German 75-mm Antitank Gun, WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 22: April 8, 1943 (Lone Sentry)

In case any of the 75-mm Pak 97/38 guns fall into the hands of our artillery, it should be a fairly familiar weapon. The gun is a long-barreled adaptation of the French "75" with some interesting modernizations. Noteworthy are the double shield with an air space between the two plates, the perforated Solothurn muzzle brake, the odd-looking split trail, which would seem to give a large and rapid traverse, and the third smaller wheel set under the trail spades. This third wheel can be folded up flat on top of the trail. The carriage is quite similar to the 50-mm German antitank gun. With a screw breech-block like the old "75;" the piece is typically French. An earlier type of French 75-mm dual-purpose antitank-field piece, said to fire a 14.1-pound solid shot at 2,100 f/s velocity, was completed in March 1940. The present weapon appears to be a development of this gun.