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Pistol Loopholes in Soviet tanks


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Will these be modelled in CMBB? If so will the crew have a chance to use them, ala the anti-personnel mortars on german tanks in CMBO?

Also, if the pistol porrts are modelled, will this have any effect upon the armor in the location (i.e. possible critical hit weak spot on the pistol port?

-john

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Originally posted by Bullethead:

Many Shermans and WW2-vintage Pershings had pistol ports in their turrets. I don't think these things did any more than add "penetration at weak spot" chances.

I know the Sherman had a port with armoured flap on the rear left of the turret, but always assumed it was for "ejecting" empty casings from the 75mm gun (would be dangerous for the loader to be tripping on them, rolling around on the floor, plus if you had to use one for a chamberpot while under shellfire...) Was that really the intended use?
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Originally posted by Tiger:

Will these be modelled in CMBB? If so will the crew have a chance to use them, ala the anti-personnel mortars on german tanks in CMBO?

Also, if the pistol porrts are modelled, will this have any effect upon the armor in the location (i.e. possible critical hit weak spot on the pistol port?

-john

I saw an instruction film for new Panther crews which showed that it also had one. They where overrunning an infantry position and having missed an AT mine by inches the commander pushed the plug and stuck out his SMG to deal with some poor russians. I think the film was from 1943 just before Kursk, but I'm not sure.

/Kristian

ps The same commander also opened the hatch in the back of the turret to put out a Molotov cocktail. A brave man, at least in training. I wonder if anyone ever did that with bullets flying all over...

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Ok thanks, I was just wondering. Was looking at some pictures of Soviet tanks and it showed a KV-1 with a pistol plug: it's an sctual plug in the side of the turret that is pushed out and dangles by a cord, and is pulled back up into place with the cord. I am more intrested if this 'plug' compromised the armor's resistance any.

-john

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Michael Dorosh said:

I know the Sherman had a port with armoured flap on the rear left of the turret, but always assumed it was for "ejecting" empty casings from the 75mm gun (would be dangerous for the loader to be tripping on them, rolling around on the floor, plus if you had to use one for a chamberpot while under shellfire...) Was that really the intended use?
All I've ever seen these things refered to as is "pistol ports", even in Crimson's book. So I really belieave their intended use was close defense with pistols.

As for empty cases and calls of nature, I believe Shermans had hatches in the hull floor that worked well for those uses.

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Germans actually devised an adapter for their full-auto weapons that turned the bullet path 90-degree, essentially enabling the gun to "fire around the corner". This was supposed to work indepentently outside the tank, or from within using the pistol ports. It could sustain several hundred rounds of fire before being "blown out."

IIRC the pistol port on the Pershing was used to lob brass casings out of the turret, as much as anything else. Can't say about the one on the Sherman, it seems that they were often welded up as the war went on and deleted post-war from new designs. As noted elsewhere, they just introduced an unnecessary weak point in the armor and were legacies of an earlier generation of tanks.

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Having used the floor hatch of a Hetzer for "natural use" I can say that vehicles with floor hatches make fine mobile toilets.

I would not confuse the side hatches on turrets of the Sherman and Pershing for pistol ports like on the side of a Panther D. The KV and Panther pistol ports were just a very small hole to point a pistol through, same goes for early model T-34's. T-34's had them on models produced before 1943.

E

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While pistol ports are nice I would like to know if the blind spots/areas are going to be modelled.

In CMBO a tank can spot, aim and fire on a target which would normally be in the blind spot or more exasperatingly fire at in a location which the gun would not historically be able to fire at it (due to depression limits or what not).

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