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The US 3inch M5 anti tank gun was an improvisational design based on the 3in M3 AA gun, using the undercarriage of the M3 105mm howitzer. it was used exclusively in tank destroyer battalions, with four guns (towed by M3 halftracks) per platoon.
A total of 2500 were built before production ended in 1944. By that time, most US tank destroyers were SP units.
Caliber: 76.2 mm L/50
Length: 4.02 meters
Weight of the projectile: 7.94 kg
Muzzle velocity: 792 meters per second
Range: 14715 meters
British 6pdr MK II
The 6-pounder gun was ready as soon as 1940. It took almost two years for its mass-production to start, though and some additional months for it to supersede the 2-pounder, of which the inadequacy had long been recognized.
The new weapon was a smart compromise between firepower and lightness. It could fire not only antitank shells, but also antipersonnel ammunitions, which allow it to become an infantry gun, after that the antitank regiments had reached their full allocation.
That good weapon was still more improved by the adoption of the core shells from October of 1943 onwards, and later the discardable sabots (APDS) in June of 1944. The doubled the penetration ability compared to the classical AP ammunitions.
Caliber: 57 mm L/43
Length: 2.44 meters
Weight of the projectile: 3.0 kg
Muzzle velocity: 815 meters per second
Range: 5027 meters
Russian 57mm Zis-2
Russia began its program of outstanding antitank artillery in the early 1930s, and surprisingly, in conjunction with Rheinmetall of Germany. While this was due to the Germans being proscribed from working overtly on weapons, it was beneficial to both sides as they created some common designs. One of the first was a light antitank gun which emerged after they went their separate ways as the PaK 36 3.7 cm gun in Germany and the 45mm Model 1932 in the USSR. Updated in 1938, this weapon was being upgraded just as the Germans invaded in 1941. By 1942 the gun was now given a long barrel and high- performance ammunition, but rumors of German heavy tanks meant a more powerful weapon was needed.
The Main Artillery Directorate responded, and General Grabin's design bureau created a new barrel for the ZiS-3 76mm divisional gun just going into service. The new barrel, 57mm in bore and very long at over 4 meters, produced high muzzle velocities and very high penetration levels for that time.
Eventually, the weapon, using tungsten core "arrow" projectiles, managed to generate penetration levels of over 150mm at 500 meters (90 degree impact) which meant that it was the only gun of its time capable of penetrating even the Panther headon, and could easily penetrate the Tiger I at 1500 meters from any aspect. It also fired a useful HE-FRAG round, and after the war, it remained in production. Over 10000 were built, and have been encountered world wide up until recent times.
Calibre: 57mm/L73
Length: 4.162 meters
Weight of the projectile: 1.555 kg
Muzzle velocity: 1270 meters per second
Range: 8400 meters
German 75mm Pak-40
Rheinmetall began the studies of a new antitank 75 mm gun in the Summer of 1939. It was in many counts the bigger brother of the 50mm Pak 38, to which it is visually very similar (only the size makes possible to tell them apart). Started leisurely, the development became an emergency when the Russian tanks T-34 and KV-1 rendered the existing German antitank weapons irrelevant in the Summer of 1941. The first examples reached the frontline in November of 1941 and proved a formidable tank killer. It could pierce 120 mm armor at a distance of one kilometer ! The chamber was wider than the barrel, so that the combustion of the propellant continued during the travel of the shell in the barrel. The main drawback of the new weapon was its weight: a large vehicle was necessary to move it, which was detrimental to the discretion of antitank positions.
Caliber: 75 mm L/46
Length: 3.45 meters
Weight of the projectile: 5.72 kg
Muzzle velocity: 933 meters per second
Range: 7678 meters
Italian Cannone Da 75/32 Modello 37
By the 1930s even the large number of weapons at hand were seen to be no real answer to the more modern designs, so a program of new weapon design was undertaken. The first weapons to be considered were those of the field artillery and thus the first post-war artillery design to be introduced since 1918 was the Cannone da 75/32 modello 37.
The new gun was an Ansaldo design. It was a good, sound and modern idea that was intended from the outset for powered traction. It had a long barrel refitted for a muzzle brake and had a high enough muzzle velocity that it could be usefully employed on occasion as an anti-tank weapon. When the split trail was deployed it provided a traverse of 50 degrees, which was no doubt useful in armored warfare. But this was rather negated by the need of large trail spades that were hammered into the ground through the trial legs so that a rapid change of traverse angle was not easy. Even with this slight disadvantage the modello 37 was a very useful field gun and the Italian gunners clamored for as many as they could get
Caliber: 75 mm
Length: 2.573 meters
Weight of the projectile: 6255 kg
Muzzle velocity: 615 meters per second
Range: 12307.5 meters
Japanese Type 1 47mm
After the Nomonhan Incident, IJA started the development of new AT, considering that Type 94 would be ineffective against Soviet new tanks. However, Type 1 was late to the openning of the Pacific War and Japanese infantries had to fight desperately against Allied M3 Light Tank.
This AT was also used as the main gun of Shinhoto Chi-Ha.
Type 1 was insuffienct against Allied Medium Tank M3 or M4, but Japan failed to develop the successor of Type 1. Type 1 was used until the end of WWII.
Caliber: 47 mm
Length: 2.5265 meters
Weight of the projectile: 1.5 kg
Muzzle velocity: 830 meters per second
Range: 6900 meters
