For a long time I had to look for a copy of this tool for shooting. A very rare cannon in museums precisely because of its specificity. In general, in Russia there are only three left.
Lucky in the military museum stories in Padikovo there is not just a copy of a mountain cannon, but in perfect condition. And you can not just examine it, but also get an understanding of what the gun was like.
At the beginning of the 30 of the last century, it was decided to replace the Red Army 76-mm mountain cannon of the 1909 model of the year as outdated. The main drawbacks of these guns, inherited from the army of the Russian Empire, were the small angle of vertical guidance (28 °) and the use of unitary ammunition with a constant charge and very low (381 m / s) initial projectile velocity as ammunition.
Considering the specifics of combat operations in the mountains, the possibility of firing at high elevation angles when using various charges is crucial for a mountain weapon.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the mountain cannons of the 1909 model of the year have conquered the entire Great Patriotic War. In fact, the 2 000 of these guns, launched from 1909 to 1939, was noted on all fronts of the battles of that war.
In the 1936 year, when the decision was made to replace, all contacts with Germany, which was the main supplier of artillery systems for the USSR, were practically discontinued on the initiative of Hitler.
However, there was also Czechoslovakia, with which a corresponding agreement was concluded in 1935. The company "Skoda" had extensive experience in creating artillery systems, and it was decided to build on the products of this manufacturer.
8 January 1936 of the year was issued a decree of the Council of Labor and Defense, providing for testing of mining tools of the company "Skoda" in the USSR. For testing, the company presented the newest 75-mm mountain cannon C-5 (also known as M.36), which was reconstructed under the caliber 76,2 mm, traditional for the Soviet army. In the USSR, the gun was called the “special delivery mountain cannon” or G-36. Landing tests of guns were carried out in Czechoslovakia and at the Research Artillery range (NIAP), military tests - in the South Caucasus. As a result, it was decided to purchase a license for the production of tools.
It was necessary, however, to face the grin of capitalism. Škoda set a condition for purchasing 400 guns from it and 400 thousand shots for them for 22 million dollars. The Soviet leadership decided that it was expensive, and the negotiations first reached an impasse.
But in 1937, the parties agreed politically: Czechoslovakia on behalf of Skoda passes the USSR documentation and license to manufacture the gun, and the USSR in turn gives Czechoslovakia documentation and license to produce the SB bomber.
Having received the C-5 at their disposal, the first step was to refine it to adapt the design to the capabilities of the Soviet industry, and, if possible, to improve the performance characteristics.
The design work of the gun was carried out by the design bureau of the Leningrad plant No. 7 under the direction of L. I. Gorlitsky.
In 1938, the gun was tested. Definitely say that it is impossible. According to the test results, changes were made to the design of the instrument. Instead of semi-automatics, the quarter-automatics was introduced, the design of the recoil devices was changed, the frontal part of the mast was shortened, the thickness of the cradle was increased. In this form, the gun satisfied the military leadership, and the 5 of May 1939, the gun was adopted under the official name “76-mm mountain cannon arr. 1938.
The gun was mass-produced at the Arsenal plant in Kiev. The 1939-41 produced 1060 guns. Production was stopped at the end of the summer of 1941, due to the evacuation of the plant from Kiev. More gun was not released.
It is worth saying that the gun came out not cheap. The cost of one mountain cannon model 1938 g. Was 80 000 rubles. The 76 mm 1927 model regimental gun cost 35 000 rubles.
The gun was an artillery system with a single-sided gun carriage, a wedge bolt and metal disc wheels without suspension. Officially, the system was classified as a gun, but the presence of several charges and the maximum angle of elevation in 70 ° makes it possible to classify a weapon and as a howitzer. In fact - howitzer cannon.
If we talk about how the gun was "our", it is worth saying the following. Yes, the prototype was the Czechoslovak C-5. But our gun was not in any way a licensed copy of the Czech. And here it is worth going through the differences in the performance characteristics to immediately put an end to this question.
The C-5 had a smaller caliber (75 versus 76,2) and a smaller barrel length (19 versus 21,4 caliber).
The angle of vertical guidance in our gun was higher. 70 degrees versus 50. In addition, the Soviet gun had a higher ground clearance (320 mm versus 250) and wider wheels (155 mm versus 65).
The normal recoil length was shorter for C-5 (560 mm versus 640), but the limit was shorter for our gun (710 mm versus 870).
Unfortunately, the semi-automatic shutter for the mountain gun could not be done.
The gun could move mounted, mechanical, and also disassembled on horse packs. When the horse was moved, a front end weighing about 665 kg (in the loaded state) was used, in which the 33 cartridge was transported. There was also a charging box in which 69 to 72 cartridges were transported. To move the instrument with the front end, six horses were needed, another six were carrying a charging box. When using mechanical thrust, the gun could be towed with or without a front end with a maximum speed of 18 km / h.
If necessary, the gun could move on equestrian packs, for which it could be disassembled into 9 parts. One cannon with a front end and ammunition was mounted on 23 horses, the 4-gun battery was powered by 92 horses (for comparison, the 76-mm battery of mountain cannons, 1909, was driven by 76 horses).
In mountain rifle divisions, mountain cannons served as both regimental and divisional guns. In every mountain rifle regiment throughout the war there was a four-gun 76-mm mountain cannon battery.
In the mining and cavalry divisions there was one mining and artillery division - eight 76-mm mountain cannons and six 107-mm mortars.
Also, ordinary rifle divisions, in which they served as regimental guns, could be completed with mountain guns, four guns per regiment.
The gun was intended for action in the mountains and on a very rough, difficult terrain. It was allowed to use the gun as a regimental gun. In combat conditions, the gun could solve the following tasks:
destruction of enemy manpower and infantry fire weapons;
suppression and destruction of enemy artillery;
the fight against enemy mechanized weapons;
destruction of light field shelters;
destruction of wire obstacles.
The 76-mm gun model 1938 of the year used its own, not interchangeable with other guns shots. The shots were completed in unitary cartridges, and some liners had a removable bottom, which made it possible to remove extra beams of powder and shoot with reduced charges. The sleeve is brass, weighing 1,4 kg.
The variable charge Ж-356 was used for firing high-explosive fragmentation, incendiary and smoke projectiles, was packaged in sleeves with a removable bottom. When firing a full charge, the beams were not taken out of the sleeve, the initial velocity of the high-explosive fragmentation projectile was 500 m / s, when firing the first charge, the top beam was taken out, the initial speed was 330 m / s, and when shooting the third charge, the top and middle beam were taken out The initial speed was 260 m / s.
But the mountain cannon could use normal 76-mm shells of divisional guns quite normally.
The most frequently used steel high-explosive fragmentation projectile OF-350 and its version with a body of steel casting OF-350A.
There were two varieties of shrapnel, differing mainly in the type of distance tube used.
Incendiary shells were represented by one type - З-350 with thermite segments, laid in three rows of three segments.
Fragmentation projectiles OX-350 were filled with TNT and toxic substances such as P-12 or P-15. Fragmentation projectiles were not included in the firing tables. But for the possibility of firing shots, the shape and mass of these projectiles were identical to high-explosive fragmentation grenades OF-350.
Armor-piercing shells were of three varieties, as well as for the regimental cannon BR-350А, BR-350Б and BR-350SP.
Structurally, the 76-mm mountain gun of the 1938 model of the year combined both progressive for its time and conservative elements. The first are good ballistics, a wedge bolt, a significant angle of elevation, and the possibility of firing on different charges, realized in the form of a sleeve with a removable bottom.
To the second, the use of a single-bar carriage without suspension, which severely limited the angle of horizontal guidance and the maximum speed of the gun. At the same time, these drawbacks are not so critical for a mountain gun — in conditions of fighting in mountainous areas, the need for a significant change in the direction of firing does not occur so often, and the relatively small mass of the gun made it possible to quickly enough change the angle of horizontal guidance by the forces of calculation. The conditions of the mountain roads often do not contribute to the rapid hauling of guns.
For aiming the gun in the horizontal plane the assistant gunner was used, the post of which was called “PraIlI”. At the command of the gunner, with the help of Orla (a relative of the scrap) inserted into the back of the mast, the correct one made the turn of the gun in the horizontal plane.
Somewhat archaic, but when you move the gun, another member of the calculation was not superfluous.
The 1938 model's mountain cannon surpassed both the 1909 model's mountain cannon and the regimental guns at the maximum angle of vertical guidance, initial speed, and maximum firing range.
Pay for it had to increase more than 150 kg compared with the gun model 1909, the weight of the gun. Nevertheless, the cannon played its role in the defense of the Caucasus, in the Iranian campaign and as a regimental cannon on all battlefields up to Berlin.
Sources:
Shirokorad A. B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery.
Ivanov A. USSR Artillery in the Second World War.