4.2 cm Pak 41
The 4.2 cm Pak 41 (Panzerjägerkanone —"anti-tank gun") was a light anti-tank gun issued to German airborne units in World War II. This gun was externally similar to the 3.7 cm Pak 36, using a modified version of the latter's carriage, but used the squeeze bore principle. While it was nominally a gun, the actual caliber was at the breech and tapering down to at the muzzle. It saw limited use in the Italian and Eastern campaigns before shortages of strategic metals prevented the production of new guns and ammunition.
4.2 cm Pak 41
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- Name
- 4.2 cm Pak 41
- Field
- anti-tank cannon
- Region
- Nazi Germany
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Documentary summary
The 4.2 cm Pak 41 (Panzerjägerkanone —"anti-tank gun") was a light anti-tank gun issued to German airborne units in World War II. This gun was externally similar to the 3.7 cm Pak 36, using a modified version of the latter's carriage, but used the squeeze bore principle. While it was nominally a gun, the actual caliber was at the breech and tapering down to at the muzzle. It saw limited use in the Italian and Eastern campaigns before shortages of strategic metals prevented the production of new guns and ammunition.
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wikidata · Q229833 · wikipedia · 4.2 cm Pak 41
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — 4.2 cm Pak 41 • Type — Anti-tank gun • Origin — Nazi Germany • Is Artillery — yes • Service — 1942−1943 • Used By — Nazi Germany • Wars — World War II • Designer — Krupp • Production Date — 1941−1942 • Number — 313 • Cartridge — * Armour-piercing, composite non-rigid (APCNR) • High-explosive (HE) • Cartridge Weight — * (APCNR) • (HE) • Rate — 10−12 rounds per minute • Breech — Horizontal sliding-block • Elevation — −8° to +25° • Traverse — 60° • Illustration — 4.2 cm Pak 41 light anti-tank gun, part of Belgrade Military Museum outer exhibition at Kalemegdan fortress.
Background
Background
The idea of tapering the barrel of a gun in order to increase muzzle velocity was worked on by several inventors before it was successfully applied by Hermann Gerlich, a German weapons designer, in the late 1920s. The German Army, using Gerlich's squeeze bore principle, managed to produce three different anti-tank guns based on it: the 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbuchse 41, the 4.2 cm Panzerjägerkanone 41, and the 7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 41.
History
History
Produced in small numbers, it was used by some Fallschirmjäger divisions during 1942−1943, seeing limited use in the Italian front and a wider use in the Eastern front. Production was terminated in the summer 1942 due shortages of manganese (used in some of the carriage components) and tungsten.
Specifications
Specifications
The 4.2 cm Pak 41 fired AP and HE fixed rounds with a cartridge case length of. The complete rounds weighted for AP rounds and for HE rounds.
4.2 cm Pzgr Patr 41
4.2 cm Pzgr Patr 41
A tungsten carbide-cored AP round with a flanged body. Strongly resembling an upscaled 2.8 cm sPzB 41 round, it also used a magnesium alloy cap that produced a flash upon impact. The propelling charge was of Gudol RP. • Range || Penetration at 0 degrees from vertical — Penetration at 30 degrees from vertical • 0 m — 124 mm — 95 mm • 100 m — 120 mm — 90 mm • 250 m — 105 mm — 83 mm • 500 m — 87 mm — 72 mm • 750 m — 70 mm — 62 mm • 1000 m — 60 mm — 53 mm
4.2 cm Sprgr Patr 41
4.2 cm Sprgr Patr 41
A HE round with a skirted body similar to the rounds used on the 2.8 cm sPzB 41. Nominally it used of Digl RP propellant, while in practice the propelling charge varied from batch to batch.
Description
The 4.2 cm Pak 41 was mounted on the 3.7 cm Pak 36 carriage. Externally, the two guns are very similar to each other, with the only obvious difference being the length of the barrel, which was about longer. Other changes include a spaced gun shield which was fitted over the original shield, and replacing of the carriage coil springs with a laminated torsion bar. Although nominally a caliber, the barrel actual caliber was at the breech end, tapering to at the muzzle, giving a muzzle velocity of. The breech was manually operated only. The gun carriage was very similar to the Pak 36. Armour-piercing (AP) shells for the 4.2 cm Pak 41 had a tungsten carbide core which was encased in a mild steel body which was formed into skirts of a larger caliber. When traveling through the barrel, these skirts were squeezed down increasing gas pressure around the base area of the projectile and subsequently boosting muzzle velocity. While the squeeze bore design successfully increased penetration, it also made designing high-explosive (HE) projectiles much more difficult, and these were rarely used. Other drawbacks was the need for tungsten, which had to be imported, and excessive barrel wear, reducing their service life and making the production of guns uneconomical.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.German translation of the book "Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the Third Reich. An encyclopedic survey" by T. Gander and P. Chamberlain (Jane's Publishers Ltd) from 2005 ( )
Bibliography printed in the source article · 5
- Fitzsimons. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare Volume 1. Phoebus Publishing Company. 1977.
- Gander, Terry. German Anti-Tank Guns, 1939−1945. Almark Publishing. 1973. 978-0-85524-141-4.
- Gander, Terry. Germany's guns, 1939−1945. Crowood Press. 1998. 978-1-86126-110-6.
- Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939−1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979
- Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Greenhill Books and Stackpole Books. 2002. 978-1-85367-480-8.
References
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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