76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3)

76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

After having been built, the first ZiS-3 gun was hidden from the wathchful eyes of state authorities, who continued to ignore the Red Army's need for light and medium field guns. The authorities' main argument was the information that German heavy tanks carried exceptionally strong armour.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War showed that German tanks had weaker armour than was anticipated. Some were even vulnerable to large caliber DShK machine guns. Pre-war models of 76-mm divisional guns punched through German vehicles with ease, but almost all these guns were lost in battles or captured by Germans in holding facilities . Marshal Kulik ordered that mass production of 76.2-mm divisional field F-22USV guns be relaunched.

V. G. Grabin and the head staff of Artillery Factory No. 92 decided to organize the mass production of ZiS-3 guns instead of F-22USV's. They succeeded, but ZiS-3 was not officially tested and adopted for Red Army service. There was a stroke of tragic comedy to the situation: Red Army soldiers were in urgent need of these guns, the guns themselves were fine and numerous due to improved production technology, but all of them were in stock at Artillery Factory No. 92, since the military representatives refused to receive these non-official guns.

After some internal struggle between Grabin's team and military representatives, ZiS-3 guns were finally transferred to the Red Army under personal responsibility of Grabin and Artillery Factory No. 92 head staff.

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