The 76 mm regimental gun of the 1927 model

Background

In the Russian Empire, regimental artillery was abolished in 1800 ^[2] , and, as a result, the development and production of regimental guns ended. At the same time, light anti-storm guns were created and produced for the fortress artillery . According to the tactics of their use, such guns during the assault on the fortress were to quickly roll out calculations from shelters and open fire direct fire at the attacking infantry of the enemy; in addition, anti-storm guns were to accompany the garrison of the fortress during sorties. The specifics of the use of anti-storm guns imposed certain requirements on their characteristics (lightness, high rate of fire, relatively small firing range), which coincided with the required characteristics for regimental guns. Thus, structurally anti-storm guns were actually regimental guns ^[3] . Also, both in design and in tactical and technical characteristics, light mountain guns were very close to regimental guns. With the outbreak of World War I, the 76-mm anti-storm guns arr. 1910 were removed from the fortresses and sent to field artillery.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the leadership of the Main Artillery Directorate recognized the need for adopting a light field gun, but the term “regimental gun” was not yet used in relation to such guns ^[3] . In 1914, at the Putilov factory , such a gun was officially manufactured, tested and put into production, officially adopted for service as the “ 3-inch short gun mod. 1913. ”(“ Long ”meant a 3-inch cannon model 1902 with a barrel length of 30 calibers). Structurally, the gun was created on the basis of a 76-mm mountain gun mod. 1909 , which, in turn, was a collapsible (on the barrel and clutch with a bolt) body of the gun of the system of the Greek colonel Dangliz on a mountain carriage developed by Schneider . In particular, the construction of the barrel , anti-recoil devices , wheels were almost completely borrowed from the mountain cannon, and the carriage design was largely preserved. The latter at the same time became indistinguishable, unlike a mountain cannon ^[3] . 3-inch short gun arr. 1913 was mass-produced in 1914-1920, was actively used in the First World War and the Civil War.

After the Civil War, there was a rethinking of military experience, expressed in particular in the finalization of the concept of regimental guns. In particular, in 1924 an article by I. Sokolovsky was published, in which the principles for the use of regimental artillery were stated as follows ^[1] :

1. Regimental artillery should be brought up on the cult of open positions ...

2. Regimental artillery, as a rule, should occupy positions in the area of ​​advanced infantry units (machine-gun combat units of mechanized infantry, since they usually go ahead of infantry).

... Regimental artillery guns, before they appear in a combat position and after they have completed a combat mission, should be in a sheltered place, possibly closer to the line of fire in a waiting position, from where you can feel the infantry fighting experiences and monitor all the vicissitudes of the battle ...

Creation

In 1924, the Soviet military leadership decided to create a regimental gun, since the 76-mm gun arr., Introduced into the regimental artillery in 1924, 1902 was too heavy and limited. It was decided to abandon the design of the gun "from scratch", creating a gun based on existing samples. As prototypes, a 76-mm mountain gun mod. 1909, 76-mm anti-storm gun arr. 1910 and 76 mm short cannon mod. 1913, of which the last was selected at the beginning of 1925 . The task for designing a new gun was issued by the Design Bureau of the Arms and Artillery Trust (OAT) under the leadership of S. P. Shukalov, and designer Sokolov also presented his project ^[3] . The design of the new gun was completed by the end of 1925, at the beginning of 1926 a prototype gun of the KB OAT was made ^[1] . Testing of prototypes of guns was carried out at the Scientific research artillery range and the Klementyevsky range of the Leningrad military district from January to June 1927 . During the tests, the inexpediency of increasing the initial velocity of more than 381 m / s was noted (at high speeds, instability of the gun and a large spread of shells were observed). Wishes were also expressed to increase the maximum elevation angle of the gun and the maximum speed of the wagon. After carrying out the corresponding improvements, in early 1928 the gun of the design bureau of the OAT was adopted by the Red Army under the official name "76-mm regimental gun arr. 1927. " At the same time, all work on further improving the guns was assigned to the Artillery Technical Office (ATC) of the Putilov Plant, where the serial production of guns was started. Before the serial production of the ATK, under the leadership of F.F. Lender , some modifications of the gun were made. The first serial regimental guns were adopted by the military on December 22, 1928 ^[1] .

Production

Serial production of the gun was carried out from 1928 to 1943 , while from 1928 to 1941 the guns were produced at the Leningrad Putilovsky (Kirov) plant , and in 1942-1943 - at the factory number 172 . There is no detailed information on the manufacture of implements until 1938 ; it is only known that before November 1, 1936, at least 1634 guns were made (including 14 training guns).

Upgrades

From 1929 to 1934, the gun was subjected to constant improvements. Their goal was to simplify the design and increase the manufacturability of production, as well as improving the performance characteristics. Work on the modernization of the guns was carried out in the ATK Putilov plant under the guidance of A. A. Monakov and I. A. Makhanov. In 1929, some changes and simplifications were introduced in the design of the bolt, in 1930 the fastened barrel was replaced with a monoblock, in the same year a new metal wheel with rubber weights was developed for the gun, which allowed to bring the maximum speed of the carriage of the gun to 25 km / h . However, the old version with wooden wheels was completely replaced in production only in 1934 ^[1] .

Experimental development and further development of regimental guns

76 mm regimental gun arr. 1927 had a number of shortcomings, including a small angle of vertical guidance and low armor penetration (although at the time of creation the vast majority of the tanks of the world were protected by bulletproof armor 10–20 mm thick, vulnerable to its shells, and not only armor-piercing ones). The solution to these problems could be either a deep modernization of the gun, or the creation of a new gun. Back in 1927, the Design Bureau of OAT led the design of a new gun carriage, which made it possible to fire at an elevation angle of 45 degrees, but after the transfer of work on the cannon to the ATK of the Putilov Plant, this project was closed. In 1934, the Design Bureau of the Kirov Plant was given the task of modernizing the gun with the aim of increasing the elevation angle to 45-50 degrees, but studies have shown the impossibility of implementing this proposal while maintaining the existing carriage and recoil devices ^[1] . In 1936, it was decided to abandon attempts to modernize the gun and begin designing a new regimental howitzer gun , the design of the guns began at the Kirov Plant Design Bureau, but in 1937, work on the project was discontinued by order of Marshal MN Tukhachevsky ^[4] . In 1938, the new leadership of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) decided to resume work on creating a new regimental gun, and in addition to the design bureau of the Kirov factory ( 76-mm tank gun of the 1938 model (L-10) ), design bureaus of plant No. 7 (guns 7 -4 and 7-5 ) and plant number 92 (gun F-24 ). All of the presented developments were new guns that had little in common with the 76-mm regimental cannon of the 1927 model. In 1939-1940, prototypes of guns were made and tested, but none of them, for various reasons, satisfied the customer ^{[3] [4]} .

After the start of World War II, it became obvious that the armor penetration of the gun was clearly insufficient - in most cases the sides of the German medium and the forehead of light tanks were protected with high-quality armor about 30 mm thick, which was at the limit of the gun’s capabilities even at close combat distances. This led to the initiation of new work on regimental guns. Design Bureau of the Kirov Plant modernized the 76-mm regimental gun mod. 1927, which consisted in lengthening the barrel of the gun by 9 calibers, installing the load on the breech to eliminate the odds and increasing the clearance in the compressor of the recoil brake. The modernized model of the gun, called "76-mm regimental cannon mod. 1927/42 ”, was made in January 1942 . At the same time, the design bureau of Plant No. 92, under the guidance of V. G. Grabin, designed its own version of the regimental gun called ZIS-21-11, which was essentially a divisional gun ZIS-3 with a trunk cut to 20 calibers and a modified shield ^[4] . Both experimental artillery systems were tested in the spring and summer of 1942, but were not accepted for service, since by the end of 1942 76-mm shaped - charge shells had been created that possessed sufficient armor penetration regardless of their initial speed . As a result, the gun was designed, designed by OKB-172 in February 1943. This gun, known under the official name " 76-mm regimental gun mod. 1943 ” and the factory index OB-25 , was an overlay of a new barrel with weak ballistics on the carriage of a 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1942 (M-42) . Compared to the 76 mm regimental cannon arr. 1927, the new gun had a smaller mass, a larger angle of horizontal guidance, but a smaller maximum firing range ^[3] . The new gun was launched into gross production at the end of 1943, after which the release of 76-mm regimental guns mod. 1927 was discontinued.

Differences from Prototype

The gun was a modernization of the 76-mm short gun mod. 1913, distinguished from it by the following structural changes ^{[1] [3]} :

• the chamber is extended from 203 to 334 mm;
• introduced suspension (4 coil springs );
• designed a new combat axis ;
• changed the frontal part and the rods of the machine;
• reinforced trunk of the machine;
• designed a new shield cover;
• created a new lifting mechanism;
• newly designed carriage wheel.

During the further modernization of the guns, differences also appeared in the design of the bolt, barrel and wheels.

Barrel and recoil devices

Gun barrel - bonded or monoblock. The fastened trunk consisted of a pipe, a casing, a fastening ring and a muzzle. Trunk parts were assembled together in a hot state. Monoblock barrel was a pipe, the same size with a fastened barrel. In the barrel there are 24 rifling, the depth of cut is 0.762 mm, the steepness of the rifling at the beginning of the barrel is 49 calibres, and the barrel has 25 calibres. The weight of the barrel with a shutter 227-230 kg.

The piston shutter , by design close to the shutter of a 76 mm short gun arr. 1913, but somewhat simplified. The shutter consisted of four mechanisms - locking, shock, ejecting and safety. Opening and closing the shutter was carried out by a special handle, when rotated, it was rotated 90 °. The shutter opened to the right. The percussion mechanism included the hammer and the trigger , cocking and descent was carried out only from the cord, while with the shutter not completely closed, it was impossible to cock the trigger. The ejector in the form of a two-shouldered lever, when the shutter was unlocked, its frame hit the ejector's short shoulder, while the long arm ejected the sleeve from the chamber. An inertial fuse prevented the shutter from opening in the absence of a shot; if necessary, open the shutter in this case (for example, during a misfire) the fuse was turned off by a special button.

Anti- recoil devices included a hydraulic recoil brake and a pneumatic knurl . 1.3 liters of fluid in the recoil brake, 3.6 liters in the recuperator. The barrel and recoil devices are mounted on a slide that moves when rolling back in the cradle . The weight of the rolling parts (with the barrel) is 275 kg. The maximum rollback length is 1030 mm, normal - from 930 to 1000 mm. The swinging part of the implement is balanced, so there was no special balancing mechanism ^{[1] [3]} .

Carriage

The machine is single-bar, consisted of a box-shaped bed with a cutout in the middle for the barrel to pass on the rollback when firing at high elevation angles. Two coulters were attached to the trunk of the machine - non-folding for hard soils and folding for soft. To accommodate the cradle, there were special sockets in the trunnion of the machine. The barrel was guided vertically by a lifting mechanism, consisting of two gear sectors. Horizontal guidance with the help of a worm gear that moved the frontal part of the machine along the combat axis. The middle part of the combat axis of the I-section and is curved to facilitate the operation of the rotary mechanism ^{[1] [3]} .

Wheel Drive and Suspension

Suspension in the form of four coil springs, which are switched off when firing using a special handle with eccentrics. Wheels of two options:

• wooden with knitting needles, metal tires and rubber weights attached to them;
• metal KPM-76-27.

The speed of transporting the guns on wooden wheels is 15 km / h, on metal wheels 25 km / h ^[5] .

Shield Cover

The shield cover consisted of fixed and mobile shields. The middle shield is fixed, with hinged flaps hinged to it from above and below. The mobile shield was mounted on the machine, blocked the embrasure of the fixed shield and had a window with a door for direct fire on the target tube. The thickness of the shields is 3.5 and 4 mm, the weight of the fixed shield is 54 kg ^{[1] [3]} .

Sight

Sights were mounted on the left side of the cradle. The weight of sights is 4.05 kg ^[3] . Sights consisted of a panorama , a sight, an aim box and an arm ^[5] . The panorama is a cranked optical tube, consisting of a swivel head, a stationary body and an eyepiece tube. To set the goniometer in the panorama, there is a goniometer ring and a goniometer drum with pointers. The panorama is fixed on the sight in a special basket. The sight consists of a stem, lateral and transverse levels and a sighting tube.

Front and Charger Box

For horse carts were used gun front arr. 1930, arr. 1938 and arr. 1942 Front end arr. 1930 had wooden wheels with load carriers, sprung with four coil springs. Front arr. 1938 had wooden or metal wheels KPM-76-27, sprung with two leaf springs. Front arr. 1942 had metal wheels. In each of the front lines, six trays of 4 shots were placed. Empty front weight arr. 1930 344 kg, loaded with 850 kg. Charging boxes used two options - arr. 1930 and arr. 1938, differed in the type of wheels and suspension, similar to the front end of the corresponding samples. The charging box consisted of forward and reverse gears. The forward course was generally similar to the front end and also placed 6 trays of 4 shots. The reverse gear was slightly larger and placed 8 trays of 4 shots. Thus, the ammunition load was 80 rounds (24 in the front, 24 + 32 in the forward and reverse gears of the charging box).

The gun was busy with four horses, another four was required for the carriage of the charging box. Mechanical traction could also be used - tractors " Pioneer ", " Komsomolets ", cars ^{[1] [3]} .

Moving a gun from traveling to combat

When transferring guns from traveling to combat position, it was necessary ^[5] :

1. release the cradle from the mount;
2. remove covers from the muzzle and breech of the barrel and from sights;
3. turn off the suspension mechanism;
4. raise and secure the upper hinged shield (when firing direct fire, the upper shield does not rise, since it interferes with the aiming);
5. lower the lower hinged shield;
6. to release the machine from the marching mount with the combat axis by turning off the carriage axis stopper (pull the stopper towards you and turn it);
7. fold the rule and secure it with a wrapper;
8. remove the panorama from the drawer and insert into the socket of the stem of the sight, securing it with a latch and a clamping screw;
9. put the trigger in the trigger position;
10. move the rollback bar to the frontmost position;
11. make a recess under the opener;
12. depending on the ground, set the folding coulter to the firing position.

Settlement

The calculation of the gun consisted of 7 people: the gun commander, gunner, loader, castle, correct and two box ^[1] .

Field Tools

During serial production, the gun was repeatedly improved, but most of these changes were technological in nature and were not reflected in the appearance and characteristics of the gun. The only outwardly visible change was the introduction in 1930 of metal wheels.

CT Tank Gun

In 1931, the USSR began designing the medium T-28 tank and the T-35 heavy tank , the armament of which was to include a 76-mm cannon. It should be noted that tank guns of this caliber were not produced in the USSR, respectively, along with the design of tanks, work began on the creation of new guns. As the main option was considered a 76-mm semi-automatic tank gun PS-3 P.N.Syachintova . The PS-3 gun, officially adopted as the “tank gun mod. 1933 ", was a weapon that was very perfect for its time (in particular, it had a semi-automatic wedge bolt and could shoot with divisional cannons), but its refinement and mastering in serial production were delayed, so an urgent weapon was needed, which was supposed to be then - temporarily, replace PS-3. The simplest solution was the completion of the 76-mm regimental gun arr. 1927 for installation in a tank. The new gun was created in the ATK Design Bureau under the leadership of I. A. Makhanov in 1932, in March of the following year it was successfully tested and was adopted by the official name “76-mm tank gun mod. 1927/32 years. " This gun was also designated by the abbreviation "CT" (Kirov Tank) ^[1] . The gun was approved for installation on T-28 tanks “until the mass production of the 76.2 mm special tank gun of the PS-3 type”, but the PS-3 was never mastered in mass production, after the arrest of its designer, work on They were gradually phased out, and the Kirov plant switched to the creation of the L-10 gun.

The CT was distinguished from the prototype by a reduced rollback length (up to 500 mm), an increased amount of liquid in the recuperator up to 4.8 l, reinforced slides with walls thickened to 8 mm, a new lifting mechanism, the presence of mechanized foot descent and new sights optimized for use in tank. The ammunition and ballistics of the guns completely coincided with those for the regimental gun ^[6] . The KT cannon was installed on part of the T-28 linear tanks, all T-35s, BT-7A and T-26-4 “ artillery tanks ”, as well as armored trains ^[7] , armored cars ^[8] and armored vehicles of projects 1124 and 1125 .

Self-propelled artillery mounts

Special version of the 76-mm regimental gun arr. 1927 with a reduced (but greater than that of the CT) recoil was used for arming self-propelled artillery installations (self-propelled guns) SU-12 ^[1] .

In August 1941, the plant hoisting-and-transport facilities to them. In Leningrad, Kirova developed self-propelled guns for direct support of the SU-26 infantry, later re-designated as SU-76P, on the basis of the T-26 light tank or its flamethrower modification KhT-130 / 133 . In the process of re-equipment from the tanks, the tower was dismantled and the turret box was cut off. A box-beam was installed in the former fighting compartment, which served as a support for the platform with a pedestal installation of the rotating part of the 76-mm regimental cannon arr. 1927 with a new shield cover. In the flooring of this platform, two hatches were equipped for access to the shell cellar underneath. The reason for the appearance of this semi-improvised combat vehicle was the desire to give the front more armored vehicles with an acute shortage of 45-mm fragmentation grenades , which excluded the use of T-26 standard weapons. In 1941-1942 12 such self-propelled guns were converted to the troops, converted from the faulty linear and flamethrower tanks of the T-26 family found in the weapons depots ^[9] .

•   USSR - about 18,000 guns.
•   Germany - at least 1815 guns ^[10] .
•   Finland - at least 235 guns ^[11] .

76 mm regimental guns arr. 1927 according to the state there were in the regimental artillery batteries of the following parts ^[12] :

• Regiments of rifle divisions - until July 1941 there were 6 guns in the battery, later 4 guns.
• Cavalry regiments - 4 guns.
• Motorized rifle regiments of tank and motorized divisions - 4 guns.
• Artillery divisions of rifle brigades - 4 guns.

76 mm regimental guns arr. 1927 were actively used in a number of pre-war conflicts with the participation of the USSR: in battles near Lake Khasan and on the Khalkhin-Gol River (during the battles 14 guns were lost, including 7 irretrievably) ^[13] , in the Soviet-Finnish War (losses amounted to 67 guns) ^[14] , the Polish campaign of 1939 . In June 1941, the Red Army consisted of 4,708 regimental guns arr. 1927 ^[3] , including 2296 guns as part of the troops of the western military districts ^[1] . In 1941-1942, regimental guns suffered heavy losses, which nevertheless were offset by the arrival of a significant number of newly produced guns. In 1943, the gun was discontinued, but until the end of the war continued to be one of the main artillery systems of the Red Army. An interesting feature of the gun was its air transport, which turned out to be in demand in practice - in the besieged Leningrad at the end of 1941, 457 76-mm regimental cannons were made. 1927, which were delivered near Moscow by air and provided significant assistance to the Soviet troops in the battle for Moscow ^[15] .

76 mm regimental gun arr. 1927 was intended to solve the following problems ^[5] :

1. for direct support and accompaniment of infantry with fire and wheels;
2. to combat armored vehicles and tanks;
3. to suppress and destroy enemy infantry weapons located openly and behind light field shelters;
4. for suppression and prohibition of fire of all types from the bunker ( Bunker ) by direct-fire firing at embrasures;
5. for making passages in wire fences and passages in the grooves for their tanks.

The gun was intended almost exclusively for direct fire. In the offensive, regimental guns had to be relocated in the battle formations of the advancing infantry and quickly suppress enemy firepower that impeded advancement — machine gun nests, artillery pieces and mortars , and various firing points. In defense, the guns also had to be in battle formations of the infantry, firing at the advancing infantry of the enemy, and, if necessary, at tanks and armored vehicles. The specifics of the actions of regimental guns led to large losses of both the material part and the calculations; at the same time, along with battalion artillery (45 mm cannons) and mortars, regimental guns were the only artillery systems that were directly in battle formation and had the ability to hit the identified targets as quickly as possible. Due to the relatively small size and weight, regimental cannons were actively used when crossing rivers, conducting landing operations, in urban battles.

It is reliably known about the use of captured weapons of this type by the German and Finnish armies.

The Wehrmacht in 1941-1942 captured several thousand regimental cannons arr. 1927, 1815 of which were officially included in the documents as of the end of 1943 ^[16] . The guns were adopted by the German army under the name 7.62 cm Infanteriekanonenhaubitze 290 (r) ; by March 1944, the Wehrmacht still had 225 such guns, including 4 guns in the East, 36 in the Balkans , 173 in the West (mainly in France ), and 12 in Denmark ^[10] . The German artillerymen of this type of guns also gained great respect because of the simplicity, durability and undemanding in operation, in the Third Reich the production of their own cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation munitions was also established for them. Part 7.62 cm IKH 290 (r) was even equipped with sights with German-made optics. ^[sixteen]

The Finnish army captured 54 regimental cannons during the Winter War , as well as almost two hundred guns in 1941. At the beginning of 1944, the Finnish army had 235 guns of this type, which received indices 76 RK / 27 and 76 RK / 27-39 (the latter belonged to a modification of a gun with metal wheels). In general, the gun was rated positively, but its weakness as an anti-tank was noted. After the war ended, the guns served in the Finnish army until the 1960s ^[11] .

Gun shots were completed in the form of a unitary cartridge . In order to unify ammunition with divisional guns, the length of the chamber of the regimental gun was adopted the same as the division. However, since the recoil device of the regimental gun was not designed to use powerful shots of divisional guns, special measures were taken to exclude the possibility of loading the regimental gun with a divisional shot. For this, the diameter of the flange of the sleeve of the shotgun of the regimental gun was reduced; accordingly, it was impossible to charge the regimental cannon with a divisional gun - the flange of its sleeve did not enter the undercut in the gripping sockets. At the same time, firing of regimental cannon shots from a divisional weapon was possible. Separate-loading shots collected in shortened cartridges could also be used, but this option was not widely used ^{[1] [3]} .

The sleeve of a unitary cartridge is brass weighing 1.55 kg or steel 1.41 kg. The charge 54-Zh-353 ^[17] consisted of 0.455 kg of gunpowder grade 4/1 and was a regular reduced charge for a divisional gun ^[18] . Theoretically, the regimental cannon could fire the whole assortment of shells for divisional guns, but in practice some shells were not used, in particular there were no shots with sub-caliber shells because of their inefficiency at low initial speed. It should be noted that it was in regimental artillery that cumulative shells were most actively used, since they greatly increased the anti-tank capabilities of the guns (a conventional armor-piercing projectile had very low armor penetration due to the low initial speed), and for divisional artillery the gain in armor penetration of a cumulative projectile was armor-piercing at a battle distance closer than 500 meters was small (divisional 76-mm guns could also use more effective sub-caliber ammunition). In addition, cumulative projectile fuses were finally worked out only by the end of 1944, and until that time the use of cumulative projectiles in divisional artillery was prohibited due to the danger of a projectile bursting in the barrel channel due to premature fuse detonation. Cumulative shells with an armor penetration of about 70–75 mm appeared in the ammunition of regimental guns from 1943, and until that time, ordinary armor-piercing shells were used in the fight against tanks, and even more often — shrapnel put “on strike” ^[4] .

The largest assortment of shots was available for high-explosive and high-explosive shells due to the presence of a large number of old Russian and French grenades. Also used were shells from the recoilless battalion gun of Kurchevsky (BOD). Shells from the BOD fired at standard charges of the regimental gun from armor-piercing rounds weighing 0.465 kg. During the war, separate loading ammunition was also used, using cut-off shells up to 250 ... 260 mm: from rejection of standard and single shells according to the pattern. Such ammunition was equipped with both regular domestic OF-350 shells (53-VO-353AM) and shells from captured 75- and 76-mm ammunition. So there is information about the use of captured German shells Spr.Gr. 39 from the Pak 36 (r) gun; a charge of 500 g of gunpowder 4/1, an initial speed of 390 m / s, a maximum firing range of 7710 m ^[3] . Known documentation governing the stocking in the troops of ammunition for regimental guns with captured 75- and 76-mm cumulative shells.

The maximum elevation angle of the gun was 24.5 °, which limited the maximum firing range. However, the firing tables indicate the maximum range at an elevation angle of 40 ° —for firing at such an elevation angle, it was necessary to tear off a special ditch under the trunk of the machine, which required considerable time to prepare the firing position and made it difficult to maneuver with fire ^[10] .

In modern military-historical literature there are various evaluations of tools, both sharply critical ^[10] and positive ^[4] . Critical publications point to the general obsolescence of the design of the gun, which is essentially the development of the Dangliz mountain cannon, the first draft of which was developed back in 1893 . Also, disadvantages are indicated by the small elevation angle of the gun (24.5 °) and the presence of unitary loading, which did not allow hinged firing , as well as the weight of the system, significant for the regimental gun. Positive publications point out the simplicity, reliability, manufacturability and low cost of the gun, the firing range significant for the regimental gun, and the fact that 120 mm mortars were used for mounted firing in the regimental link of the Red Army, which made the inability to conduct mounted fire by regimental cannons a less critical drawback. The general obsolescence of the design of the gun by the end of the 1930s and the need to replace it with a new, more modern model is not in doubt ^[4] .

Foreign analogues of the 76 mm regimental gun of the 1927 model are represented by German, Italian and Japanese guns.

German infantry cannons of close caliber, which were analogues of Soviet regimental cannons, were represented by three systems during World War II. The most common was the 75 mm light infantry gun 7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18 , adopted for service in 1927. Compared with the regimental cannon arr. 1927, the German gun was two times lighter (which allowed him to carry a pair of horses), had a separate-shell loading and a vertical guidance angle (HV) of 75 degrees, which allowed for effective mounted shooting ^[10] . The carriage of the German gun, like the Soviet one, was single-barreled, however, the angle of horizontal guidance (GN) of the German gun was more than twice that of the Soviet one. In favor of the Soviet guns speaks a larger maximum firing range and a rich assortment of various types of ammunition. The German guns 7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 42 and 7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 37 were created in 1943, they were light guns on carriages with sliding beds. Moreover, to create the IG37, the Germans used the carriages of the outdated 37 mm anti-tank guns, both their own Pak 35/36 and captured Soviet 1-K ( 3.7 cm Pak 158 (r) ) ^[19] . The guns had separate loading, the VL angle close to that of the Soviet weapon and a significantly larger GN angle were 200–300 kg lighter than the Soviet weapon ^[10] . The Soviet gun significantly exceeded these German models in terms of firing range, assortment of ammunition, and also favorably differed in the absence of a muzzle brake, the action of which unmasked the gun when firing.

The Italian 75 mm divisional howitzer Obice da 75/18 , originally created as a mountain gun, surpassed the Soviet gun in maximum firing range, GN and BH angles. However, the Italian howitzer had a mass of 150 kilograms more, approaching the classic divisional guns along it (for comparison, the weight of the Soviet 76-mm divisional gun ZIS-3 is 1,150 kg), which made it difficult to move it with the calculation ^[20] .

A very interesting weapon was the Japanese Type-92 70 mm battalion howitzer. This gun was superior to the Soviet in the angles of HV and GN, and was extremely light - only 212 kg ^[21] . However, such a record low value was achieved by using a very light projectile weighing only 3.76 kg, which pretty closely corresponded to the mass of 45 mm Soviet ammunition. Accordingly, the effectiveness of the Japanese 70-mm shells was much inferior to the Soviet 76-mm ammunition. In addition, the Japanese gun had weak ballistics - its maximum firing range did not reach 3 km.

When comparing guns arr. 1927 with a gun that replaced it in production - 76 mm regimental cannon arr. 1943 - it can be noted that the gun mod. In 1943, at the same angle, the VN had a significantly larger warhead angle, lighter by 250-300 kg, but at the same time it had a much smaller maximum firing range, close in value to the similar characteristic of German infantry guns. Thus, the mobility of the gun, determined by its mass, was given priority over the large firing range, which, under the conditions of the specific use of regimental guns, was rarely in demand ^[10] .

76 mm regimental gun arr. 1927 can be seen in the expositions of the Museum of Artillery and Engineering Troops in St. Petersburg , the Central Museum of the Armed Forces and the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow , the Museum of Russian Military History in the village of Padikovo ( Moscow Region ), in the Museum “Military Glory of the Urals” in Verkhnyaya Pyshma ( Sverdlovsk Region ), in the Finnish Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna , in the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw , in the Military Museum in Belgrade , in front of the Officers House in Kiev. In the city of Valdai, the Novgorod region, by the eternal flame, in the form of a monument. In the city of Birsk in the form of 2 monuments in the Sokolok park (a monument to participants in the civil war). In Brest, the museum has 5 forts of the Brest Fortress.

At least one instance in the deactivated state is offered for sale by the Czech company Zeleny Sport.

Unlike tanks, a variety of models of artillery weapons is found in a very limited number of computer games. In particular, the regimental gun arr. 1927 can be seen in the domestic strategy games Stalingrad , Black Jackets , Sudden Strike , in the tank simulator Steel Fury , and also in the foreign game Combat Mission . It is worth noting that the reflection of the features of the use of guns in these games is far from reality. This weapon is also featured in critics who have received high marks for the realistic wargame Art of War. Kursk Arc . ”

• 76 mm regimental gun arr. 1927 Quick Start Guide. - M .: GAU, 1943.
• Firing tables 76 mm regimental gun arr. 1927 - M .: GAU, 1943.
• Ammunition for 76 mm guns of ground, tank and self-propelled artillery. Leadership. - M .: GAU, 1949.
• Shirokorad A. B. Encyclopedia of Russian artillery. - Mn. : Harvest, 2000 .-- 1156 p. - ISBN 985-433-703-0 .
• Ivanov A. Artillery of the USSR in World War II. - SPb. : Neva, 2003 .-- 64 p. - ISBN 5-7654-2731-6 .
• Shunkov V.N. Weapons of the Red Army. - Mn. : Harvest, 1999 .-- 544 p. - ISBN 985-433-469-4 .
• Svirin M.N. "Bobik". Pages of life // Technology and weapons yesterday, today, tomorrow. - 2008. - No. 2 and 4 .

•   The documentary "The Irreplaceable Colonel" from the cycle Machine War dedicated to the 76-mm regimental gun model 1927