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7.5cm PaK40 Platoon (Winter)

By: Battlefront Miniatures

Type: Miniatures Box Set

Product Line: Flames of War - WWII - German - Box Sets & Miscellaneous

Late

Last Stocked on 3/3/2020

Product Info

Title
7.5cm PaK40 Platoon (Winter)
Sub-category
Publish Year
2012
NKG Part #
2147483511
MFG. Part #
BFMGBX73
Type
Miniatures Box Set
Age Range
14 Years and Up

Description

Development of the 7.5cm PaK40 began in 1939, with both Krupp and Rheinmetall developing designs for testing and adoption. Initially the weapons development was slow, but priority was soon bumped up after Operation Barbarossa in 1941 with the appearance of heavy Soviet armor like the KV-1. The first Rheinmetall guns rushed off the production line in November 1941.

The gun retained many features of the lighter 5cm PaK 38 gun. It had a muzzle brake to reduce recoil, a double skin shield for added protection of the breech, and torsion-bar suspension for motor towing. The trail retained the tubular arms of the PaK 38 design, but were made of steel for added strength rather than the aluminum of the PaK 38.

The newly introduced Panzergranate 39 weighed 6.8 kg and achieved a penetrating power of 132mm of armor at 500-meters with a muzzle velocity of 792 meters per second.

The weapon was effective against almost every Allied tank until the end of the war, with the exception of the Soviet IS-2 and the American M26 Pershing. However it was much heavier than the 5cm PaK 38, decreasing its mobility to the point where it was difficult or impossible to move without an artillery tractor on boggy ground.