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The Zis 3 76mm AT Gun and servants (see below):
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The Zis 2 57mm AT Gun and servants (see below):
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I must confess I was slightly taken aback with the length of the 57mm AT (Zis 2) Gun's barrel. It must have had a heck of a mussel velocity but just did not pack the punch to trouble a Panther or Tiger, so it was replaced by the Zis 3 76mm gun.
Correction: Please read comments for the "real" reason ;)
3 comments:
"but just did not pack the punch to trouble a Panther or Tiger, so it was replaced by the Zis 3 76mm gun."
Actually I don't think that is the case. The 57mm ZiS 2 was a bit of a victim of the Soviet drive for efficiency. They did the development work in 1940 but then decided the standard 45mm was going to be OK after all. When the Germans started to deploy up-armoured PZIIIs & IVs (and of course Panthers and Tigers) they dragged the design back and put it in service with the dedicated AT units where it served throughout the war. It wasn't replaced by the ZiS 3. The main problem was not penetration, which at least by Soviet accounts was very respectable, but the APCR rounds it used didn't carry any HE burster so damage on penetration behind the armour was pretty hit and miss - if you hit something important then great, but if you didnt....
Actual penetration was much better than the ZiS3, but the ZiS 3 was much more versatile and they made an awful lot of them. They did use it on some T34-57s and after the war it hung around on the air portable ASU57.
Muzzle velocity was rather high as you would expect. IIRC Soviet sources claim about 1250 m\s for the APCR which is about 10% higher than the equivalent UK 6Pdr APDS
Cheers Renko I appreciate the extra info :)
Thanks
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