Lovett Artillery - 7,7cm. leichte Feld Kanone (l.F.K.) 1896 n/a (1917)

Above: Front view of the German 7,7cm lFK 1896 n/A with a manufacture 1917 date. The trigger mechanism is still missing for this gun. For the most part the gun is complete except for this piece

Above: Rear view of the German7,7cm lFK 96 n/A. Much of the trail and all of the spade are newly built. This work can be seen in photos further down the page

Above: Close up of the breech block in operation. Notice the other 7,7cm lFK 96 (dated 1896) in the back ground. The breech block for this older gun is missing its trigger

Above: Both 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A guns in the collection. The seats on the front of these guns are called axel tree seats and are for transporting crewmen while the piece is horse drawn behind a limber

Above: Side view of both 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A guns in the collection. The one dated 1917 is closest to the camera

Above: Side view of both 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A guns in the collection. The near gun has the replacement trail and spade. Notice that it is indistinguishable from the 1896 dated gun with an original trail and spade

Above: After firing a shell case with primer train in the 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A dated 1917. The shell used is a US Pack 75mm salute shell case. These can be chambered in the 7,7cm and work quite well. It is a much cheaper solution than using original WW1 Era 7,7cm shell cases

Above: The 7,7cm. l.F.K. 1896 n/A (with 1917 date) at its current state of restoration. The trail was cut off and thrown away by the previous owner. Now the new spade, towing eye and trail end is attached, the elevation and traverse are repaired and installed, the leather back rest are riveted in place, the brakes are in place, and the recoil cradle is mounted to the carriage. The barrel is not yet mounted to the recoil cradle. That is the next phase of the restoration

Below: This is an original 7,7cm lFK 96 pointing lever. It now fits onto the new trail end of the gun. I traded parts for a British 18 pdr for this lever

Below: Front view of the 7,7cm lFK 96. You can see down the empty recoil cradle in this photo

Below: Photograph of the rear of the 7,7cm lFK 96. The brake arms are seen in this photo, still painted in red oxide primer

Below: Photograph showing some detail of the replacement spade, the orginal pointing lever as well as the leather back rest on the shield

Below: Right side of the 7,7cm lFK 96 carriage. The wheels, hub caps and pins on the gun are newly made by Matt Switlik. This model wheel is a reproduction of the wartime era wheels produced for the 7,7cm lFK 96

Below: The recoil cradle is mounted on a bronze bushing so it can rotate up and down (elevation) as well as back and forth (traverse). The clamps that hold the cradle to the bushing are seen in red oxide primer

Below: The leather back rest and frame riveted to the top folding shield. The top of the shield folds down. In the down position, the leather back rest are what the two crewmen seated on the front axle tree seats lean against while the gun is moving

Below: The 7,7cm lFK 1896 n/A carriage with the new trail/spade end complete. The original pointing lever is sitting on the trail. The recoil cradle has just been put onto the carriage but not yet bolted together with the traversing/elevating bushing. The leather back rest are mounted only with bolts at this point, not riveted. The new correct 7,7cm lFK 96 wheels and hubs have just been put on the gun

Below: A view of the new spade with most of the rivets set

Below: The new spade upside-down

Below: The new hand spike mount bolted to the replacement spade. The bolts will be replaced with rivets at a later date

Below: Top view of the replacement spade with the hand spike mount bolted on

Below: View of the replacement spade for the 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A almost complete

Below: Ralph Lovett heating a rivet with rosebud torch

Below: Leon and Ralph Lovett set a rivet with a rivet gun

Below: The new spade parts ready to be riveted together

Below: More work on the new spade

Below: The trail for the 1917 dated 7,7cm was cut off. I have re-built the trail based on the 1896 dated 7,7cm. You can see the “96 dated piece in the background. A new spade must be fabricated and riveted

Newly re-manufactured rear trail for 7,7cm (1917)

Below: Correct 7,7cm lFK 1896 hubs made by Matt Switlik

Below: Newly made “wartime type” wheels by Matthew C. Switlik for the 7,7cm. They are pictured in front of another set of “wartime type” wheels for the 10,5cm that were also manufactured by Matt. These wheels differ from the pre-war wheels in that they have no metal fittings connecting the felloes and spokes. They also have a steel channel running around the inside of the tire to retain the felloes

Below: An original Wartime Era photograph of a 7,7cm. l.F.K. 1896 n/A with the crew. Crewmen have one shell out and a wicker box for additional shells. A fuse wrench can be seen in the tunic of the man nearest on the right