Canon de 75 Model 1897 field gun
Official wording
French, Model 1897, cal. 75mm, breech loading cannon, of French and American manufacture, mfd. in 1899 or later.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESMade or imported as stated: “of French and American manufacture”
- ATF REQUIRESMade 1899 or later (ATF’s dates)ATF: “mfd. in 1899 or later”
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 83 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “Canon de 75 modèle 1897” ↗, maker: infobox manufacturer: government arsenals Puteaux, Bourges, Tarbes, Saint-Étienne; the M1897A4 guns were 'American made'
- 2. Wikipedia, “Canon de 75 modèle 1897” ↗, years: infobox production date 1897–1940; start limit is ATF's 'mfd. in 1899 or later'
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 1 change · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passYears: 1899–1945 → 1899–1940. Wikipedia infobox production 1897–1940
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “0 Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 - Musée de l'armée à Paris 2.JPG” by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 4.0. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Canon de 75 modèle 1897”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The French 75 mm field gun is a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Canon de 75 mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze. The French 75 was designed as an anti-personnel weapon system for delivering large volumes of time-fused shrapnel shells on enemy troops advancing in the open. After 1915 and the onset of trench warfare, impact-detonated high-explosive shells prevailed. By 1918, the 75 became the main agents of delivery for toxic gas shells. The 75s also became widely used as truck mounted anti-aircraft artillery. They were the main armament of the Saint-Chamond tank in 1918 and the Char 2C.