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read on wikipedia, that an apcbc round was produced for this, with a higher muzzle velocity. spww2 only has ap at penetration 8 for all versions of this gun, as far as i can tell.
is there any truth in this? i hate that damn gun and it would be nice if cromwells got some decent firepower
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I think you are right being sceptical about this "magic bullet" for the British 75mm gun. They had available the range of US 75mm ammunition, meaning the M48 HE round, the M61 APC and the M72 AP (see this one:
http://wargaming.info/armour04.htm).
- The M61 was in reality an APCBC round, the Americans didn't record the ballistic cap in the nomenclature for their rounds. The British appears to have used this both with and without its explosive filler. The British were never very keen on explosive fillers in armour piercing rounds and while not having the filler would reduce the destructive effect post-penetration effect, it would avoid problems with premature detonation.
- The M48 came in several different flavours, with three different propellant charges and two different fuzes. It would appear that only the supercharge round was carried in British tanks.
- It seems doubtfull, that the British actually used the M72 uncapped, solid round in combat.
It would appear that they also carried a British made smoke round.
That leaves us with the "magic bullet", an APCBC round with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) and penetration of 103mm at 500 yards. The only thing I know of which comes close is the T45 HVAP round, which had a muzzle velocity of 2850 ft/s and penetrated 117mm at 500 yards. But that was an experimental round, never used in combat AFAIK.
Whether there was some sort of "supercharge" APCBC round available is hard to tell from the limited evidence you've found, but it is not something which has found its way into manuals and such, nor is it something I've ever read about in unit histories etc. So if it ever existed, it was not likely fielded.
If you Cromwells run into enemy armour, better use the speed to get away or keep some Challengers or Fireflies nearby - after all, they were included in the TO&E at one per platoon for that exact reason
cbo