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AP better than APCBC?


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I'm playing around with this website that calculates penetration of various shells against various tanks:

http://www.wwiiequipment.com/pencalc/#

Surprised to see that the regular Sherman 75mm "AP" shot has a good chance of penetrating a Panther turret from the front at 500m distance or less, whereas a 75mm "APCBC" shell has nearly no chance against the same target.

I always thought APCBC ammo had superior penetration ability to regular solid AP shot.

But maybe I am mistaken?

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2 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I think Michael E's comment sums it up in a nut-shell.....I'm sure someone around here could explain it in much more detail though.  ;)

What I recall—but be forewarned, it's been quite a while since I read this—is that the pointy nosed hard metal shot had a tendency to skid off of sloped armor without penetrating. The cap on APCBC was blunter and softer, thus getting better traction on the sloped armor and giving the shot a chance to penetrate. The metal behind the shot was the same hardened steel it had always been, but it wasn't skidding off before it could penetrate.

Michael

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APCBC is more effective than AP vs face-hardened armor, but less effective at short to medium ranges against rolled homogeneous and cast armor. The Panther mantlet is cast and the front turret plate is RHA. Because of its higher ballistic coefficient APCBC will outperform AP against any armor at long range.

Edited by Vanir Ausf B
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