BOFORS 37Mm at Gun

BOFORS 37mm AT Gun

WEAPON ROF DAM PEN BLK MAG SS/BRST RNG 37mm AP C:4B:8 na 1 i 500m 37mm 500m APHE 37mm HE 500m 37mm 500m Chem ROUND 37mm HE,AP,APHE,Practice or Phosphor MAG WEIGHT 370kg PRICE OTHER This Swedish gun design, made by Bofors, was at its time one of the most sophisticated AT-guns in the world. The first prototype was produced in 1932, and the final version in 1934. The weapon was accepted into the Swedish Army as the "37 mm Pansarvärnskanon m/34". In time, some improvements were made to the original type, resulting in the m/38 and m/38F. In 30 October 1936, the gun was accepted as the primary AT-weapon for the Finnish Defense Forces, and the license was bought. In Finland, two factories were to start the production of the 37 K/36. One was Tampella, and the other VTT ("Valtion tykkitehdas", "The State gun factory" in English). Oy Crichton-Vulcan produced the gun mount and the wheels for the guns. In addition to Finland and Sweden, many other countries adopted the Bofors gun, among them Denmark and Poland.The first order from the Finnish Army, 156 guns, was placed in 1938, with the two factories. As there were constant problems in getting the production started, Finland bought also guns from Sweden, many of which were of the newer m/38 type. The main difference between the Swedish m/38 and Finnish m/36 (and also the Swedish m/34) was that the former had an improvement that wasn't adapted to the Finnish production: a wavelike upper edge of the gun shield, making it easier to camouflage and harder to spot. Finnish produced guns didn't have this feature. The gun shield was 4 - 5 mm thick (weight 46 kg), but unlike the current German and Soviet designs, the Bofors gun shields didn't offer any protection from the side. The guns that were bought or supplied from Sweden had the targeting scopes attached. For the Finnish produced guns, the optics had to be bought from abroad, so for financial reasons, they fought the Winter War relying on their collimators. This wasn't as bad as it's sounds, as experience showed that up to medium range of some 400 m, the scope wasn't very superior. In fact, in the dark hours, the collimator was better as the lens of the scope easily frosted over in damp air. The gun proved highly effective. The AP-projectile penetrated the armor of all Soviet tanks used in the Winter War (with the exception of the Soviet heavy tank prototypes, which were tested, but in general, the statement is true).

While the gun was mostly used at ranges of 400 - 600 meters, the unofficial record was 1 700 meters(other source says 2 000 m), when a gun of the 7th AT-detachment (Pst.Os.7 in Finnish) destroyed a T-37 on the ice of Lake Ladoga near Taipale. Penetration AP-projectile (0.7 kg) with the muzzle velocity was 870 m/s when the armor plate was at an 60° angle 300 m 500 m 1 000 m Gun manual 40 mm 33 mm 18 mm Test firing in 1943 42 mm 37 mm 28 mm

Max. range: 4,5km Max. practical range vs. tank: 0,9km Max. practical range vs. inf.position:1,5km Each round weighed 1.45 kg , from which the projectile weight was 0.7 kg