Firing a German Pak-40 75mm Anti Tank Gun

[Griefbringer]

Originally Posted by fwayner

I am tempted to believe that the tiny gun shield is there to protect the small pieces of the gun: "We can always get more crew".
Alternatively: "this shield will be of some assistance as long as the barrel is pointing directly (I said Directly) at the enemy."
Either way, clearly a design feature designed by designers not planning on doing the firing.

By my understanding, also mobility and conceability were rather important design criteria for anti-tank guns, and having a huge and heavy gun shield does not really help either.

That said, there is also the late war German 88 mm PaK 41/43 where the design criteria seem to have been something entirely different..