"Artillery HQ of the 25th Rifle Corps
May 23rd, 1944
#[illegible]378
To artillery commanders of divisions. Copy personally for the 77th Guards Rifle Division
I send out a copy of instructions issued by the GAU KA regarding the use of 76 mm subcaliber ammunition, 76 mm HEAT, and 122 mm HEAT.
The Corps Artillery Commander orders that:
- The instructions are to be taught to all artillery personnel of the units (for the appropriate caliber) before May 27th, 1944.
- Personally check the knowledge of these instructions by officers on May 27th, 1944, and report on the results of the check.
- Subcaliber and HEAT ammunition must always be stored with the guns and kept in reserve against tanks and SPGs. Do not permit firing at other targets.
Chief of the Artillery HQ of the 25th Rifle Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Solodilov"
"To commanders of artillery of Fronts, Regions, and Independent ARmies
As of July 1943, the Red Army received 57 mm and 76 mm APCR ammunition and 122 mm HEAT ammunition. Until tables and rules of firing are developed, these instructions must be followed.
Instructions for use of the 57 mm and 76 mm APCR ammuniton and 122 mm HEAT ammunition.
A. The 57 mm APCR BR-27 shot is designed to be fired from the ZIS-2 57 mm anti-tank gun.
It is to be fired only at enemy heavy tanks, including the T-6 (Tiger), at ranges of up to 1000 meters. From over 1000 meters it is forbidden to use APCR ammunition.
Fire using the setting 6 on the armour piercing scale regardless of whether the gun is equipped with the PP-2 or PP-1-2 sight.
The APCR round fired from the 57 mm ZIS-2 gun penetrates the following amount of armour:
Range in meters | Penetration | |
At 60 degrees | At 90 degrees | |
1000 | 75 | 95 |
700 | 90 | 120 |
500 | 100 | 140 |
300 | 115 | 160 |
100 | 130 | 175 |
The casing is labelled UBR-271 P. The ammunition crates are marked "57-ZIS-2 subcaliber AP tracer. Use according to instructions included in the crate."
B. The 76 mm APCR BR-35 shot is designed to be used in 76 mm divisional model 1902/30 guns, both 30 and 40 caliber variants, the USV model 1939 gun, ZIS-3 model 1942 gun, model 1933 gun, and F-22 model 1936 gun, as well as 76 mm tank guns: the model 1940 (T-34) and model 1941 (ZIS-5).
It is to be fired only at enemy heavy tanks, including the T-6 (Tiger), at ranges of up to 500 meters. From over 500 meters it is forbidden to use APCR ammunition.
When fired from 76 mm guns, the shot penetrates the following amount of armour:
Range | 30 caliber gun | 40 caliber gun | 50 caliber gun | |||
60 deg | 90 deg | 60 deg | 90 deg | 60 deg | 90 deg | |
100 | 95 | 117 | 105 | 128 | 109 | 132 |
300 | 83 | 102 | 89 | 110 | 92 | 114 |
500 | 67 | 83 | 75 | 92 | 79 | 96 |
Fire the APCR round at a range of 500 meters with the sights set to the following settings:
Gun | Sight setting |
30 caliber 1902/30 | 3 on the “long range grenade” scale |
40 caliber 1902/30 | 7 on the “long range grenade #1” scale |
1939 USV | 8 on the “long range grenade full” scale |
1942 ZIS-3 | 6 on the “long range grenade full” scale |
1933 | 7 on the #1 scale |
1936 F-22 | 6 on the “long range grenade full” scale |
1940 F-34 and 1941 ZIS-5 tank guns | 3 on the “long range grenade” or “armour piercing-long range grenade” scales |
The casing is labelled UBR-354 P. The ammunition crates are marked "76 02/30-36 subcaliber AP tracer. Use according to instructions included in the crate."
Notes for sections A and B:
- It is prohibited to fire APCR at light or medium tanks while regular AP is still available.
- Unlike the ordinary AP shell, the APCR shot has a sharper tip and a body shaped like a spindle.
- The APCR round is shorter than the AP round.
C: 122 mm BP-460A HEAT shell for the 122 mm howitzer model 1938.
Fire the HEAT shell at tanks and other armoured targets with over 100 mm of armour. The best way to use this shell is to fire it directly at a range of under 1000 meters. The casing is marked TG-50 S BP-460A".
Fire the HEAT shell from the 122 mm model 1938 howitzer only with the fourth propellant setting: base charge plus four equal variable charges. HEAT shells are assembled with the fourth propellant charge. On these casings there is a marking "4th charge for HEAT". The crate is marked "122-38g HEAT". There is a notice on the lid that reads "fire according to the memo in the crate". On the rear size there are markings "BP-460A" and "TG-50:. Fire according to table #4.
Range (m) | Sight setting | Trajectory height (m) | Time in flight (s) | Angle of descent (deg, min) | Impact velocity (m/sec) |
200 | 4,7 | 0.5 | 0.61 | 0,31 | 323 |
400 | 8,16 | 2,0 | 1.24 | 1,06 | 308 |
600 | 12,26 | 4.2 | 1.89 | 1,47 | 297 |
800 | 17,36 | 7.8 | 2.58 | 2,30 | 289 |
1000 | 22,47 | 13 | 3.50 | 3,18 | 278 |
1200 | 26,58 | 20 | 4.04 | 4,08 | 270 |
1400 | 32,70 | 28 | 4.80 | 5,01 | 262 |
1600 | 37,82 | 39 | 5.97 | 5,59 | 254 |
1800 | 42,95 | 52 | 6.38 | 7,01 | 247 |
2000 | 47,108 | 65 | 7.22 | 8,08 | 241 |
Keep track of the effect of APCR and HEAT ammunition on enemy tanks (especially the T-6) carefully and report the results to the artillery commander and the GAU.
APCR and HEAT ammunition must always be kept in reserve near the guns to destroy enemy heavy tanks."