Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkSheppard
According to R.P. Hunnicutt's SHERMAN, the two 75mm guns installed on the M4 Medium Tanks were:
75mm M2 gun, which had the following measurements:
Length of Bore: 28.5 caliber
Length, Muzzle to rear face of breech: 31.1 caliber
and was installed in the T6 Prototype, and the first couple of Shermans off the production line. These are identifiable via the concentric counterweights installed on the end of the barrel; this is due to the gun mount being designed for the longer M3 gun, so the counterweights were a 'hackjob' to make the shorter M2 gun work in a mount designed for the longer M3.
75mm M3 gun, which had the following measurements:
Length of Bore: 37.5 caliber
Length, Muzzle to rear face of breech: 40.1 caliber
and was installed on the massively overwhelming majority of 75mm Shermans (99.99999%) built.
NOTE: The U.S. measured “calibre” as the length from the muzzle to the rear of the barrel (bore), while the Germans measured it from the muzzle to the rear of the breech. Thus, the US 75mm M3 gun would have a calibre of L37.5 under the US system and L40.1 under the German system.
This may be the cause of confusion; someone saw two differing sources, one measuring calibre via the German system (L40.1) and another via the US system (L37.5) and thought there were two 75mm guns with different calibre lengths in Shermans.
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Mark,
Does this mean the rear of the breech is in fact closest to the loader and not furthest from the loader?
I'm wondering if the US and British measured calibers by bore length, and the continental armies measured from muzzle to rear of breech, but this amounts to the same thing...
If the US Army used bore length, why does a primary US Army document refer to the 75mm M3 as L40?
If the bore was L37.5 it would be 281cm and if the rear of the breech (providing this is closest to loader) was L40 then this gives a breech length of 19cm. Can anyone confirm that this is a realistic breech length for a 75mm round?
Finally, if Hunnicutt is right that the 75mm M3 was in fact L37.5 and by German/continental measurements it was L40, then it should be left as L40 in the game because all the German L37 guns are given L40 in the game.
Cross