122 mm projectile. Military Observer. Characteristics and properties of ammunition
122-mm howitzer model 1938 M-30
According to some artillery experts, the M-30 is one of the best designs of Soviet cannon artillery in the mid-20th century. Equipping the artillery of the Red Army with M-30 howitzers played a big role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
Field howitzers of the divisional level, which were in service with the Red Army in the 1920s, went to her as a legacy from the tsarist army. These were the 122-mm howitzer of the 1909 model of the year and the 122-mm howitzer of the 1910 model of the year, designed respectively by the German concern Krupp and the French company Schneider for the Russian Empire. They were actively used in the First World War and the Civil War. By the 1930s, these guns were clearly outdated. Therefore, already in 1928, the Journal of the Artillery Committee raised the issue of creating a new divisional howitzer of 107-122 mm caliber, adapted for mechanical towing. On August 11, 1929, an assignment was issued to develop such a weapon.
In 1932, tests began on the first experimental sample of the new howitzer, and in 1934 this gun was put into service as the “122-mm howitzer mod. 1934". Like the guns of the First World War period, the new howitzer was mounted on a single-beam carriage (although at that time carriages of a more modern design with sliding beds had already appeared). Another significant drawback of the gun was its wheel travel (metal wheels without tires, but with suspension), which limited the towing speed to 10 km/h. The gun was produced in 1934-1935 in a small series of 11 units. Serial production of 122-mm howitzers mod. 1934 was quickly discontinued. It was too complex in design for the conditions of serial production at defense industry enterprises.
Since the mid-1930s, the GAU has been at the center of discussions about the future of Soviet divisional artillery. In particular, the light 107mm field howitzer, the "traditional" 122mm howitzer, and the 107mm cannon howitzer as a duplex addition to the divisional howitzer were considered as alternatives or complementary solutions. The decisive argument in the dispute could well have been the experience of using Russian artillery in the First World War and the Civil War. Based on it, the 122 mm caliber was considered the minimum sufficient for the destruction of field fortifications, and in addition, it was the smallest one that allowed the creation of a specialized concrete-piercing projectile for it. As a result, the projects of divisional 107-mm light howitzers and 107-mm howitzers-guns did not receive support, and all the attention of the GAU was focused on the new 122-mm howitzer.
Already in September 1937, a separate design group of the Motovilikha plant under the leadership of F.F. Petrova was given the task of developing such a weapon. Their project had a factory index M-30. Almost simultaneously, in October 1937, on its own initiative, but with the permission of the GAU, the design bureau of plant No. 92 undertook the same work (chief designer - V.G. Grabin, F-25 howitzer index). A year later, the third design team joined them - the same task was also given to the Design Bureau of the Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant (UZTM) on September 25, 1938 on his initiative. The howitzer, designed at the UZTM design bureau, received the U-2 index. All projected howitzers had a modern design with sliding beds and sprung wheels.
The U-2 howitzer entered field trials on February 5, 1939. The howitzer could not stand the tests due to the deformation of the beds that occurred during the shooting. The modification of the gun was considered inexpedient, since it was inferior in ballistics to the alternative M-30 project, although it outperformed the competitor in accuracy of fire.
The F-25 howitzer project entered the GAU on February 25, 1938. The F-25 successfully passed factory tests, but did not enter the field tests, since on March 23, 1939, the GAU decided:
“The F-25 122-mm howitzer, developed by factory No. 92 on its own initiative, is currently of no interest to the GAU, since field and military tests of the M-30 howitzer, which is more powerful than the F-25, have already been completed.”
The project of the M-30 howitzer entered the GAU on December 20, 1937. Despite the requirement of the GAU to equip the new howitzer with a wedge breech, the M-30 was equipped with a piston breech borrowed unchanged from the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 The wheels were taken from the F-22 gun. The prototype M-30 was completed on March 31, 1938, but factory tests were delayed due to the need to refine the howitzer. Field tests of the howitzer took place from September 11 to November 1, 1938. Although, according to the conclusion of the commission, the gun did not pass the field tests (during the tests, the beds broke twice), it was nevertheless recommended to send the gun for military tests.
The development of the gun was difficult. On December 22, 1938, three modified samples were submitted for military trials, again revealing a number of shortcomings. It was recommended to modify the gun and conduct repeated ground tests, and not to conduct new military tests. However, in the summer of 1939, military tests had to be repeated. Only on September 29, 1939, the M-30 was put into service under the official name “122-mm divisional howitzer mod. 1938".
Although there is no official document detailing the advantages of the M-30 over the F-25, the following arguments can be assumed that influenced the final decision of the GAU:
- The absence of a muzzle brake, since the spent powder gases rejected by the muzzle brake raise clouds of dust from the surface of the earth, which unmask the firing position. In addition to the unmasking effect, the presence of a muzzle brake leads to a higher intensity of the shot sound from behind the gun compared to the case when the muzzle brake is absent. This somewhat worsens the working conditions of the calculation.
- Use in the design of a large number of used nodes. In particular, the choice of a piston valve improved reliability (at that time there were great difficulties with the production of wedge valves for guns of a sufficiently large caliber). In anticipation of the upcoming large-scale war, the possibility of producing new howitzers using already debugged components from old guns became very important, especially considering that almost all new weapons with complex mechanics created in the USSR from scratch had low reliability.
- Possibility of creating more powerful artillery pieces on the M-30 carriage. The F-25 carriage, borrowed from the divisional 76-mm F-22 gun, was already at the limit of its strength in terms of its strength properties - the 122-mm receiver group needed to be equipped with a muzzle brake. This potential of the M-30 carriage was subsequently used - it was used in the construction of the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1943 (D-1).
The characteristic features of the howitzer are a carriage with sliding beds, large angles of elevation and horizontal fire, high mobility with mechanical traction.
The howitzer barrel consists of a pipe, a casing and a screw-on breech. The shutter placed in the breech is piston, with an eccentrically located hole for the exit of the firing pin. The shutter closes and opens by turning the handle in one step. The platoon and descent of the drummer are also made in one step by pulling the trigger with the trigger cord; in the event of a misfire, the triggering of the hammer can be repeated, as the hammer is always ready to be triggered. After firing, the cartridge case is removed by the ejection mechanism when the bolt is opened. This bolt design provided a rate of fire of 5-6 rounds per minute.
As a rule, firing from a howitzer is carried out with divorced beds. In some cases - in case of a sudden attack on a campaign by tanks, infantry or cavalry, or if the terrain does not allow to spread the beds - shooting is allowed with the beds flattened. When breeding and reducing the beds, the leaf springs of the undercarriage are automatically turned off and on. In the extended position, the beds are fixed automatically. Thanks to these features, the transition from marching to combat position takes only 1-1.5 minutes.
The sights of the howitzer consist of a gun-independent sight and a panorama of the Hertz system. During the war years, two types of sights were used: with a semi-independent aiming line and with an independent aiming line.
The howitzer can be transported both mechanically and horse-drawn (six horses). The speed of transportation by mechanical traction on good roads is up to 50 km/h, on cobbled bridges and country roads up to 35 km/h. When horse-drawn, the howitzer is carried behind the limber; with mechanical traction, it can be transported directly behind the tractor.
The weight of the howitzer in combat position is 2450 kg, in the stowed position without a limber - about 2500 kg, in the stowed position with a limber - about 3100 kg.
Factory production of M-30 howitzers began in 1940. Initially, it was carried out by two factories - No. 92 (Gorky) and No. 9 (UZTM). Plant No. 92 produced the M-30 only in 1940, in total this enterprise produced 500 howitzers.
In addition to the production of towed guns, M-30S barrels were produced for mounting on self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) SU-122.
Serial production of the gun continued until 1955. The successor to the M-30 was the 122-mm D-30 howitzer, which was put into service in 1960.
The howitzer was a divisional weapon. According to the state of 1941, the rifle division had 16 122-mm howitzers. In this state, Soviet rifle divisions went through the entire war. Since December 1942, the guards rifle divisions had 3 divisions with 2 batteries of 76-mm guns and one battery of 122-mm howitzers each, 12 howitzers in total. Since December 1944, these divisions had a howitzer artillery regiment (5 batteries), 20 122-mm howitzers. From June 1945, rifle divisions were also transferred to this state.
The motorized division had 2 mixed divisions (a battery of 76-mm guns and 2 batteries of 122-mm howitzers in each), a total of 12 howitzers. The tank division had one battalion of 122-mm howitzers, 12 in total. Until August 1941, cavalry divisions had 2 batteries of 122-mm howitzers, a total of 8 guns. Since August 1941, divisional artillery was excluded from the composition of cavalry divisions.
Until the end of 1941, 122-mm howitzers were in rifle brigades - one battery, 4 guns.
122-mm howitzers were also part of the howitzer artillery brigades of the reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) (72-84 howitzers).
This gun was mass-produced from 1939 to 1955, was or still is in service with the armies of many countries of the world, was used in almost all significant wars and armed conflicts of the middle and end of the 20th century. The first Soviet large-scale self-propelled artillery mounts of the Great Patriotic War SU-122 were armed with this gun.
During the Second World War, the howitzer was used to solve the following main tasks:
destruction of manpower, both open and located in field-type shelters;
destruction and suppression of infantry fire weapons;
destruction of bunkers and other field-type structures;
combating artillery and motorized means;
punching passages in wire obstacles (if it is impossible to use mortars);
punching passages in minefields.
The barrage fire of the M-30 battery with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a certain threat to enemy armored vehicles. The fragments formed during the break were capable of penetrating armor up to 20 mm thick, which was quite enough to destroy armored personnel carriers and the sides of light tanks. For vehicles with thicker armor, fragments could disable the elements of the undercarriage, guns, and sights.
To destroy enemy tanks and self-propelled guns in self-defense, a cumulative projectile, introduced in 1943, was used. In his absence, the gunners were ordered to fire high-explosive fragmentation shells at tanks with the fuse set to high-explosive action. For light and medium tanks, a direct hit by a 122-mm high-explosive projectile in many cases was fatal, up to the turret being blown off the shoulder strap. Heavy "Tigers" were a much more stable target, but in 1943 the Germans recorded a case of heavy damage to tanks of the PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger" type during a combat collision with Soviet SU-122 self-propelled guns armed with M-30 howitzers.
At the beginning of World War II, a significant number (several hundred) of M-30s were captured by the Wehrmacht. The gun was adopted by the Wehrmacht as a heavy howitzer 12.2 cm s.F.H.396(r) and was actively used in battles against the Red Army. Since 1943, the Germans even launched mass production of shells for this gun. In 1943, 424 thousand shots were fired, in 1944 and 1945. - 696.7 thousand and 133 thousand shots, respectively. Captured M-30s were used not only on the Eastern Front, but also in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall on the northwestern coast of France. Some sources also mention the use by the Germans of M-30 howitzers for arming self-propelled guns, created on the basis of various captured French armored vehicles.
In the postwar years, the M-30 was exported to a number of countries in Asia and Africa, where it is still in service. It is known about the presence of such guns in Syria, Egypt (respectively, this gun took an active part in the Arab-Israeli wars). In turn, part of the Egyptian M-30s was captured by the Israelis. The M-30 was also supplied to the Warsaw Pact countries, for example, to Poland. The People's Republic of China launched its own production of the M-30 howitzer called the Type 54.
Finnish army in 1941-1944 captured 41 guns of this type. Captured M-30s under the designation 122 H / 38 were used by Finnish artillerymen in light and heavy field artillery. They liked the gun very much, they did not find any flaws in its design. The Finnish M-30s that remained after the war were used as training howitzers or were in the mobilization reserve in the warehouses of the Finnish army until the mid-1980s.
Regarding her fighting qualities, the statement of Marshal G.F. Odintsova: “There can be nothing better than her.”
The M-30 122mm howitzer, known in the West as the M1938, is a staunch veteran. The howitzer was developed back in 1938, and a year later its serial industrial production began. Produced in large quantities and widely used during the Great Patriotic War, the M-30 howitzer, practically unchanged, is still widely used in the CIS and other countries, although today in many armies it is used only for training purposes or transferred to the reserve. Although production of the M-30 was discontinued in the CIS countries a few years ago, the howitzer is still produced in China under the designation 122-millimeter howitzer Type 54 and Type 54-1. Modification Type 54-1 has a number of design differences, which are due to the peculiarities of local technologies.
The 122 mm M-30 has a classic design as a whole: a reliable, durable two-bed carriage, a shield with a raised central plate that is rigidly fixed, and a 23-caliber barrel without a muzzle brake. The gun was equipped with the same carriage as the 152 mm D-1 (M1943) howitzer. Wheels with a large diameter are equipped with one-piece slopes, which are filled with sponge rubber, however, the Bulgarian modification M-30 has wheels of excellent design. Each implement has two types of coulters - for hard and soft soil.
Calculation of the Soviet 122-mm howitzer M-30 in battle against German tanks. In the foreground is a dead artilleryman. 3rd Belorussian Front
122-mm howitzer M-30 senior sergeant G.E. Makeeva on Gutenberg Strasse (Gutenberg) in the city of Breslau, Silesia. 1st Ukrainian Front
A Soviet gunner-guardsman rests by his 122mm M-30 howitzer after a battle with German tanks near Kaunas. 3rd Belorussian Front. Author's title of the work - "After a fierce battle"
Soviet self-propelled guns SU-122 go through Leningrad to the front, returning from repairs
The M-30 howitzer at one time was the main armament of the SU-122 self-propelled guns, which was created on the basis of the T-34 chassis, but at present these installations are no longer left in any army. In China, the following self-propelled guns are currently being produced: the Type 54-1 howitzer is mounted on the chassis of the Type 531 armored personnel carrier.
The main type of ammunition M-30 is a highly effective fragmentation projectile, weighing 21.76 kilograms, with a range of up to 11.8 thousand meters. Theoretically, the cumulative armor-piercing projectile BP-463 can be used to combat armored targets, which at the maximum direct shot distance (630 m ) to penetrate 200-mm armor, but such ammunition is currently practically not used.
Until now, it is in service with the armies of many countries of the world, it was used in almost all significant wars and armed conflicts of the middle and end of the 20th century.
The performance data of the 122 mm M-30 howitzer:
The first prototype - 1938;
Start of serial production - 1939;
The countries in which it is currently in service are the former member states of the Warsaw Pact, the countries to which the Soviet Union provided military assistance, China;
Calculation - 8 people;
Length in the stowed position - 5900 mm;
Width in the stowed position - 1975 mm;
Caliber - 121.92 mm;
The initial speed of the projectile - 515 meters per second;
Projectile weight - 21.76 kg;
Full charge weight - 2.1 kg;
Maximum pressure of powder gases - 2350 kgf / cm;
Maximum firing range - 11800 m;
Barrel length (excluding bolt) - 2800 mm (22.7 caliber);
The number of grooves - 36;
The length of the rifled part of the barrel - 2278 mm (18.3 calibers);
The width of the rifling - 7.6 mm;
Cutting depth - 1.01 mm;
The width of the rifling fields is 3.04 mm;
The volume of the chamber when using a long-range projectile is 3.77 dm3;
Chamber length - 392 mm (3.2 caliber);
Declination angle - -3°;
The maximum elevation angle is 63°;
Angle of horizontal fire - 49 °;
Elevation speed (one turn of the flywheel) - approximately 1.1 °;
Horizontal guidance speed (one turn of the flywheel) - approximately 1.5 °;
The height of the line of fire - 1200 mm;
Maximum rollback length - 1100 mm;
Rollback length when firing with a full charge - from 960 to 1005 mm;
Normal pressure in the knurler - 38 kgf / cm2;
The volume of liquid in the knurler is from 7.1 to 7.2 l;
The volume of fluid in the recoil brake is 10 l;
Gun height (elevation angle 0°) - 1820 mm;
Stroke width - 1600 mm;
Clearance - 330-357 mm;
Wheel diameter - 1205 mm;
The weight of the barrel with the shutter - 725 kg;
Pipe weight - 322 kg;
Casing weight - 203 kg;
The weight of the breech - 161 kg;
Shutter weight - 33 kg;
Weight of sliding parts - 800 kg;
Cradle weight - 135 kg;
The weight of the swinging part is 1000 kg;
Carriage weight - 1675 kg;
The weight of the upper machine is 132 kg;
Wheel weight with hub - 179 kg;
Lower machine weight - 147 kg;
The weight of the beds (two) - 395 kg;
Weight in combat position - 2450 kg;
Weight without limber in the stowed position - 2500 kg;
The weight of the ski installation LO-4 is 237 kg;
Transfer time between marching and combat positions - 1-1.5 minutes;
Rate of fire - up to 6 rounds per minute;
The maximum carriage speed on good roads is 50 km / h;
The pressure of the trunk on the coupling hook is 240 kgf.
A battery of Soviet 122-mm howitzers of the 1938 model (M-30) fires at Berlin
Completely equipped artillery shot of separate-sleeve loading for a 122-mm howitzer
arr. 1938 consists of a projectile with a fuse or a remote tube, a propellant charge from the main package and several equilibrium beams of two types with smokeless pyroxylin powder in a metal sleeve with a primer sleeve. A flash suppressor is provided as an optional component of the shot. Let us consider in more detail the components of artillery rounds for the 122 mm M-30 howitzer used in the Great Patriotic War.
The main purpose shells for the system were high-explosive fragmentation and fragmentation grenades of the 462 family. In 1942, the "armor-burning" (cumulative) projectile BP-460A was added to them.
The OF-462 high-explosive fragmentation long-range steel grenade was developed at the Artillery Research Institute (ANII) in the mid-1930s. Its components are the body, the leading belt and the bursting charge of trinitrotoluene (TNT) weighing 3675 g. Other explosives were also used for the latter, most often ammotol. The hull has an aerodynamically advantageous pointed (ogival) shape with a zapoyaskovy cone fairing, as well as two polished centering bulges for better alignment of the projectile axis with the axis of the channel during firing and increasing the accuracy of the battle as a result. The grenade was equipped with fuses of the RG-6, RGM or RGM-2 types, which could be set to instantaneous (fragmentation) action, low deceleration and high-explosive action. When installed on a fragmentation action, a grenade with an RGM type fuse had an advantage over a grenade with an RG-6 fuse. Since 1942, it could be used together with the D-1 remote fuse or the GVMZ fuse. In the post-war period, the ammunition received an iron-ceramic leading belt instead of a copper one and, accordingly, a new postfix in the name - OF-462Zh.
The installation of the OF-462 grenade fuse for fragmentation action is used to fire at openly located enemy manpower, at its firing points and artillery, as well as at tanks from closed positions. In this case, after the rupture, about 1000 fragments of various masses and shapes are formed. Of these, 400-500 are lethal, flying at speeds up to 1 km / s. The area of the actual defeat (the probability of a fragment hitting a growth figure is 50%) was indicated as 60 m along the front and 20 m
in depth. The area of a continuous lesion (the probability of hitting a growth figure is 90%) was estimated as a rectangular area of 18 × 8 m. For simplicity, approximate characteristics of a fragmentation lesion were later given - 40 × 8 m. Individual fragments retain their lethal effect at distances up to 250-300 m. When firing with the use of "small deceleration" the ammunition has time to go deeper into the barrier. This property is taken into account when shooting at field-type fortifications, including dugouts and bunkers, at solid wooden buildings, as well as at direct fire tanks, if there are no HEAT shells. When an OF-462 grenade ruptures into medium-density soil with this fuse installation, a funnel is formed up to 1 m deep, up to 2.8-3 m in diameter and 2.0-2.25 m3 in volume. Setting the fuse to a delayed high-explosive action, when the projectile is even deeper into the obstacle, is used when destroying more durable field shelters, stone and brick buildings, as well as for firing on ricochets.
The O-462A steel-cast iron fragmentation grenade was also developed by the ARI in 1930-1935 as a more technologically advanced and cheaper version of the OF-462 steel grenade already put into production. Until 1941, it was also considered high-explosive fragmentation and had the designation OF-462A. The external forms of these shells are identical, but they differ in wall thickness and body material. As the name implies, the O-462A grenade was made by casting from steel cast iron; its walls are much thicker compared to OF-462, and the explosive charge is reduced in weight to 3 kg. When broken, it gives fragments of a slightly different shape than a steel grenade, and smaller, but in larger quantities. Shooting with an O-462A grenade is allowed on the first or less powerful charges. The fuses were the same as in the case of the OF-462, but when firing at hard ground, they cannot be set to delayed action. Due to the lower strength of the hull compared to the O-462A steel projectile, it will simply crack without
explosion. The main-purpose shells (in today's sense; during the Great Patriotic War they meant only grenades) also included the "armor-burning" (cumulative) projectile BP-460A with a B-229 instantaneous fuse. It was developed in 1942. When a projectile hits the target, the detonation of an explosive charge from an explosive with a conical recess leads to the formation of a high-speed recess from the gaseous products of the explosion and part of the material of the metal lining of the recess (up to 10-12 km / s in the head part, about 2 km / s - in the tail) and a high-temperature jet (gases - up to 3500 ° C, metal - up to 600 ° C), which has a significant penetrating ability - up to 120 mm of armor when it hits along the normal.
In addition, the BP-460A projectile was distinguished by its effective fragmentation action, and the strong shock wave formed during its rupture could flow through open hatches, loopholes or other
openings with a large area inside a combat vehicle or fortification, inflicting additional barotraumatic damage to the crew or garrison. However, the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938 does not look the best as an anti-tank gun due to the low muzzle velocity of the HEAT projectile itself (problems with fuse sensitivity forced it to fire only on the fourth charge) and the lack of a specialized sight for direct fire. To this we can add a fairly high dispersion of projectiles and the need for high training of the gunner in order to take into account the curvature of his trajectory and the necessary lead. The cross in the field of view of the panorama of howitzers of early releases could not help in this, but with the introduction of aiming marks-corners, the task
became somewhat easier. A good illustration of this is the test firing from the M-30 at a fixed trophy tank from a distance of 500 m, carried out in 1943. Of the fifteen released
None of the projectiles hit the target. On the other hand, in battles, the successful use of the BP-460A cumulative projectile by crews of towed M-30s and self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) SU-122 against enemy armored vehicles was also recorded. It is also worth noting that, even without HEAT shells, hitting an enemy light or medium tank with a conventional high-explosive fragmentation grenade was in most cases fatal, while a heavy tank had a significant chance of receiving serious damage, up to the loss of combat capability. As an example, we can mention an episode in the summer of 1943, when the 80-mm side armor of the turret was broken at the 80-mm side armor of the turret, which came under fire from several SU-122s.
Special-purpose shells for 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938 included campaign, smoke and lighting ammunition.
Steel smoke projectile D-462 (developed by the ARI until 1935 as a subspecies of chemical munitions) had
a case with a screw head and a fuse of the KTM-2 type, which had to be installed necessarily for instantaneous action (the cap was removed). When hitting an obstacle, a small bursting charge of pressed TNT blocks opens the body of the projectile in its head part and sprays 3580 g of smoke composition (white phosphorus) into the environment. Burning in atmospheric oxygen, phosphorus gives a dense low opaque cloud of white smoke 10-15 m high and 6-8 m wide. Depending on the strength and direction of the wind, it lasts 5-10 minutes, and then dissipates. The effectiveness of the destruction of enemy manpower by hull fragments and burning smoke composition, as well as the incendiary effect of the D-462 projectile, were low. The consumption of 122-mm smoke shells for placing a smoke screen on a front about 500 m wide, held for 5 minutes, was, depending on the direction and strength of the wind, from 15 to 100 pieces. Later, the D-462 solid-hull version and the D-462A cast iron smoke projectile were adopted. The latter could not be fired at full charge due to the increased fragility of its body. During the Great Patriotic War, smoke ammunition for 122-mm howitzers was also equipped with KT-2 fuses.
In terms of their design, the A-462 campaign projectile and the C-462 illuminating parachute projectile were similar. They were developed at the very end of the 1930s, had a short-range form, and the first of them could not be fired at full charge. Under the action of a small expelling charge ignited by a T-6 remote tube, either a torch with a parachute or campaign material, most often leaflets, is thrown out of their case from behind. Accordingly, the A-462 shells had access to their chamber through a bottom detachable from the body for laying leaflets before firing. The installations for firing the C-462 lighting projectile were calculated in such a way that the tube fired at a height of about 500 m. Its torch gives 400,000 candela of light for 45 s. For propaganda munitions, the triggering of the tube is set at a height of 100-150 m, and in the absence of wind, precipitation and ascending air currents, leaflets are scattered in a strip from 15 to 50 m wide
and lengths from 300 to 600 m. Chemical projectiles stand apart in the family of 122-mm howitzer ammunition. For reasons of secrecy, information about them was not given in the service manuals and firing tables, however, they were made so that their ballistic properties did not differ much from regular high-explosive fragmentation grenades or smoke shells. With the latest chemical projectiles were similar in design, since they had a common purpose - the release of a smoke formulation or a poisonous substance (OS) into the environment.
122 mm howitzer mod. 1938 could fire chemical projectiles of the KhS-462 and KhN-462 types (ballistically equivalent to the long-range OF-462 grenade) and chemical fragmentation projectiles OX-462. The letters "C" and "H" in the nomenclature correspond to persistent and unstable agents. Chemical artillery ammunition with the XH index of the interwar period was equipped with phosgene, a suffocating agent, with the XC index, with lewisite, related to skin blistering and general poisonous agents. One 122-mm howitzer projectile could hold up to 3.3 kg of OM. Persistence of phosgene infection in winter - up to several hours, in summer - up to an hour. As follows from the classification, this parameter is much higher in lewisite, and special measures must be taken to degas the area contaminated by it, even days and weeks after use.
According to the AU instructions adopted in 1938, all grenades and shells were painted gray, with the exception of shrapnel and propaganda shells. The first had a yellow body, and the second - red. The type of projectile was indicated by colored stripes on the ogival part. In wartime, it was envisaged that the ammunition was not painted at all, and their protection against corrosion was supposed to be done with grease from cannon fat.
However, during the Great Patriotic War, coloring was introduced in an intermediate color between dark gray and protective for all shells and the designation of a number of their types with colored stripes on the cylindrical part of the body. For example, steel-cast iron grenades were marked with a black stripe, and lighting projectiles were marked with white. Having completed the review of shells for the M-30, we will briefly mention the types of fuses used in them. Until 1939, the OF-462 and O-462A grenades were equipped with head fuses of the safety type RG-6, RGM and the obsolete UGT-2. The first two provided instantaneous action, as well as operation with small and large deceleration (selection by installing a valve and screwing the cap), the latter - instantaneous or "ordinary" action (cap removed or put on). During the Great Patriotic War, they were supplemented by the RGM-2 fuse of the same type with similar modes of action, the D-1 fuse for remote and impact action, as well as the GVMZ type fuse, which were supposed to fire without a cap (i.e., installation only on fragmentation action). With smoke shells, fuses of the semi-safety type KT-2 and KTM-2 were used, for which, like for the GVMZ, it was necessary to screw caps before firing them. Agitation and lighting ammunition was completed with a double-action T-6 tube (operation after a certain time and on impact), the main purpose of which was to complete shrapnel shots that were not provided for the M-30. For the cumulative projectile, a highly sensitive instantaneous head fuse V-229 was developed. Let us dwell in more detail on the device and characteristics of propellant charges for the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938. They were placed in a brass or steel sleeve (GAU index G-463) with an internal diameter of 127.5 mm. The solid-drawn brass sleeve was lacquered from the inside to protect against corrosion, and in the absence of cracks after use and subsequent re-compression in dies, it could be reused several times. The steel sleeve was rolled up, and it was also allowed to reuse it, but a smaller number of times compared to brass. An igniter was installed in the sleeve - capsule sleeve No. 4, which can withstand pressure up to 3100 kgf / cm2.
It could be used up to two times after restoration, but the pressure in the bore in this case was allowed no more than 2350 kgf / cm2. The propellant charge (GAU index - Zh-463) was made from smokeless pyroxylin gunpowder, which was a tube from a gelatinized mass obtained after pyroxylin was treated with an alcohol-ether mixture. The tubes could have one or more channels along their axis and different thicknesses of simultaneously burning surface layers (i.e., the next layer ignited only after the previous one burned out). The thickness of the layer and the number of channels were indicated in the brand of gunpowder in the form of a fraction - in the numerator the first parameter in tenths of a millimeter, in the denominator - the second. For example, gunpowder from grains in the form of a tube with one channel along the axis and a thickness of the burning layer of 0.4 mm had a grade of 4/1, and from grains in the form of a cylinder with seven channels along the axis and a thickness of the burning
layer 0.7 mm - brand 7/7. During the operation of the system, it was necessary to strictly observe the temperature
and humidity conditions for storing ammunition, since due to the volatilization of the remnants of the alcohol-ether mixture from gunpowder or its dampening, the tabular muzzle velocity of the projectile was not achieved. As a standard measure to solve this problem, it was envisaged to seal the cartridge case with a cardboard reinforced lid filled with paraffin, as well as screwing in a lacquered primer sleeve. In 1938, for the same purpose, a special rubber cap was introduced to cover the sleeve. The design of the propellant charge included the following inserted into the sleeve:
. the main package with gunpowder grade 4/1 weighing 355 g and an igniter from smoky gunpowder weighing 30 g;
. four lower equilibrium beams with gunpowder brand 9/7 weighing 115 g each;
. four upper equilibrium beams with gunpowder brand 9/7 weighing 325 g each;
. decopper - lead skein
wire weighing 20 g;
. normal and reinforced covers.
All together they constituted a "full" charge. By sequentially removing from it, first the upper and then the lower equilibrium beams, the charges from the first to the eighth were obtained. There was an optional possibility of using flame retardant additives, which were inert salts (on-
an example is potassium chloride) in caps in the form of rings, which increase the ignition temperature of powder gases when fired.
As a result, there was no light flash when they flowed out of the barrel
after the shot. It was forbidden to use flame arresters during the day, because they gave increased smoke and unmasked the gun. In addition, when used, they heavily polluted the barrel, and it was necessary to ban it more often than usual. When conducting flameless shooting
on charges from full to six, it was required to take into account a decrease in the initial speed by 0.5%.
The least powerful seventh and eighth charges were intended for fragmentation and high-explosive fragmentation grenades of the 462 family with fuses of the RG-6 type, the production of which was discontinued after the end of World War II. These types of ammunition are still in the course of
military operations began to be equipped with less sensitive fuses of the RGM and D-1 types, and in the post-war period - with their improved versions of the RGM-2 and D-1-U. When firing on the seventh and eighth charges, the pressure of the powder gases did not ensure the cocking of the fuses of the RGM and D-1 families, which led to the absence of gaps when the shells hit the target or obstacle. In addition, there is a mention in the firing tables that these fuses could not work when fired even on the sixth charge. Therefore, after the war, the re-indexation of the Zh-463M charge was introduced to show the absence of charges No. 7 and 8 in it. However, they were physically in the configuration, since the two lower equilibrium beams were simply sewn to the main package. This was corrected in the charge of the new Zh11 device for the M-30 howitzer (introduced in the 1960s), which had four upper equilibrium beams, two lower equilibrium beams and a main igniter package. The grades of gunpowder remained unchanged compared to the charge of the Zh-463 composition. Thus, the charge Zh11 excluded the intentional composition of the seventh and eighth charges. The pressure of powder gases in the bore when firing the OF-462 grenade varied from 2350 kgf/cm2 (full charge) to 530 kgf/cm2 (charge No. 8). Instructions for calculations and command personnel prescribed, in order to save the resource of the howitzer barrel, to use the smallest possible charge in terms of power to solve a combat mission. When firing with a full charge, the barrel can withstand about 7,500 shots, when firing on charge No. 3, wear drops by 3.2 times, and on charge No. 6 - by 8.4 times.
These values are quite high, since they have passed the entire Great
The M-30 howitzers gave the Patriotic War an average of 5,500 to 8,000 rounds per gun.
The shots were packed two by two in a complete capping in the form of a wooden box with a lid and partitions. Ammunition depots completed shots with the fourth (for the BP-460A cumulative projectile), the first (for grenades and cast iron shells) and full charges.
It was possible to fire with shots from a 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 with charges of composition Zh-462. All the information necessary for this was given in the full firing tables with the index 146/140, while the full charge of the Zh-462 composition corresponded to charge No. 2 of the Zh-463 composition.
However, it was allowed to do this only in exceptional cases, because due to the shorter cartridge case for the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 there was a height of the M-30 chamber not far from the zapoyaskovy part of the projectile. During subsequent shooting, because of this, the sleeve of the regular
a shot for the M-30 was tightly extracted: it was simply pressed into the recesses formed in the front of the chamber.
Shots from 122-mm howitzers mod. 1938 were used only with them, but the OF-462 high-explosive fragmentation grenade could be fired from field, tank and self-propelled guns with the ballistics of a 122-mm gun mod. 1931. The cartridge case and propellant of such a cannon shot with a howitzer shell were completely incompatible with the M-30. In the post-war period, the improvement of ammunition for
122 mm howitzer mod. 1938 - a new O-460A steel-cast iron fragmentation projectile, an S-463 long-range illuminating projectile and a BP1 HEAT projectile with increased armor penetration were adopted.
All these shells were allowed to fire at full charge. With the development of new types of shots for the successor to the M-30 - the 122-mm howitzer D-30 (2A18) - the USSR did not forget to make their options for the honored veteran. For example, in the 1980s 122 mm howitzer mod. 1938, it gained the ability to fire a high-explosive fragmentation projectile of increased power 3OF24 with new types of fuses and a projectile with 3Sh1 swept ready striking elements.
In the late 20's - early 30's. Soviet military theorists developed and substantiated the theory of the so-called. "deep operation". The provisions of this theory provided for a breakthrough of the enemy defense in two or more sectors of the front to its entire operational depth, followed by the introduction of large formations of mobile troops into the breakthrough zone in order to develop success and inflict a final defeat on the defending group of enemy troops. In the conditions of a deep operation, fire support and escort of the actions of the advancing troops by forces and means of field artillery acquired special importance. The basis of the material part of the divisional artillery of the Red Army of the period under review was the systems developed at the beginning of the century before the start of World War 1 - 76 mm cannon mod. 1902 and 122 mm howitzers mod. 1909 and 1910, quite modern for their time, they in no way corresponded to the concept of mobile warfare in the conditions of saturation of the troops with armored vehicles and mechanization equipment. Simply put, these guns, due to their design features, could not be towed at a speed of more than 10 km / h, the firing range also did not meet the needs of mechanized troops and cavalry in the offensive. In addition, the presence of a single-bar carriage in the design of these guns made it much more difficult to aim the gun at the target in the direction if the settings needed to be changed by an angle of more than 0-50, i.e. rapid fire maneuver turned into an intractable problem. In a word, the Soviet military leadership came to the conclusion that it was necessary to replace divisional artillery systems with more modern ones. The modernization of existing guns and howitzers carried out in 1930 to some extent increased their tactical and technical characteristics, but did not completely solve the problem, the guns were still not adapted for towing by means of mechanized traction, the carriage design remained the same. An attempt to develop a draft 122 mm howitzer at the end of the 20s on its own in accordance with the tactical and technical requirements of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army (AU RKKA) was unsuccessful. The second attempt was made in 1931-1932. and was associated with the development of cooperation between the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (Narkomtyazhprom, NKTP USSR) and the German company Rheinmetall in the design and production of artillery systems. Within the framework of such cooperation, in 1930, a joint design bureau No. 2 was organized in Moscow
All-Union Gun and Arsenal Trust (VOAT) of the Narkomtyazhprom, where by 1932, under the leadership of the head of the design bureau L.A. Shtiman and the German designer Focht developed the 122 mm howitzer "Lubok" (according to the name of the project theme), which was subsequently adopted by the Red Army under the name "122 mm howitzer model 1934." However, the "Lubka" carriage was designed according to a single-beam scheme,
there was no suspension of the combat course, which excluded the towing of the gun with the help of a mechanized traction. Due to these design flaws, technological problems in the organization of production, only a pre-series batch of these guns was produced in the amount of 11 copies, after which the mass production of the howitzer and its further refinement had to be abandoned. As a result of a number of failures in the issue of creating an acceptable project for a 122 mm field howitzer, a number of specialists from the AU of the Red Army and designers of artillery systems in 1935 - 1937. proposed to create a project of 107 mm guns as a divisional howitzer. Such a proposal was justified by the fact that 105 mm howitzers were in service with divisional artillery in the armies of almost all European states. In addition, the reduction in caliber greatly simplified the design process and made it possible to create a lighter and more maneuverable gun. It was planned to use 107 mm rounds designed for a 107 mm corps gun as ammunition. However, at the beginning of 1937, the leadership of the General Staff of the Red Army (General Staff of the Red Army), based on the experience of the world and civil wars, approved the 122 mm caliber as the main one for divisional howitzers, and therefore the survey work on the 107 mm howitzer project was stopped in all design teams. By September 1937, tactical and technical requirements (TTT) for the 122 mm howitzer project were developed at the Red Army Army Administration, which were transferred in the same month for implementation to the Design Bureau of Plant No. 172 (now OAO Motovilikhinskiye Zavody, Perm), where a separate design team consisting of S.N. Dernova, A.E. Drozdova, A.A. Ilyina, M.Yu. Tsirulnikova, L.A. Chernykh and some others under the guidance of the famous creator of artillery systems F.F. Petrova immediately set to work. The requirements of the AU assumed the creation of a 122 mm system of separate-sleeve loading with howitzer ballistics mod. 1934, with a wedge gate, sliding beds and a sprung combat move. As ammunition for the new gun, 122 mm shots produced by the industry should have been suitable. In October 1937, on an initiative basis, the development of a 122 mm howitzer project (factory designation F-25) was also started at the Design Bureau of Plant No. 92 (now the Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant OJSC) under the leadership of V.G. Grabin. In addition, a year later, work on this topic (factory designation U-2) was started in the artillery design bureau of plant No. 9 (UZTM, now OJSC Uralmash, Yekaterinburg) under the guidance of designer V.N. Sidorenko. Projects by V.G. Grabin and V.N. Sidorenko were brought to the stage of factory testing of prototypes, after which they were discontinued. The project of a separate design group of design bureaus of plant No. 172 was submitted for consideration and approval to the AU of the Red Army in mid-December 1937, and after its consideration, it was decided to consider it a priority in relation to the projects of other design bureaus. The adoption of such a decision was facilitated by the use in the project of units and mechanisms of tools mastered in production by the industry. So, the design of the barrel and elements of the M-30 recoil devices (POU) (factory design index for the gun design bureau of plant No. 172) were borrowed from the Lubok howitzer project. On the gun, contrary to the requirements of the AU RKKA, a piston shutter of the Schneider system was installed, which was used in the configuration of the 122 mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 produced by the industry in large batches. The design of the combat move was borrowed from the F-22 divisional gun. The first prototype of the howitzer was presented for factory tests on March 31, 1938, during which serious design flaws were revealed, especially in the issue of calculating the strength of the carriage elements. The modified M-30 sample was approved for state testing only at the beginning of September of the same year. They began on September 11 and lasted until November 1, 1938. The commission recognized them as unsatisfactory due to numerous breakdowns during the firing of carriage elements, in particular the beds, however, despite the negative conclusion of the commission, the management of the AU ordered the production of experimental modified models of guns for military testing . On December 22, 1938, prototypes of the M-30 were presented for military trials, as a result of which the design bureau team was recommended to eliminate the shortcomings identified during the operation of howitzers in the troops and again conduct field tests under the state program, during which the M-30 project was final changes were made to eliminate the identified shortcomings. In August 1939, the guns were submitted for repeated military tests, which were considered successful. On September 29 of the same year, by the Decree of the Defense Committee, the gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "122 mm howitzer model 1938". In AU, the howitzer was assigned the index 53-G-463. By design, the M-30 is a classic artillery system for separate-sleeve loading, consisting of a barrel and a carriage. The composition of the barrel, in turn, included a monoblock pipe with progressive cutting, a casing designed to connect the pipe to the breech and a screw-on breech. A piston breech was installed in the breech with a spent cartridge case extraction mechanism and an inertial fuse. The carriage consisted of a POU, which, in turn, consisted of a hydraulic brake of the spindle-type recoil parts, a hydropneumatic type knurler and a brake compensator for the recoil parts, a cradle used to connect the barrel to the upper machine and direct its movement during rollback and roll-on (the barrel, cradle and POU constitute a swinging part of the howitzer), the upper machine, which is the support of the swinging part of the gun, the sector-type lifting mechanism, located to the right of the barrel, the screw-type rotary mechanism, the push-type spring balancing mechanism, located in the form of two cylinders to the right and left of the cradle, the lower machine, which is a hollow casting with lugs for hinged fastening of two sliding frames, sighting devices consisting of an independent or semi-independent mechanical sight with a normalized scale and a panorama of the Hertz system, a running gear consisting of two metal wheels with tires filled with HA, a combat axle, springs and brakes to forest of an automobile type, shield cover, consisting of fixed and movable shields. The gun kit includes a metal roller, a front end, a charging box and a set of spare parts. The M-30 ammunition included artillery rounds with the following shells: OF-462 high-explosive fragmentation grenade, O-462, O-460A fragmentation grenades, F-460, F-460N, F-460U, F-460K high-explosive grenades, shrapnel Sh -460 and Sh-460T, S-462 lighting projectile, A-462 propaganda projectile, D-462 and D-462A smoke projectiles, OH-462 chemical fragmentation projectile, Kh-460 and X-462 chemical projectiles, BP cumulative projectile -460A. The shots were completed with full Zh-11 charges and Zh-463M variable charges in brass or seamless sleeves. Serial production of 122 mm howitzers mod. 1938 was organized in 1940 at factories No. 92 and No. 9 and continued until 1955. A total of 19,250 howitzers were assembled, of which about 1,850 were in the post-war period. To this day, the gun is produced in China under the name "Type 54". It was exported to countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, as well as to Angola, Algeria, Albania, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Vietnam, Guinea-Bissau, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Cambodia, Congo, China, North Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Mongolia, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia. In the armies of many of them, it is in service today. It was in service with the artillery battalions of some motorized rifle and tank regiments in the USSR until the end of the 80s. A certain number of guns are still stored at the bases for the storage of weapons and equipment (BKhVT). During the Great Patriotic War, a large number of M-30s went to the Wehrmacht and Germany's allies as trophies. In Finland, captured howitzers were in service until the early 90s. In 1942, the production of 122 mm rounds for the M-30 was organized in Germany, which indicates a high assessment of the combat qualities of the howitzer by the enemy. At the end of the 70s, the M-30 underwent modernization, during which pneumatic wheels were installed from the ZIL-131 car and on the shield cover, a ceiling with a brake light was placed to the right of the barrel. A slightly modernized swinging part of the howitzer was mounted on a 122 mm self-propelled artillery mount SU-122. Based on the components and mechanisms of the gun carriage in 1943, a 152 mm howitzer mod. 1943 D-1. In the post-war years, the M-30 sights began to be equipped with the PG-1 and PG-1M panorama, as well as the Luch-1 illumination device. Despite the rather complicated history of creation, the howitzer left a noticeable mark in the history of the formation of Soviet artillery weapons. When designing it, the designers managed to find the line that combined, on the one hand, high tactical and technical characteristics, and, on the other hand, the simplicity of the device, manufacturability and relative cheapness of production. Marshal of Artillery Odintsov, assessing the system, said: "There can be nothing better than it."
Tactical and technical characteristics
| №№ | Characteristic name | unit of measurement | Characteristic value |
| 1 | Calculation | people | 8 |
| 2 | Ammunition | number of shots | 60 |
| 3 | Tractor type | horse harness "six"
car 6x6 AT-S, MT-LB |
|
| 4 | Maximum conveying speed | km / hour | 50 |
| 5 | body length | mm | 5900 |
| 6 | Width | mm | 1980 |
| 7 | Height | mm | 1820 |
| 8 | Combat weight | t | 2900 |
| 9 | Clearance | mm | 357 |
| 10 | Line of fire height | mm | 1200 |
| 11 | Transfer time to combat position | min. | 1,5-2 |
| 12 | rate of fire | shots / min. | 5-6 |
| 13 | Weight of OF-462 projectile | kg | 21,76 |
| 14 | Initial projectile speed (at full speed) | m / sec | 515 |
| 15 | Sights: mechanical
panorama |
Hertz systems, PG-1M |
|
| 16 | Horizontal firing angle | degree | 49 |
| 17 | Elevation angle | degree | 63,3 |
| 18 | Declination angle | degree | -3 |
| 19 | barrel length | caliber | 22,7 |
| 20 | Caliber | mm | 121,92 |
| 21 | Maximum firing range OF-462 | m | 11 720 |
M-30 in the museum on Sapun Mountain
TTX M-30 Weight in combat position The greatest firing range Maximum elevation angle The greatest angle of declination Horizontal firing angle Number of variable charges Rate of fire practical 5-6 shots per minute Highway speed
In order to speed up the design, it was decided to borrow advanced foreign experience. KB-2, which was led by German specialists, began designing. In 1932, tests began on the first experimental sample of the new howitzer, and in 1934 this gun was put into service as the “122-mm howitzer mod. 1934". It was also known under the name "Lubok", from the name of the theme that combines two projects to create a 122-mm divisional howitzer and a 107-mm light howitzer. Barrel of 122 mm howitzer mod. 1934 had a length of 23 calibers, the maximum elevation angle was + 50 °, the horizontal pickup angle was 7 °, the mass in the stowed and combat position was 2800 and 2250 kg, respectively. Like the guns of the First World War period, the new howitzer was mounted on a single-beam carriage (although at that time carriages of a more modern design with sliding beds had already appeared). Another significant drawback of the gun was its wheel drive - metal wheels without tires, but with suspension - which limited the towing speed to twelve kilometers per hour. The gun was produced in 1934-1935 in a small series of 11 units, of which 8 went into trial operation (two four-gun batteries), and the remaining three went to the training platoon of red commanders.
However, in 1936, a serious change in views on the divisional howitzer took place in the GAU - the Lubok project in its original form was no longer considered promising. In particular, gunners were no longer satisfied with a single-beam carriage, and they demanded sliding beds. In addition, there was talk of switching from 122 mm to 107 mm caliber on the grounds that everyone abroad had switched from 120 mm to 105 mm guns. Due to all this, the Lubok was never accepted into service, and the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30
By 1937, it became clear that in the event of a transition to 107-mm caliber, artillery would begin to experience shell hunger - the production capacity for the production of 107-mm ammunition was too small. For the same reason, the project to replace the divisional three-inch guns with 95 mm guns was rejected.
In March 1937, at a Moscow meeting of representatives of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), it was decided to accept Marshal Yegorov's proposal to develop a more powerful 122-mm howitzer. In September 1937, a separate design team of the Motovilikha Plant, led by F.F. Petrov, was given the task of developing such a weapon.
The project of the M-30 howitzer entered the GAU on December 20, 1937. The gun borrowed a lot from other types of artillery weapons; in particular, the bore arrangement was close to that of the Lubok howitzer, and the recoil brake and limber were also taken from it. Despite the requirement of the GAU to equip the new howitzer with a wedge breech, the M-30 was equipped with a piston breech borrowed unchanged from the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 The wheels were taken from the F-22 gun. The prototype M-30 was completed on March 31, 1938, but factory tests were delayed due to the need to refine the howitzer. Field tests of the howitzer took place from September 11 to November 1, 1938. Although, according to the conclusion of the commission, the gun did not pass the field tests (during the tests, the beds broke twice), it was nevertheless recommended to send the gun for military tests.
On September 29, 1939, the M-30 was put into service under the official name "122-mm divisional howitzer mod. 1938"
The production of M-30 howitzers began in 1940. Initially, it was carried out by two plants - No. 92 (Gorky) and No. 9 (UZTM). Plant No. 92 produced the M-30 only in 1940, in total this enterprise produced 500 howitzers.
In addition to the production of towed guns, M-30S barrels were produced for mounting on self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) SU-122.
Serial production of the gun continued until 1955. The successor to the M-30 was the 122-mm D-30 howitzer, which was put into service in 1960.
The M-30 had a fairly modern design for its time with a carriage with sliding beds and sprung wheels. The barrel was a prefabricated structure of a pipe, a casing and a screw-on breech with a bolt. The M-30 was equipped with a piston single-stroke breech, a hydraulic recoil brake, a hydropneumatic knurler, and had a separate-sleeve loading. The shutter has a mechanism for the forced extraction of the spent cartridge case when it is opened after the shot. The descent is made by pressing the trigger on the trigger cord. The gun was equipped with a Hertz artillery panorama for firing from closed positions, the same sight was also used for direct fire. The carriage with sliding beds is equipped with a balancing mechanism and a shield cover. Metal wheels with rubber tires, leaf springs. Carriage of tools by mechanical traction was usually carried out without a limber directly behind the tractor, the maximum allowable transportation speed was 50 km / h on the highway and 35 km / h on cobbled bridges and country roads. The horse-drawn howitzer was transported behind the limber by six horses. When breeding beds, suspension is turned off automatically, in the absence of space or time for breeding beds, shooting is allowed with the beds flattened in the stowed position. The angle of horizontal fire is reduced to 1°30′.
The M-30 fired a full range of 122mm howitzer shells, including a variety of old Russian and imported grenades. After the Great Patriotic War, new types of ammunition were added to the range of shells indicated below, for example, the cumulative 3BP1 shell. The 53-OF-462 steel high-explosive fragmentation grenade, when the fuse was set to fragmentation action, created about 1000 lethal fragments when it exploded, the effective radius of destruction of manpower was about 30 meters.
The M-30 was a divisional weapon. According to the state of 1939, the rifle division had two artillery regiments - a light one (a division of 76-mm guns and two mixed divisions of two batteries of 122-mm howitzers and one battery of 76-mm guns each) and a howitzer (a division of 122-mm howitzers and a division 152 mm howitzers), a total of 28 pieces of 122 mm howitzers. In June 1940, another division of 122-mm howitzers was added to the howitzer regiment, in total there were 32 of them in the division. In July 1941, the howitzer regiment was expelled, the number of howitzers was reduced to 16. In this state, Soviet rifle divisions went through the entire war. Since December 1942, the guards rifle divisions had 3 divisions with 2 batteries of 76-mm guns and one battery of 122-mm howitzers each, 12 howitzers in total. Since December 1944, these divisions had a howitzer artillery regiment (5 batteries), 20 122-mm howitzers. From June 1945, rifle divisions were also transferred to this state. In the mountain rifle divisions in 1939-1940 there was one division of 122-mm howitzers (3 batteries of 3 guns), a total of 9 howitzers. Since 1941, a howitzer artillery regiment (2 divisions of 3 four-gun batteries each) has been introduced in its place, 24 howitzers have become. From the beginning of 1942, only one two-battery division remains, only eight howitzers. Since 1944, howitzers have been excluded from the state of mountain rifle divisions. The motorized division had 2 mixed divisions (a battery of 76-mm guns and 2 batteries of 122-mm howitzers in each), a total of 12 howitzers. The tank division had one battalion of 122-mm howitzers, 12 in total. Until August 1941, cavalry divisions had 2 batteries of 122-mm howitzers, a total of 8 guns. Since August 1941, divisional artillery was excluded from the composition of cavalry divisions. Until the end of 1941, 122-mm howitzers were in rifle brigades - one battery, 4 guns. 122-mm howitzers were also part of the howitzer artillery brigades of the reserve of the Supreme High Command.
The M-30 was used for firing from closed positions at dug-in and openly located enemy manpower. It was also successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (trenches, dugouts, bunkers) and make passages in barbed wire when it was impossible to use mortars. The barrage fire of the M-30 battery with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a certain threat to enemy armored vehicles. The fragments formed during the break were capable of penetrating armor up to 20 mm thick, which was quite enough to destroy armored personnel carriers and the sides of light tanks. For vehicles with thicker armor, fragments could disable the elements of the undercarriage, guns, and sights. To destroy enemy tanks and self-propelled guns in self-defense, a cumulative projectile, introduced in 1943, was used. In his absence, the gunners were ordered to fire high-explosive fragmentation shells at tanks with the fuse set to high-explosive action. For light and medium tanks, a direct hit by a 122-mm high-explosive projectile in many cases was fatal, up to the turret being blown off the shoulder strap.
At the beginning of World War II, a significant number (several hundred) of M-30s were captured by the Wehrmacht. The gun was adopted by the Wehrmacht as a heavy howitzer 12.2 cm s.F.H.396(r) and was actively used in battles against the Red Army. Since 1943, for this gun (as well as a number of earlier captured Soviet howitzers of the same caliber), the Germans even launched mass production of shells. In 1943, 424 thousand shots were fired, in 1944 and 1945. - 696.7 thousand and 133 thousand shots, respectively. Captured M-30s were used not only on the Eastern Front, but also in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall on the northwestern coast of France.