AFV Club 35018 U.S. ARMY 76mm and 3 inch Tank Ammunition

The 76mm M1 cannon began to be tested in 1942 as a replacement for the 75mm cannon on the M4 Sherman medium tanks, but it did not become fully operational until mid-1944. This gun was the main weapon of the late versions of the M4 Sherman and the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer. The M1 gun was primarily designed as a weapon against other tanks, which differed from the 75mm gun. Several types of ammunition were used in section M1. The first type of projectile was the HE (High-Explosive) M42A1 bullet with a total mass of about 10 kilograms, which reached the initial velocity of 820 m / s when it left the gun barrel. Its maximum range was 13,400 meters. A typical APCBC full-caliber anti-tank missile (APC) was the M62A1, with a total weight of 11.14 kg and an initial velocity of 790 m / s. The maximum range when firing this missile was up to 14,700 meters. It is assumed that the M4 Sherman vehicles armed with the M1 cannon could easily engage the PzKpfw IV tanks and the StuG assault guns without any major problems, while the fight with the Panzer V and Panzer VI vehicles, although not doomed to failure, posed much bigger problems.