one animal, known as the "gun-mule," carries the gun-barrel, or "chase," with its details; another, the "cradle-mule," carries the cradle, or frame, in which the gun rests when put together for action; a third animal, called the "carriage-mule," transports the gun-carriage, or trail; and the "wheel-and-axle-mule" completes the team, carrying those parts on its back. A gun carried in this manner can be rapidly conveyed over rough ground to otherwise inaccessible positions, and, if advantage be taken of available cover, it generally happens that the transport of the gun can be carried out with the minimum risk of discovery by the enemy. The gun and its parts and gear can be removed from the pack-saddles, put together, and made ready for action within the space of a minute.
 
VICKERS 2.95 GUN USED IN MOVIES:
The Vickers 2.95 inch gun had a vigorous second life as a film prop, appearing the North-West Frontier film (1959).
The 2.95 Inch Vickers Mountain Gun was also the weapon used by Klang's (Leo McKern's) cultists to try to kill the Beatles with when the Fab Four were on Salisbury Plain in their 2nd film Help! (1965). It also appeared in Carry on Up the Khyber, Legionnaire (1967 Jean Claude van Damme).
 
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