3-inch M1902 field gun

The M1902, a.k.a. M1905 3-inch gun (76.2mm) was the U.S. Army’s first steel, rifled, breech loading, quick-firing field gun.

Design
The features of rifling, breech loading and springs to absorb the gun's recoil and quickly return it to the firing position combined to improve the range, accuracy, and rate of fire of the gun, allowing it to be used more effectively in operations with infantry. These new capabilities allowed the gun to provide accurate indirect fire on targets not in a direct line of sight, which provided crucial firepower for infantry attacks. It was also one of the first artillery guns to have an armored shield to protect the crew from small arms fire. The gun fired 3 in Shrapnel or Explosive Shells that weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms). This was of a heavier poundage than the older guns, in its role, could cope with (the use of steel provided this benefit) meaning that the M1902 could fire a shell (when taking note of the use of tighter rifling) at a greater muzzle velocity at a greater accuracy than any other field gun of American origin to that point. It had a muzzle velocity of 1700 ft/s with an effective range of 6500 yd, and a maximum range of 8500 yd. The maximum rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute.

Service history
General John J. Pershing brought several of the guns with him during the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1916–17 but they were not fired in combat.

The M1902/5 was used from 1905–1917. During World War I, the Army used the French 75mm gun instead of the M1902s, which were mostly kept in the United States for training. Very few of the M1902s were used in combat in Europe. They were gradually phased out of active service in the 1920s.

Surviving examples

 * Cantigny Park, in Wheaton, Illinois.
 * Westminster, Massachusetts
 * New London MO.
 * Aberdeen ME
 * Fort Sam Houston
 * Oklahoma City OK
 * one at Clemson University
 * one complete unit at Fort Sill museum
 * one at Texas A&M University. Operated by the Corps of Cadets, Parson's Mounted Cavalry (The Spirit of '02)
 * one at Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, Faribault, MN, USA
 * Three at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, PA, U.S.A.
 * one at Veteran's of Foreign Wars Post no.33, Greensburg, PA, USA
 * one in 3-inch M1902 field gun Mission county park, San Antonio, Texas. The gun is missing its wheels.
 * One complete unit at High Street Cemetery, Danvers, Massachusetts
 * two at Lorain park near Cleveland Ohio
 * A refurbished 1902 American field gun is on display in the city of Hopewell, VA
 * A recently-restored 3-inch M1905 field gun is in the possession of 3-7 Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, HI
 * A restored 3-inch M1902 field gun is on display at the U. S. Army Museum of Hawaii at Fort DeRussy in Honolulu, HI