M-42 ( GAU Index - 52-P-243S ) - Soviet semi - automatic anti - tank gun of 45 mm caliber . The full official name of the gun - 45 mm anti-tank gun mod. 1942 (M-42). It was used from 1942 until the end of World War II , but due to insufficient armor penetration it was partially replaced in production in 1943 with a more powerful 57mm ZIS-2 gun. Finally, the M-42 gun was discontinued in 1946. For 1942-1945, the industry of the USSR manufactured 10 843 of such guns.
| 45 mm anti-tank gun of the 1942 model (M-42) | |
|---|---|
 45 mm anti-tank gun mod. 1942 M-42 at the Museum on Sapun-mountain, Sevastopol | |
| Caliber mm | 45 |
| Instances | 11156 |
| Calculation, people | four |
| Rate of fire , rds / min | up to 25 |
| Maximum range, m | 4500 |
| Carriage speed on the highway, km / h | up to 60 |
| The height of the line of fire, mm | 710 |
| Trunk | |
| Barrel length, mm / klb | 3087 / 68.6 |
| Barrel bore length, mm / klb | 2985 / 66.3 |
| Weight | |
| Mass in the stowed position, kg | 1250 |
| Weight in combat position, kg | 625 |
| Dimensions in the stowed position | |
| Length mm | 4885 |
| Width mm | 1634 |
| Height mm | 1300 |
| Clearance mm | 275 |
| Firing angles | |
| AngleVN , hail | from −8 ° to + 25 ° |
| Angle GN , hail | 60 ° |
Content
Creation History
45 mm anti-tank gun mod. In 1942, the M-42 was obtained by modernizing the 45-mm gun of the 1937 model at the plant No. 172 in Motovilikha. The modernization consisted in lengthening the barrel from 46 calibres to 68.6, in strengthening the propellant charge, a number of technological measures were also taken to simplify mass production. The shield armor thickness was increased from 4.5 mm to 7 mm for better protection of the calculation from rifle armor-piercing bullets. As a result of modernization, the muzzle velocity of the projectile increased from 760 to 870 m / s.
Production
The production of the M-42 gun was carried out at the factory number 172:
1942 - 173 pcs.;
1943 - 4151 pcs.;
1944 - 4628 pcs.;
1945 - 2064 pcs.;
1946 - 140 pcs.;
- In total - 11156 pcs.
Combat use
In World War II
The gun was intended to fight the tanks , self-propelled guns and armored vehicles of the enemy. She was able to successfully deal with all the medium tanks of the Wehrmacht of 1942 . However, the appearance in 1943 in significant quantities of new heavy tanks “Tiger” , “Panther” and the modernized Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H with a frontal armor thickness of 80 mm again put the Soviet anti-tank artillery before the need to strengthen firepower. This was done by re-adopting the 57-mm anti-tank gun ZIS-2 . However, thanks to the streamlined production mechanism for the production of M-42, the ability to combat the Panther and Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H by firing at the side and the high mobility of this gun, it was left in the production and arming of the anti-tank units of the rifle units. The British did the same - having developed a powerful 17-pound , they kept in production for exactly the same reasons a less powerful 6-pound .
The gun also had anti-personnel capabilities - it was supplied with fragmentation grenade and buckshot . A 45-mm fragmentation grenade at break gives 100 fragments that retain destructive force when flying along the front 15 meters and 5-7 meters deep. When fired, the projectile bullets form a striking sector along the front up to 60 m and in depth up to 400 m.
In the memoirs on the combat use of guns:
The commander of the 6th Guards Army, General I. M. Chistyakov, wrote:
“... .. the artillery marshal Nikolai Nikolaevich Voronov once told us that in the 22nd army on the tops of the trees ... .. they arranged a firing position for an anti-tank gun. And the visibility was good, and the shelling was wonderful. The cannon knocked out two or three enemy tanks, but then with the next shot it fell down from the tree with all the calculation. ” [1]
Ammunition Characteristics and Properties
- Ammunition Nomenclature:
- armor-piercing 53-B-240
- armor-piercing tracer 53-BR-240
- armor-piercing tracer 53-BR-240SP (solid)
- armor-piercing tracer subcaliber 53-BR-240P
- fragmentation 53-O-240 (steel)
- shrapnel 53-O-240A (steel cast iron)
- buckshot 53-Щ-240
- smoke 53-D-240
- Muzzle velocity, m / s : 870
- Projectile weight, kg
- Armor-piercing armor: 0.85
- Caliber armor-piercing: 1.43
- Shrapnel: 2.14
- Direct Shot Range, m: 950
- Penetration of homogeneous armor of medium hardness, 75% of fragments in the armor space, mm
- Caliber armor-piercing shell
- meeting angle 90 degrees from the tangent plane to the armor (normal)
- at a distance of 500 m: 61
- at a distance of 1000 m: 51
- meeting angle 90 degrees from the tangent plane to the armor (normal)
- Submunition armor-piercing shell
- meeting angle 90 degrees from the tangent plane to the armor (normal)
- at a distance of 350 m: 82 (Through hole, side upper armor of the hull and turret. According to the shelling of the Tiger heavy tank at the firing range in 1943)
- at a distance of 500 m: 62 (Through hole, side lower armor of the hull. According to the shelling of the Tiger heavy tank at the firing range in 1943)
- meeting angle 90 degrees from the tangent plane to the armor (normal)
- Caliber armor-piercing shell
Where can I see
- Russia - Museum of Russian Military History in the village of Padikovo, Istra District, Moscow Region.
- Russia - Perm Artillery Museum (Museum of the History of PJSC Motovilikhinsky Plants). Perm, 1905, d.20.
- Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Temryuk district, Temryuk, open-air museum "Military Hill"
- Russia, Sverdlovsk Region, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Museum of Military Equipment UMMC .
Operators
- Venezuela - 6 M-42, as of 2016 [2]
- Tunisia - 12 M-42, as of 2016 [3]
- Jordan - 216 M-42, non-operational, as of 2016 [4]
See also
- 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1937 model (53-K)
- 45-mm semi-automatic universal gun 80-K
Notes
- ↑ I. M. Chistyakov. Serving the Fatherland.- M.: Military Publishing, 1975 - p. 200
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Military Balance 2016 / James Hackett. - London: Taylor & Francis, 2016 .-- S. 417. - ISBN 9781857438352 .
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Military Balance 2016 / James Hackett. - London: Taylor & Francis, 2016 .-- S. 356. - ISBN 9781857438352 .
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Military Balance 2016 / James Hackett. - London: Taylor & Francis, 2016 .-- S. 337. - ISBN 9781857438352 .
Literature
- Shunkov V.N. Weapon of the Red Army. - Mn. : Harvest, 1999 .-- ISBN 985-433-469-4 .