French Beaulieu 4-lb RML Light Field Gun (1860)

After the Crimean War, the standard French bronze 4-lb SBML light field guns were rifled on a plan devised by Col. Treuille de Beaulieu. Although the elongated projectile fired by the new rifle gun was heavier than the old four-pound ball of the smoothbore, the new gun retained its old designation. The service life of the tube was 1,200-1,500 rounds. When the rifling was worn, the gun was recast, “an operation of no great difficulty.”

Illustration from:

Moltzheim, Auguste de. Esquisse historique de l'artillerie française depuis le moyen-âge jusqu'à nos jours, avec un atlas de... planches dessinées par A. de Moltzheim... Strasbourg : E. Simon, 1868.