37mm US Anti-Tank Gun Video
Forgotten Weapons, from time to time, covers larger pieces of artillery as well, not just small arms. In their most recent video, Ian and Karl fire a US M3 37mm anti-tank cannon:
The 37mm AT gun was the workhorse American anti-tank weapon at the outset of World War II. For the time, it was actually very effective against all enemy armor of the period, and the Americans mounted it to all of their cannon-armed tanks and many of their armored fighting vehicles (M3, M5 Lights, M2 and M3 Mediums, the M8 Greyhound, and the oddball air-droppable M22 Locust to name a few). By 1943, however, tank armor had substantially improved, and the 37mm became decidedly second-rate in the European theater. However, Japanese armor remained much the same as it was at Pearl Harbor, and the 37mm gun remained a mainstay in the Pacific.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
More by Nathaniel F
![[NRAAM 2024] NEW Taurus & Heritage Revolvers for 2024](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/06/04/06441/nraam-2024-new-taurus-heritage-revolvers-for-2024.jpg?size=350x220)
Comments
Join the conversation
An American general said the only way to hurt a "kraut" with a 37mm is to catch him and give him an enema with it......Tanks crews called the 37mm the "Squirrel Rifle".....saying "It snapped like a cap pistol. From Rick Atkinson's GREAT book An Army at Dawn.
Gela Sicily 1943 Lt Col. Darby (Darby Rangers) raced to the beach, commandeered a 37mm antitank gun, split open a box of ammo with an ax........HIs second shot halted a Renault tank........From The Day of Battle Rick Atkinson.