Soviet guns...

[V40]

I am looking for the following information on these two Soviet guns. If you can answer them than I realy am very appreciate it.

1) Soviet, 120mm D742
2) Soviet , 130mm M46

Or vica versa. I need to know about these guns especially during the Vietnam. Pictures, diagrams, Projectiles, etc., etc.

Anything you can give me.


Mark
V40

 

[diver]

Soviet M-46 field gun

M46 field gun is the same as Type 59 (China), Type 68 (North Korea) or M 46/84 (Yougoslavia).
It' mission is to give indirect fire support for combat troops against personnel and material and direct fire against armoured vehicles and emplacements.

See attached info!

I hope this can help you.
Best regards,

Diver

 

[V40]

Diver,
thanks, it really helps out allot.

 

[Slick]

Mark

FM 100-2-3(July 1984) listed a 120MM mortar but no gun in that cliber. There is a 122mm gun, ID'd as D74.
Here's the listing for the 130mm M46.


PS Sorry about the crappy scans. It's a tough book to copy on a flatbed scanner.

Rick

 

[V40]

Slick,

Thanks to both of you. What I am trying to figure out is the differences in Range between that gun and our 105's, 155's, 8", and the 175's. This a Vietnam War comparison between all of them.

Basically, the range on the 130mm was suppose to be superior to any of our guns at that time period? Now as far as accuracy is concerned, I am getting different opinions on that subject. My comparirson round for each gun is just a plain old H.E. round. That is if there was such a beast of a plain old HE?

I asked an old Vietnam friend who was a gun bunny on a 8" and he said that as far as the 130mm goes in comparrison to the 8" and against our other guns, he wasn't sure of accuracy and range and only knew about the 8".

Would this be true back then or not do you guys think?

 

[Slick]

Mark

All I have are books with zero tech knowledge. A redleg might be able to answer the accuracy question, but I suspect that reply might be skewed by which side they were on in the conflict. To hear them tell it, they could put a round through a keyhole at 20 miles. I have only ever witnessed the firing of big guns, so I don't have much in the way of details other than they're very loud.

Rick

 

[V40]

Rick,

me too and they reverberate in your chest. Strange feeling though and a very loud boom like you said. If they are fired at night you now become Deaf and Blind, and possibly Dumbfounded also.

Maybe I should go to Bookfinder and do a search on their Jane's books and start trying to get some new material for sure.

 

[Speedy]

Hi

Sorry for my English

What I am trying to figure out is the differences in Range between that gun and our 105's, 155's, 8", and the 175's.

some information from Russian websites:

122 mm D-74 gun: max. range 24 km (14,9 miles), HE round weight 27,3 kg (60,8 lb;pretty heavy as for this caliber)

130 mm M-46 gun: 27,5 km (17 miles); round weight 33,4 kg (73,6 lb)

For comparison, some Vietnam-era US guns:

105 mm M102 howitzer: 11,5 km (7,1 miles; with rocket assisted projectile 15,1 km or 9,4 miles); round weight 15 kg (33 lb)

155 mm howitzers (towed M114 and self propelled M109 in early version) 14,6 km (9,1 miles; for RAP 19,3 km or 12 miles), round weight 43,2 kg (96 lb)

175 mm gun (SP, M107) 32,8 km (20 miles), round w. 64 kg (141 lb)

203 mm howitzers (8" M115 towed and M110 SP) 16,8 km (10,4 miles), round w. 90,7 kg (200 lb)

I think that US artillery could be more effective than communist Vietnam. The main reason is better fire control systems: widely used observation aircrafts and helicopters for fire control, ballistic calculators and good radio communication equipment. US troops also used more sophisticated ammunition, like proximity-fuzed HE rounds, exploding at certain height over the ground for optimal fragmentation effect, cluster rounds and beehive (fletchette) rounds for close combat.