German 7.5cm PaK/KwK/StuK 40 Gun Barrels
Kit # 72B05, 72B17, 72B19, 72B23, 72B25 Preview by Doug Chaltry and Rob Haelterman

(Comments by Rob Haelterman, unless stated otherwise, and apologies to Doug Chaltry for hijacking his original review.)

Many German armored vehicles used a long barrelled 7.5cm gun of the same family. In this preview we discuss the RB offerings for the PaK/KwK/StuK 40 gun.

The barrel in these sets is tailored to the kit/vehicle they will be used on. For instance, the KwK barrels have the armored sleeve at the base, and will be partially hidden in the turret, the StuK barrel will be even less exposed, while the Pak barrel will be the most visible. This means the choice of your set will be governed by the application you have in mind.
However, this family of guns shows variations in the muzzle brake, which means that swapping muzzle brakes between sets might help you obtain the representation you are aiming for, as I did on the MPK Marder II, where I used 72B05 on the Pak, but used the muzzle of 72B25 to better match that seen on pictures of the real vehicle. I say "better" as the real vehicle actually had a muzzle brake with two flattened flanges, typical of the mid-1943 till mid-1944 period. More about this below.

Known variations are roughly as follows:

- 1942 till first half of 1943: no front flange, circular rear flange.
- Second half of 1943 till first half of 1944: flattened front and rear flange.
- Second half of 1944: flattened front flange, circular rear flange.
- Second half of 1944 till end of war: circular front and rear flange.

 

72B17 KwK40 L/43 PzKpfw IV Ausf F2:

The first appearance of a long barrelled gun on the Panzer IV. Type of muzzle brake (as far as I know) only used on the PzKpfw IV Ausf. F2 and some StuG III Ausf. F/8.

 

72B25 KwK40 L/48 PzKpfw IV Ausf H:

The set comes with the flattened end flange, with round rear flange, typical for the second half of 1944. (I know, I need to clean the part up...)


72B23 KwK40 L/48 PzKpfw IV Ausf H/J:

The set comes with the round front flange, and round rear flange, typical for mid-1944 till the end of the war.

 

72B05 Pak40:

The set comes with the flattened front and rear flange. It took me quite a while to realize that RB wanted to depict the flattened flanges, as they appear quite round to the naked eye. To make them more convincing you might want to have a go with a good file and make them flatter.

Doug Chaltry:
There is not a lot to say about this replacement gun barrel, other than it is perfectly shaped, sized and detailed. The brass muzzle brake is gorgeous, though the vents are not completely visible in this scan. Although this barrel is marketed as a replacement for the Marder, it is, in fact, suitable for any PaK 40.



Another picture of 72B25 taken from the RB website. (This is not our usual policy, but RB has far better pictures than I can manage.)


72B19 StuK40 L/48 StugIV:

The set comes with the flattened end flange, with round rear flange. It is seemingly the same as in set 72B25. It can also be used on the StuG III, as the gun installation was exactly the same as on the StuG IV.


 

As you can see from the overview above, you can represent the different muzzle brakes by mixing and matching different sets. Only the muzzle brake without a front flange and a small circular rear flange does not seem to be in the RB range.

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Article Last Updated:
1 December 2009

31 March 2012
12 April
2012