KwK L/42 (50 mm)

Description

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

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Pz.III F
• Pz.III J
• ▂T-III

General info

The KwK L/42 (50mm) 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 shells

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
PzGr 39	APC	71	69	56	44	34	26
PzGr 40/1	APCR	118	117	84	56	37	25
PzGr 40	APCR	132	130	94	63	42	28

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g(TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30°from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
PzGr 39	APC	685	2.1	1.2	25	28.9	+4°	48°	63°	71°
PzGr 40/1	APCR	1005	1.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°
PzGr 40	APCR	1050	0.92	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Shell types

• PzGr 39 - Armour Piercing Capped shell - 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 40/1 - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - This type of ammo should be used if the gun is having trouble penetrating the opponent, or trying to hit a fast-moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower, because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration. It is inferior to the PzGr 40 in terms of penetration, so it is best to skip it and use the PzGr 40 instead.
• PzGr 40 - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - 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.

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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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 calibre 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

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

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

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• topic on the official game forum;
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_cm_KwK_38
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