Canon de 75 modèle 1897 (French 75)
Official wording
French, Model 1897, cal. 75mm, breech-loading cannon of French manufacture, mfd. in or before 1898.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESMade or imported as stated: “of French manufacture”
- ATF REQUIRESMade 1898 or earlier (ATF’s dates)ATF: “mfd. in or before 1898”
- INFOAn antique under federal law, outside the GCA.
Editorial facts · Our research
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IIIA · PDF p. 64 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: High · 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 and Saint-Étienne.
- 2. Wikipedia, “Canon de 75 modèle 1897” ↗, action: field gun with a Nordenfelt eccentric-screw breech and hydro-pneumatic recoil (not a small-arms action).
- 3. Wikipedia, “Canon de 75 modèle 1897” ↗, years: infobox production date 1897–1940; with ATF's 'mfd. in or before 1898' bounding the end.
- 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
- None
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.