malfuriouspete Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 perhaps as newbie as you can get but can someone explain to me tank/anti-tank gun information? For example, "7.5cm KwK 42 L/70" the gun found on a Panther tank. I'm sure the 7.5cm represents the diameter of the barrel but what about KwK, 42 and L/70? L represents Length of the barrel? If so, 70 what? certainly not cm. also for many of the german anti-tank guns.. "4.2cm Pak 41" for example. 4.2cm is obviously the calibre, but what about Pak 41??? thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 You're right about the calibres, of course. The L/70 does represent the length of the barrel, but in terms of 'calibres' or multiples of the diameter of the shell. In general, then longer the barrel the higher the muzzle velocity of the shell since the shell spends all of its time in the barrel accelerating under the force of the expanding gases behind it. The german 75 L/24 will therefore have a lower muzzle velocity than the L/48, which is out-matched by the 75 L/70 found on the Panther, etc. As far as I know KwK 42 and PaK 41 are the guns' designations. I think the '41' and '42' may represent the year they were first built, but I don't know that for sure. Either way KwK stands for Kampfwagenkanone ('Combat Vehicle Cannon') and PaK, I think, just stands for Panzerkanone ('Anti-tan Gun'). someone will be along shortly to put me right on any mistakes and help you out more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergeltungswaffe Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 One small niggle with Tux's explanation: PaK actually stands for Panzerabwehrkanone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Cheers Vergeltungswaffe, I thought I was missing a bit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yushal Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 The germans weren't terribly excited about naming things. They just string together a description into one long word and name them so. Panzerabwehrkanone = armor defense cannon Most of their stuff is like this, I think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 malfuriouspete, Here's an extensive thread on your very topic. by the time you're done, you may be well on your way to grogdom. http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=30;t=005542 Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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