Germany 5.0cm Pak 38 L/60 5.0cm Panzerabwehrkanone 38 L/60 (translates as Anti Tank Gun)

Showing the details of the shells used(where known)   Tweet Weapon Details 5.0cm Pak 38 L/60 5.0cm Panzerabwehrkanone 38 L/60 (translates as Anti Tank Gun) History Produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig after the Spanish Civil War, where it was seen that the 37mm Anti Tank gun was effective, but sometimes of too low power. It was first sucessfully used in April 1941 during Operation Barbarossa in Russia against the first T-34's. Manufactured 1939 - 1943 Calibre 50mm Length L/60 Rate of Fire 13 rpm   5.0cm PzGr. 39 L/60 (AP Armor Piercing) 50mm 2.06Kg 840M/Sec Quoted Penetration 102mm @ 100mtr/0° Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.12 0.25 0.52 1.13 1.88 2.8 3.97 5.5 Penetration(mm@30°) 84 76 68 57 47 38 30 23 Penetration(mm@0°) 97 88 79 66 55 44 35 27 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 96 74 39 22 6 5.0cm PzGr. 40 L/60 (AP40 Armour Piercing Tungsten Cored) 50mm 0.98Kg 1198M/Sec Quoted Penetration 149mm @ 100mtr/0° Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.09 0.18 0.38 0.86 1.5 2.4 3.76 6.02 Penetration(mm@30°) 109 98 85 69 54 41 29 19 Penetration(mm@0°) 126 114 99 80 63 48 34 23 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 88 54 22 3 5cm Sprgr Patr (HE High Explosive) 50mm 1.78Kg 550M/Sec 0.165Kg explosive Maximum Range not shown as gun elevation is limited Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.19 0.38 0.79 1.73 2.87 4.28 6.06 8.39 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.19 0.38 0.79 1.73 2.87 4.28 6.06 8.39 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 77 34 15 3 2 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 2 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 4 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 11 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 0 mm An explosion within 2 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 4 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 11 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will not cause any significant armour damage. 5cm Stielgranate 42 (HEAT High Explosive Anti-Tank) 50mm 8.2Kg 110M/Sec Quoted Penetration 180mm @ 150mtr/0° Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.92 1.84 3.73 Penetration(mm@30°) 180 180 180 Penetration(mm@0°) 180 180 180 Hit Probability(%) 98 74 22 Vehicles in our database using this gun Vehicle Name Common Name   5cm Pak 38 auf Zugkraftwagen 1t

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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