WWII, German, 88mm guns

saxophone · Post by **saxophone** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 11:58 am

G14 is an 88mm A Gun.

G526 is a PaK 43 88mm antitank gun.

Are these two different guns? What are some of the differences?

Peter_Fitz · Post by **Peter_Fitz** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 4:40 pm

The 88 flak was on a cruciform mount, and an L56 barrel. It was the same gun as used by the Tiger 1.

The PaK 43 in its most common form was mounted on a split-trail carriage, and was an L72 barrel. It was the same gun as used on the Jagdpanther and Tiger II.

(the gun to the rear is the same, but on a different carriage).

CG2 · Post by **CG2** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 4:41 pm

G14 is the early version of the 88mm primarily used as an anti-tank gun (although it was effective as an anti-tank gun or as conventional artillery).

G526 was a later version dedicated to anti-tank only and was one of the most powerful anti-tank guns used by the Germans - the gun was also used on the King Tiger, Elefant, Nashorn and Jagdpanther.

saxophone · Post by **saxophone** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 7:18 pm

The PaK 43 in its most common form was mounted on a split-trail carriage

The GHQ catalog says # G5256, PaK 43 has a cruciform mount. Is the model incorrect?

What is the nomenclature (e.g.. "PaK 43") for the G14, 88 mm anti-aircraft gun?

CG2 · Post by **CG2** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 11:15 pm

Cruciform was right for the ground mount.

The 88mm AA was the FlaK 38

saxophone · Post by **saxophone** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:06 am

Which 88mm is featured in the AH game Tobruk?

dougeagle · Post by **dougeagle** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:59 am

saxophone wrote:Which 88mm is featured in the AH game Tobruk?

Probably the Flak 88. It was also used in the AT role...with some good results too.
The Pak 43 wasn't seen in North Africa. It would be later on in the war.

Peter_Fitz · Post by **Peter_Fitz** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:01 am

saxophone wrote:The GHQ catalog says # G5256, PaK 43 has a cruciform mount. Is the model incorrect?

No, the first production of the PaK 43 was on cruciform mounts. That had advantages â€” it was a very stable firing platform, and the gun could be trained in any direction very quickly. However, it was very heavy, and setting up and taking down the gun took a relatively long time.

The decision was made for later guns to use a split-trail carriage, as it was much faster to get into action and to limber up to move around.

Donald M. Scheef · Post by **Donald M. Scheef** » Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:38 pm

"The GHQ catalog says # G5256 [sic], PaK 43 has a cruciform mount. Is the model incorrect?"

The model is correct; G525 has a cruciform mount. This accurately represents the PaK 43 anti-tank gun. This is the gun/mount in the background of the second picture in Peter_Fitz's posting. The gun/mount in the foreground is the Pak 43/41. This is represented by GHQ's G130.

"What is the nomenclature (e.g., "PaK 43") for the G14, 88mm anti-aircraft gun?"

G14 is a FlaK 18/36/37. (The FlaK 18, FlaK 36, and FlaK 37 were technically separate designs, but difficult to distinguish at this scale. Also, parts were often mixed. For example, the FlaK 18, as built, did not have the shield that is on G14, but shields could, and were, back-fitted onto these mounts.

Don S.