M1 (76 mm)

Description

The M1 (76 mm) is the iconic high velocity gun developed by the United States during World War II. Intended to provide the M4 Sherman an increase in firepower to counter the increasing number of heavily armored German tanks encountered in Western Europe.The M1 in game is a very effective gun, with average penetration and high post penetration damage with the filler round. However, the vehicles it is mounted to can face tanks such as the Panther, Tiger I and Tiger II, which can prove to be difficult targets.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• M18 GMC
• M18 "Black Cat"
• ␗M18 GMC
• M4A1 (76) W
• M4A2 (76) W
• ▂M4A2
• M4A3E2 (76) W
• M4A3 (76) W
• ▅M4A3 (76) W
• T20

General info

The M1 (76 mm) is a very capable cannon, and can disable or outright destroy most vehicles it can encounter in one shot. It is an ideal armament for mid tier medium tanks and tank destroyers. For some heavily armored vehicles, the user may have to aim for weak points or go for side shots.

Available ammunition

The M1 (76 mm) has five shell types available. The M62 shell comes stock with all tanks equipped with the M1 (76 mm), and is the primary shell players will wish to use. It has decent penetration for its tier, punching through 149mm at 90° at point blank range, and a good amount of explosive filler, the equivalent of 63.7 grams of TNT. This shell will result in one hit kills with a successful penetration for the majority of tanks, but more spacious tanks will require more careful shot placement. The cannon also comes stock with the M42A1 high explosive shell, which has 390 grams of TNT, but is only effective on very lightly armored vehicles, and should not be used in the majority of cases, as all vehicles the M1 cannon comes with are also equipped with the .50 caliber M2HB machine gun, which makes short work of such targets. Shells such as the M79 shot, M93 APCR, and M88 Smoke Shell are available as modifications. The M79 shot is unlocked as a tier II modification, and penetrates 134mm of armor at 90° 10m away. It also has no high explosive filler. This shell is inferior in every way to the M62 shell, and should not be used. The M93 APCR shot has 190mm of penetration against 90° armor 10m away, but is ineffective against sloped armor. The M88 Smoke Shell is a very handy munition, and can be used for concealment or to blind opponents.

Comparison with analogues

The M1 (76 mm) has similar penetrative power to the 85mm Soviet cannons, but the 85mm has more penetration against sloped armor.

Usage in battles

The M1 (76 mm) is very capable for it's tier, and in battle it can be used to great effect. The cannon has great one shot potential with the M62 shell, and its usable in many situations. It is ideal for flanking, using the good penetration and post penetration damage to get around opponent's heavy front armor and hit them in their weaker side and rear armor.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent penetrative qualities
• Very good post penetration damage
• relatively short reload

Cons:

• Heavily armored targets require shooting for weak spots or side armor

History

The M1 (76 mm) was mounted on Sherman Tanks and the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, as well as various prototype vehicles. Developed in 1942 by the U.S. Ordnance Department, the M1 (76 mm) was intended as an improvement over the 75mm gun. Concerns over the high explosive shells, as well as crew ergonomics, due to the increase in the size of the gun breech in the Sherman prevented the 76mm from being adopted. In August of 1943, the M1 (76 mm) mounted in roomier turrets from the T23 alleviated the concerns for crew ergonomics, and was approved. This led to the 76mm being mounted to Shermans, with the larger T23 turret. M1 armed Shermans were approved for combat in July 1944. In January 1943, it was decided the M1 (76 mm) was to be mounted on the T70, which would later become the M18 Hellcat.

Media

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as 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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

USA tank cannons
20 mm	M139
25 mm	LW25 · M242
37 mm	M3 · M5 · M6
57 mm	M1
75 mm	M2 · M2 Howitzer · M3 · M6 · M1897A4 · XM274
76 mm	M1 · M7 · M32 · T185E1
90 mm	M3 · M3A1 · M36 · M41 · M54 · T15E1 · T15E2 · T54 · T208E9
105 mm	M4 · M68 · M68A1 · M68A1E8 · T5E1 · T5E2 · T140E2 · T140E3 · XM35
106 mm	M40A1C
120 mm	M58 · M256 · T53
152 mm	M81 · M162 · XM150E5
155 mm	M185 · T7
165 mm	M135
	Foreign:
20 mm	Rh202 (Germany)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III (Britain) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	IMI MG251 (Israel)

Japan tank cannons
37 mm	Type 94 · Type 100 · Type 1
47 mm	Type 1
57 mm	Type 90 · Type 97
70 mm	Type 94
75 mm	Type 90 · Type 99 · Type 3 · Type 5 (Type I Model II · Type II Model I · Type II Model II)
90 mm	Type 61
105 mm	Type 5 (Experimental · Production) · JSW L/52
106 mm	Type 60 (B)
120 mm	Taishō Type 10 · Navy short gun · Type 90 L/44 · Type 10 L/44
150 mm	Type 38
155 mm	NSJ L/30 · JSW L/52
	Foreign:
25 mm	Oerlikon KBA B02 (Switzerland)
30 mm	Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA)
35 mm	Oerlikon KDE (Switzerland)
75 mm	M6 (USA)
76 mm	M1 (USA) · M32 (USA)
88 mm	KwK36 (Germany)
90 mm	M3A1 (USA) · M36 (USA)
105 mm	L7A3 (Germany)
120 mm	Schneider-Canet 1898 (France)

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)