17-pounder Trials

As a part of Lend-Lease, the USSR received two British 17-pounder anti-tank guns in April of 1944, which were trialled at the GANIOP between September 8th and November 10th of that year.

17-pounder on trials.

17-pounder on trials, pulled by a Studebaker US6 truck.

#9. The left trail of the gun mount is deformed.

An unfortunate event happened during the test firing: the left trail of the gun mount was dented. The dent later cracked and resulted in the trail bending. It was replaced with one from the second gun. 

Some conclusions:

"The effort on aiming mechanisms is acceptable and ranges from 0.5-4 kg.

The time to go from march to firing position and back is equal to 40-60 seconds.

The gun has a series of drawbacks:

1. It is not possible to push the gun 500 meters by hand over rough terrain. The 7 man crew can only push the gun 100 meters on flat terrain. Pushing the gun is further complicated by a lack of convenient rails.
2. The gun is equipped with three different pumps: Studebaker pump for pumping air into the tires, pump for pumping fluid into the recoil mechanisms (of the GAZ-AA type), and two-stage air pump for pumping air into the return mechanism. This complicates use.
3. The handles of the aiming mechanisms and firing mechanisms are metallic. This leads to freezing hands.
4. The force required to fire is very high (up to 20-30 kg). The effort to open the breech is too high (up to 15-20 kg).
5. The recoil indicator is poorly placed behind the gun shield, leading to complications when controlling the recoil length.
6. Adding fluid to the recoil mechanism is difficult, as it requires the crew to leave the protection of the gun shield.
7. Observation of the results of the shot is difficult due to the smoke and dust kicked up by the muzzle brake.
8. The firing mechanism is unsatisfactory. Due to firing handles getting stuck on each other when the gun returns after firing, the gun cannot fire without fault.

Conclusions:

1. Advantages of the English 17-pounder anti-tank gun:
1. High penetrating power.
2. Fault-free operation of the recoil mechanisms and breech.
3. Good precision and stability.
4. Easy to read recoil and return gear mechanism fluid levels.
2. Drawbacks of the English 17-pounder anti-tank gun:
1. High combat weight (2860 kg).
2. Small coefficient of metal use (112).
3. Insufficient robustness of the trails.
4. Additionally, drawbacks stated in section 3 part 10.
3. Compared to our anti-tank guns, the English 17-pounder anti-tank gun is heavy to move between positions and inconvenient to transport.
4. Three different pumps makes the system difficult to service.
5. The report on trials of the English 17-pounder anti-tank gun was composed carelessly, and the report on trials of the pumps, due to an absence of one of the pumps, is inaccurate due to unfamiliarity with what each of the pumps does and the principles of filling the return mechanism with fluid or air.

Conclusions of the Artkom 2nd Department:

1. The penetrative power, stability, and precision of the English 17-pounder anti-tank gun makes it a powerful anti-tank gun that meets modern requirements for anti-tank artillery.
   However, the gun is very heavy for its caliber (2862 kg), has a low use of metal coefficient (112) and many other drawbacks, listed in section 3.
2. The gun has the following original components:
1. Separable box trails with variable cut, that curve upwards in the middle and are reinforced internally by riveted trusses.
2. The firing mechanism has three levers. The lever for firing by the breech operator is located above the breech on the gun mount case and works by pulling.
   Two levers are located by the gunner. One is mushroom-shaped in the center of the turning mechanism, and one is a lever located under the turning mechanism. The two latter levers transfer the gunner's force to the first lever.
3. During storage, in order to avoid corrosion, the recoil mechanisms are not filled with fluid. The barrel is held in place by a special holder.
4. The optical telescopic sight and vision device.
5. Spaced armour gun shield. The thickness of one armour plate is 6 mm.
6. Floating piston for separating air and fluid in the recoil brake.
7. Recoil and return length regulator.
3. The presence of three pumps in the system complicates service.
4. Remove the "top secret" classification from the short description received from GIARP and replace it with "for service use".
5. Send one copy each of the short description to the Chair of the Council of People's Commissars Technical Council, Chief of the Dzerzhinkskiy Artillery Academy, and the 15th Department of Artkom.
6. Print the conclusions and send to the addresses in the original.

Chief of the 2nd Artkom department, Major-General of the Artillery Service, Komarov

Deputy Chief of the 2nd Artkom department, Engineer-Colonel Tihomirov

Senior Engineer, Artkom 2nd department, Engineer-Major Kornienko"

CAMD RF 81-12038-361