The 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 (from 7.5 cm ''

Kampfwagenkanone (KwK) (German, 'fighting vehicle cannon') was the designation to any type of tank gun mounted in an armoured fighting vehicle or infantry fighting vehicle of the German-Wehrmacht until 1945. The wording was derived from the German nouns ''Kampf ...

'' 42 L/70) was a 7.5 cm calibre German

tank gun A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also ...

used on German armoured fighting vehicles in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The gun was the armament of the

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

medium tank A medium tank is a classification of tanks, particularly prevalent during World War II which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks. A medium tank's classification is ...

and two variants of the

Jagdpanzer IV The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was develope ...

self-propelled anti-tank gun A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often w ...

. On the latter it was designated as the "7.5 cm ''Panzerabwehrkanone'' 42" (7.5 cm Pak 42)

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

Design

The increased muzzle velocity and operating pressure of the new gun required a new armour-piercing projectile to be designed. The PzGr. 39/42 was the result, and apart from the addition of wider driving bands it was otherwise identical to the older 7.5 cm PzGr. 39. The wider driving bands added a little extra weight, from 6.8 kg for the old PzGr.39, to 7.2 kg for the new PzGr.39/42.US Army Technical Manual TM9-1985-3, United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1953 The gun was fired electrically, the primer being initiated using an electric current rather than a firing pin. The breech operated semi-automatically so that after the gun had fired, the empty shell casing was automatically ejected, and the falling wedge type breech block remained down so that the next round could be loaded. Once the round was loaded the breech closed automatically and the weapon was ready to be fired again. Three different types of ammunition were used: APCBC-HE, APCR and HE.

Data for KwK 42 and Pak 42

*Type:

Tank gun A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also ...

(KwK 42),

Anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

(Pak 42) *Caliber: *Shell: 75×640 mm R * Barrel length in calibres: 70 *Barrel length: *Breech: semiautomatic, falling wedge *Weight with muzzle brake and breech: *Recoil length: 400 mm (normal), 430 mm (maximum) *Maximum range: indirect *Sight: TZF 12 or 12a (Panther), Sfl.ZF 1a (Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A) and (V))

Ammunition

; ''Panzergranate'' 39/42 (Pzgr. 39/42) *Type: Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap, High Explosive *Projectile weight: *Explosive filler: 18 g of

phlegmatized A phlegmatized explosive is an explosive that has had an agent (a phlegmatizer) added to stabilize or desensitize it. Phlegmatizing usually improves the handling properties of an explosive (e.g. when munitions are filled in factories. Alfred No ...

RDX RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a n ...

*Round weight: *Round length: *Cartridge case length: *Muzzle velocity: ;''Panzergranate'' 40 (Hk) (Pzgr. 40/42) *Type: Armour Piercing, Composite Rigid *Projectile weight: *Round weight: *Round length: *Cartridge case length: *Muzzle velocity: ;''Sprenggranate'' 42 (Sprgr. 42) *Type: High explosive *Projectile weight: *Explosive weight: 0.650 kg (1.66 lb) (2,720 Kilojoules) *Round weight: *Round length: *Cartridge case length: *Muzzle velocity:

Penetration comparison

Notes

References

* Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 * Hogg, Ian V. ''German Artillery of World War Two''. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 * Penetration data extracted from a French DoD publication ''"Le Panther" Ministere de la Guerre, Section Technique de l'Armee, Groupement Auto-Chars, 1947''.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:7.5 cm Kwk 42 Tank guns of Germany World War II artillery of Germany World War II tank guns Rheinmetall 75 mm artillery Tank guns Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942