A report on mounting of 50-mm tank gun in German Panzer III tanks, from Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 33, September 9, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

MOUNTING OF 50-MM KW.K 39 TANK GUN A preliminary examination in the United Kingdom of a captured PzKw 3 Model L (Tp)* has disclosed that the long-barreled 50-mm tank gun, 50-mm Kw. K 39, is balanced by means of a torsion-bar compensator. As shown in the sketch, the torsion bar is mounted on the inside of the turret roof parallel to the trunnion axis and is anchored at each end. An arm is attached to the center of the bar which carries at its free end a pair of rollers. The bar is pre-set so that the rollers exert a downward force on a flat plate bolted to the gun cradle a few inches from the trunnion axis. It will be seen from the sketch that, as this plate is fairly close to the trunnion axis, the maximum twist of the bar (from full depression to full elevation) is quite small. The short tank gun, 50-mm Kw. K, in a captured PzKw 3 Model J previously examined was balanced by a coil spring in compression on the right of the mounting. *The abbreviation Tp (Tropmunition) following the model-letter of the tank indicates that this tank is adapted for use in the tropics.

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