This article will focus on the regimental guns of the 1927 and 1943 models of the year, the hard work of which fell to the front edge of more than one conflict and World War II. It was these guns that took on all the burden as the main weapon for supporting infantry.
76-mm regimental gun model 1927 year.
Soviet light regimental gun caliber 76,2 mm direct support for infantry and cavalry. "Shelf", "snub-nosed", "Bobby".
The first Soviet large-scale artillery gun. The gun mass (everything was made more than 18 thousands of guns) was produced from 1928 to 1943, took part in hostilities in Hasan, Khalkhin-Gol, the Polish campaign 1939 of the year, the Soviet-Finnish and World War II.
The main task of the gun, which was in the combat order of the infantry, was the operational suppression of enemy firing points both in the defense and in the offensive, following the advancing ones.
The gun served as a prototype for the creation of the first domestic serial tank ("76-mm tank gun model 1927/32" on the T-28 tank) and medium-caliber self-propelled guns (SAU SU-12).
The gun was rather conservative in design, unnecessarily heavy, lacked a sector of horizontal guidance and armor penetration (before the introduction of a cumulative projectile). Affected by the creation of guns on the basis of not the new models.
When it was decided to create a regimental cannon in 1924, the 76-mm gun of the 1902 model was in service
The main drawbacks of the 1902 model gun of the year were the excessive weight (1350 kg in the combat position and 2380 kg in the traveling one) and low mobility.
Considering the engineering difficulties in the Soviet Union of that time, it was decided to abandon the design of the gun from scratch, creating a gun based on existing samples.
Several models were considered as prototypes, but the 76-mm gun of the 1913 model of the year, the so-called “short three-inch” was taken as a point of reference.
The design of the cannon was completed by the end of 1925 of the year, at the beginning of 1926 of the year a prototype of the gun was made, at the beginning of 1928 of the year the gun was adopted by the Red Army under the official name of “76-mm regimental gun mod. 1927.
All work was assigned to the Artillery Technical Office (ATK) of the Putilov factory, at which mass production of guns was begun.
From 1929 to 1934, the gun was constantly modified. Their goal was to simplify the design and improve the manufacturability of production, as well as improving the tactical and technical characteristics. Works on the modernization of the guns were carried out in the ATK of the Putilov factory under the direction of A. A. Monakov and I. A. Makhanov.
In 1929, some changes and simplifications were introduced into 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 tires was developed for the gun, which allowed the gun to reach the maximum speed of 25 km / h . However, it was possible to completely replace the old version with wooden wheels in production only by 1934.
76-mm regimental gun obr. 1927 had a number of drawbacks, including a small angle of vertical guidance and low armor penetration. Despite the fact that at that time most of the tanks defended with anti-bullet armor 10 — 20 mm thick, the low initial velocity of the projectile did not allow to successfully combat the armored vehicles.
The armor of German tanks in 30 mm (forehead light and medium board) was at the limit of the possibility of a gun to break through even at short distances.
The situation was somewhat corrected by the adoption of the 1942-mm cumulative projectile in 76, but by that time it became clear that a radical modernization was required, if not the creation of a new weapon.
The calculation of the gun consisted of 7 people: gun commander, gunner, loader, castle, governing (the calculation fighter who turned the gun in accordance with the gunner's instructions) and two boxers (podnoschiki).
The gun fumbled with four horses, another four was needed to haul the charging box. Also could be used mechanical traction - tractors "Pioneer", "Komsomolets", cars.
But in the conditions of military operations with the transportation of guns often had to cope with the calculation.
For the transport used the front of the gun. In each of the front frames fit six trays of an 4 shot. The charging box consisted of forward and reverse gears. Forward travel was generally similar to a front end and also placed 6 trays over the 4 shot. The backing was somewhat larger and placed 8 trays on an 4 shot. Thus, portable ammunition was 80 shots (24 in the front end, 24 + 32 in the forward and reverse travels of the charging box).
In 1943, the gun was discontinued, but until the end of the war it continued to be one of the main artillery systems of the Red Army. An interesting feature of the gun was its aerotransportability, which turned out to be demanded in practice - in besieged Leningrad at the end of 1941, 457 units of 76-mm regimental guns, which were delivered under Moscow by aircraft and provided substantial assistance to the Soviet troops in the battle for Moscow, were manufactured.
76-mm regimental gun obr. 1927 was intended for the following tasks:
for direct support and maintenance of infantry;
to combat armored vehicles and tanks;
for the suppression and destruction of enemy infantry fire weapons, located openly and behind light field shelters;
to suppress and prohibit all types of fire from a bunker with a direct fire on embrasures;
for making passages in wire obstacles and passages in the banks for their tanks.
The gun was intended almost exclusively for direct fire. In the offensive, the regimental guns had to be moved by the calculation in the battle formations of the advancing infantry and quickly suppress enemy fire weapons that impede advancement — machine-gun nests, artillery guns and mortars, and various firing points.
In defense, the guns also had to be in the combat order of the infantry, firing at the enemy’s advancing infantry, and, if necessary, at the tanks and armored vehicles.
The specificity of the actions of regimental guns led to great losses both in the material part and in the calculations, but at the same time, along with the battalion artillery (45-mm guns) and mortars, the regimental guns were the only artillery systems that were directly in battle formations and had the maximum promptly hit the identified targets.
Due to the relatively small size and weight, regimental guns were actively used in forcing rivers, conducting amphibious operations, in urban battles.
Features:
Caliber, mm: 76,2
Calculation, persons: 7
Rate of fire, rds / min: 10 — 12
Speed on the highway, km / h: 25
The height of the line of fire, mm: 945
Weight in the stowed position, kg: 1620 (with chuck and servant)
Weight in the fighting position, kg: kg (740-780 (on wooden wheels), kg (903-920) (on metal wheels)
Firing angles
Vertical guidance angle, degrees: from −5,6 to + 24,5 °
Horizontal guidance angle, degrees: 5,5 °
A small maximum angle of elevation of the gun severely limited the 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 part of the machine, which required considerable time to prepare the firing position and made it difficult to fire at remote targets.
Another feature of the "regiment" was a very impressive set of ammunition.
Armor-piercing shells: UBR-353А, UBR-353В, UBR-353SP. Firing range up to 4 000 m.
Cumulative shells: UBP-253A (from 1943 g.), UBP-353M (from 1944 g.). Firing range up to 1 000 m.
High-explosive shells: УОФ-353А, УОФ-353АМ, УОФ-353М. Firing range up to 8 500 m.
High-explosive old-style grenades: UV-353, UV-353M, UV-353F. Firing range up to 6 700 m.
76-mm regimental gun model 1943 year.
Developed in 1942-1943 under the direction of M. Yu. Tsirulnikova. This gun replaced the 76-mm regimental cannon model 1927, and was actively used at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War.
In total, 1943 1946 guns of this type were built in the 5192-50, which were in service with the Soviet Army in the post-war period until the end of the XNUMX-s, when they were replaced by more modern systems.
Tsirulnikov proposed to impose an 76-mm barrel of an 1927 model of the year on the 45-gun carriage of an X-NUMX-model X-NUMX anti-tank gun. This solution made it possible to obtain a fairly light artillery system using elements well developed in production.
The new system turned out to be almost a third lighter than the 1927 model cannon, the horizontal pickup angle increased significantly, the overall dimensions decreased, but the armor penetration, maximum firing range and rate of fire remained the same.
Initially, the commissions were accepted by the commissions without enthusiasm, however, with the advent of cumulative projectiles in 1943, which did not care much about the initial velocity of the projectile and guarantee penetration of armor up to 70-mm thick at medium distances, Tsirulnikov was recalled about the development. Moreover, compared with other existing projects, it was almost complete and finished product. So the gun was put into service under the symbol OB-25.
Features:
Caliber, mm: 76,2
Calculation, persons: 6
Rate of fire, rds / min: 12
Speed on the highway, km / h: up to 35
Weight in the stowed position, kg: 1300 (with front end)
Weight in the fighting position, kg: 600
HV angle, degrees: −8 to + 25 °
Angle GN, degrees: 60 °
Compared to the 76-mm 1927 Regimental Regiment Cannon, the OB-25 assortment of ammunition was not rich and included only 4 projectiles. For firing at manpower, fire weapons and enemy fortifications, high-explosive fragmentation shells of RP-350 and fragmentation shells of O-350А were used.
Cumulative shells were of two types: steel BP-350М (armor penetration up to 100 mm) and steel cast iron BP-353А (armor penetration about 70 mm). Both projectiles were completed with instant-action BM fuze.
Armor-piercing shells for Ob-25 not produced.
Compared to its predecessor, the 76-mm regimental gun of the 1927 model, OB-25 significantly gains in mobility (lower gun weight and higher speed) and horizontal guidance angle (which gives the best opportunities for maneuvering fire and fighting tanks) but inferior in maximum range and accuracy of fire.
True, many experts, making comparisons, noted that a large firing range for a regimental gun, intended primarily for firing at targets that are in the line of sight of the calculation, is not a significant advantage.
Despite the shortcomings inherited from her ancestor, the OB-25 gun had one incomparable advantage - a very small mass for its caliber. This allowed both direct support of infantry on the battlefield, and operational switching to the suppression of field fortifications, as well as effectively fighting enemy light / medium tanks using cumulative ammunition.
In general, the "regiments" played a very significant role in the Great Patriotic War. Together with 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and 45-mm anti-tank gun, these guns were the main infantry assistants on the front edge.
Today, these guns can be found in our country as exhibits, although they are not as common as the 76-mm divisional gun. But this does not diminish their huge contribution to the Victory.
The guns in the pictures belong to the museum of military stories in Padikovo Moscow region.