I was watching a video about El Alamein #2. Some of the German 88 guns looked a bit odd. I replayed/listened to the video, and it said these guns were Russian.....from The Eastern Front. I do not know what that means exactly...guns and ammo that wee captured en masse.....or maybe copies of said guns.? The vid said The Wermacht was very impressed with the gun, and so used them in battle. Not an 88, but they were, still, a pretty big/long gun. Assuming proper ammo, I am sure they could penetrate any tank they faced. Any of you guys familiar with these.? Thank You
AFAIK, they were captured guns, sometimes modified slightly by the Germans, for example, the fitting of a muzzle brake. I believe that they also began manufacturing their own ammunition for the 76.2mm in 1942. Two thread from AHF: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=143147 http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=35496&sid=6f4933e7e72babf1bd43ac431636fa3a
the so called Kratsch-boom. The velocity of the ammo was so high you heard the explosion first and then the firing of the gun.
Most of the Russian 7.62 AT tubes were originally ex British 3" AA that had been sold to the USSR as surplus between the wars. One of the Armoured memoirs describes inspecting these to find Royal Ordnance ciphers and Russian markings underneath them. The tankers were quite upset that we had not developed them as AT guns as they were very potent Al