"Pak 40" Topic

I was watching this:

YouTube link

With the muzzle flash (& arguably, the dust cloud), how did they stay concealed long enough to fire a second round?

A buttoned up tank has apparently very poor visibility. If no one is looking in the right direction at the moment of firing, then it could be missed. If the first round hits and knocks out the target then any other tanks crews in the area are probably not in the calmest frame of mind to search for it.

Oh and in a less dry environment less of a dust cloud.

how did they stay concealed long enough to fire a second round

Using his crews Zeltbahn, Remy Schrijnen cancelled out the dust problem.

Stuart.

That is quite interesting. I have seen wartime footage of this gun firing, but it was nothing like this. Perhaps the powder/load is different.

YouTube link

Then again, there is a substantial firing signature. The recoil looks pretty fierce here too.

Oh yeah, cause 75mm AT ammo is still manufactured by Krupp…who knows what they put in that thing, looks like some Hollywood special effects garbage. Ridiculous

Thanks for the solutions.

It didn't look right to me & I'm glad to see why.

Looks good but there is no sound when I open the You Tube link.

I think if I were in a gun crew, and deployed on dusty ground, I'd be out with a watering-can to damp everything down.

That is still a lot of flash/dust in those B/W films, also heard the car alarms going off in the first link so one heck of a shock wave. funny how when you see real application of things it makes you go – Hmmmmmmm??

In MG we account for tanks being buttoned up or head out. Head out and everybody shoots as small arms can and often did kill the tank commander. If the tank is buttoned up they only see a gun fire if it's in its much smaller vision ark. Hence it mat stay hidden for a few rounds if well placed and hits the tank looking at it and kills it before they can report.

"Looks good but there is no sound when I open the You Tube link."

I thought the same thing but that's just the intro for the video. Sound starts up after you get into it a short bit. Good video, too!

I liked the vid.
Crews did indeed sometimes water down the area in front of their gun.
Bit of a give away in a very dry area though. A tarp or some such was another option.

PAK crews often dug a pit under the breech. Usual explanation I've read is to make it easier to serve the gun if you're a bit lower.
Having seen just how little cover the gunshield offers I see another added bonus.

Thanks Nazrat but still no sound.

Sound works fine in vid

As mentioned above, a blank round will have a different muzzle blast that a round being fired. Sound works fine for me. Interesting vid. Thanks.

I remember talking to a (now sadly deceased) former soldier of the Grenadier Guards about AT guns, he told me they used to call them 'Oncers', as they had to knock out their target with the first shot or they got shot at.

Interestingly, when TD units in the US forces got stuck with towed AT guns instead of Tank destroyer vehicles, they argued against this for the same surviveability reasons, apparently.

"Using his crews Zeltbahn, Remy Schrijnen cancelled out the dust problem."

Firing from a position next to a paved road also helps.

In my brief and inglorious army days, watering down the area in front of an AT missile's position was briefed as one way to cut down on the dust signature, as other posters alluded to.