KwK L/42 (50 mm)

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Description

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

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

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

Summarize and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

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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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 · Rh120 L/55 A1
128 mm  K.40 · KwK44 · PaK44
150 mm  s.I.G.33 · Stu.H 43 L/12
380 mm  RW61
  Foreign:
30 mm  Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA) · 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 (South Africa)
125 mm  2A46 (USSR)
152 mm  M-10T (USSR) · XM150E5 (USA)
155 mm  M126 (USA)