KwK L/42 (50 mm)

Description

The 50 mm KwK L/42 is a medium velocity 50 mm German tank cannon.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Pz.III F
• Pz.III J
• ▂T-III

General info

The 50 mm KwK L/42 is a decent gun for its rank. It has a quick reload rate of ~4 seconds, a decent APC shell and an excellent APCR shell with up to 132 mm of penetration.

Available ammunition

• PzGr 39 - APC - This is the main ammo type, use it whenever it has enough penetration to penetrate the target. It deals the most damage, because of its explosive filler.
• PzGr 40 - APCR - This variation of APCR is even lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration. Use these against the occasional T-34 and Sherman tanks, which have highly sloped armour and are generally very resistant to the basic APC ammo. However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration, as it has no explosive filler. It only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path, so it is important to aim for vital modules.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
PzGr 39	APC	80	76	62	48	38	29
PzGr 40	APCR	116	107	74	47	30	19

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
PzGr 39	APC	685	2.05	1.2	9	28.9	48°	63°	71°
PzGr 40	APCR	1,050	0.9	-	-	-	66°	70°	72°

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Quick reload speed of around 4-5 seconds
• Decently accurate and powerful
• Very high shell velocity for APCR rounds

Cons:

• APC shell with explosive filler struggles to penetrate common foes at its BR, such as the T-34 and M4 Shermans

History

The 5 cm KwK 38 (5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 38 L/42) was a German 50 mm cannon used as the main armament of variants of the German Sd.Kfz. 141 Panzerkampfwagen III medium tank during the Second World War. Later on, it would be replaced by the longer barreled L60.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] 5 cm KwK 38

Germany tank cannons
20 mm	KwK30 · KwK38 · Rh202
28/20 mm	s.Pz.B.41
30 mm	MK 30-2/ABM
37 mm	KwK34(t) · KwK36 · KwK38(t) · PaK L/45
47 mm	Pak.(t)(Sf.)
50 mm	KwK39 · KwK L/42 · PaK38
57 mm	Bofors L/70 Mk.1
75 mm	K51 L/24 · KwK37 · KwK40 L43 · KwK40 L48 · KwK42 · KwK44 · KwK44 L/36.5 · PaK39 L48 · PaK40/3 L46 · PaK42 · StuK37 · StuK40 L43 · StuK40 L48
76 mm	PaK36 (r)
88 mm	Flak.37 · Flak 41 · KwK36 · KwK43 · PaK43
90 mm	BK90
105 mm	CN105-57 · FMK.4 Modelo 1L · K.18 · KwK L/68 · L7A3 · PzK M57 · StuH42
120 mm	Rh120 L/44 · Rh120 L/55
128 mm	K.40 · KwK44 · PaK44
150 mm	s.I.G.33 · Stu.H 43 L/12
380 mm	RW61
	Foreign:
	HSS 831L (Britain)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.V (Britain)
73 mm	2A28 (USSR)
75 mm	M3 (USA)
76 mm	F-32 (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M32 (USA)
90 mm	M36 (USA) · M41 (USA)
105 mm	GT-3 (Britain)
125 mm	2A46M (USSR)
152 mm	M-10T (USSR) · XM150E5 (USA)