L'Hercule, 24-pound siege cannon, Gribeauval system Detail

The most powerful piece from the Gribeauval system, this cannon was designed for sieges. With a 24-pound caliber, it has a more imposing and more robust barrel than those found on campaign pieces. In the battery, the piece weighs almost 8,378 pounds (3,800 kg) and, with a load of 9 pounds (4 kg) of black power, fires cast-iron cannonballs weighing approximately 26 pounds (12 kg). Along with the 8-inch howitzer and various mortars, it constituted the essential siege material of the Gribeauval system.
This cannon has the particularity of having been grooved towards the end of the 1860s, so that it could fire oblong shells.