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
• Pz.Sp.Wg.P204(f) KwK

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

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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

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See also

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• 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