Exotic CZ/GER guns part 1 – autoloaded 50mm SV-4

Hello everyone,

today we are going to have a look at two projects, that would probably fit mid tiers in World of Tanks (if WG ever needs additional guns that is).

Autoloaded 50mm SV-4 (5cm KPÚV 2,1/835)

skoda_pak2_06_835

This project was developed in Škoda Pilsen between 1940-1941 for Wehrmacht. If you are wondering about the name in the brackets: KPÚV means “kanon proti útočné vozbě” (“anti-tank gun”), the numbers are according to Czech naming convention, the first means the weight of the shell, the second means the muzzle velocity of the shell.

It’s a fully automatic 50mm L/60 gun, with tray autoloader for 5 shots. It was put thru firing trials, but never accepted in service for unknown reasons. After the war, the prototype – along with the entire documentation – was taken by Americans in Pilsen and moved to the USA, the prototype (picture above) ended in Aberdeen.

pak2

Overall it’s a pretty interesting project. The Americans seemed to think that it fired the same ammunition as the German 50mm PaK 39, the nominal weight of the shell is different (SV-4: 2,1kg, PaK 38: 2,06kg), while the muzzle velocity is the same for both guns (835m/s). The penetration however is better for the SV-4: officially, SV-4 could penetrate 57mm at 1000m, while PzGr.39 for PaK 39 could penetrate 48mm at the same distance: however, the German result counts for the 30 degrees armor plate slope, so the real penetration is 55,2mm) – in other words, the guns are roughly equal in power. It’s possible the original 2,06kg Panzergranate 39 weight has been rounded up in the Czech documentation to 2,1kg and both guns used the same shells.

pak1

1

If WG ever needs a gun that would actually fit some of the smaller vehicles, this would be it. Possible also for upcoming Czechoslovak vehicles in the EU tree.

Characteristics:

Combat weight: 1300kg
Caliber: 50mm
Barrel length: 3000mm (L/60)
Elevation (on AT lafette): -12/+20
Shell: 2,1kg AP
Muzzle velocity: 835 m/s
Penetration: 57mm (90 deg) at 1000m (cca 80mm in WoT terms)
Rate of fire: 80-100 RPM, 5 round tray autoloader (time between shots: 0,75-0,6s)

Source:
Pejčoch – Obrněná technika
Dubánek – Od bodáku po tryskáče
www.valka.cz

23 thoughts on “Exotic CZ/GER guns part 1 – autoloaded 50mm SV-4

  1. so… and no donkey pls… it looks like the loader consinually loads the rack… no long reload time for cartridge???

        • A closer analog would be a self-loading magazine rifle actually as the tray seems to be fixed and simply a holder for the shells, or on more of a stretch the “ammo strips” of the old Hotchkiss MGs.

    • Yes, that is possible. The gun was never intended for use in armored vehicles as far as I can tell, but it likely wouldn’t be hard to actually convert the tray loader into a clip for vehicle use.

      • More likely a fixed “hopper” or similar into which individual shells are stacked (as seems to have been typical for period autoloading cannon); an actual “clip”, ie. some sort of detachable magazine, oughta been rather heavy and unwieldy given the size of the shells involved.

  2. Pingback: Exotic CZ/GER guns part 2 – 66mm PaK 44 | For The Record

  3. It’s similar to the autoloader proposed for the T-25, isn’t it?
    That aside, german lights could use something like that…

    BK-5 KWK 45: 5 shell autoloader, APRC default, uranium as gold (think APCR-HE).

  4. As an alternative on the German T5′s that thing would be cool…Fun flanking in a Panzer III/IV…

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