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The French 37mm tank Hochkiss Gun was a redesigned variant of the naval gun accepted into service back in the 1880s. The gun had an automated breech-block (this means the breech-block had to be opened manually). The gun's compressor was hydraulic, its recuperator was spring-based. Its ballistics were already considered mediocre by the beginning of the 20th Century; in the 1920s its ballistics were significantly inferior to that of other guns of the same class. The performance of the round was ineffective against both armoured and soft targets. In 1928, Peter Syachentov improved the gun, among other things the striker and trigger mechanism was improved; the gun's mantlet also underwent some changes. Nevertheless, the gun's performance remained mediocre at best. The gun was officially accepted into service in the USSR in 1920. The original Hochkiss Gun was manufactured at Factory #8 located in the town of Podlipki near Moscow. At that factory it received the designation of «7K», some documents of that period named this gun PS-1. In June 1928, the procurement order for the first 206 Hochkiss guns was given out. In total, the factory produced 1080 Hochkiss guns during 1931–1932. The manufacturing of this gun was cancelled in 1932. The 37mm Hochkiss Gun was installed on the tanks «Renault» and «Renault Russkiy» manufactured by Sormovo Factory #112, MS-1 (T-18), twin-turret T-26 tanks, they were also installed on the armoured cars BA-27, BA-27M, and BA-I. By November 1, 1936, Red Army possessed 1327 combat and 60 training 37mm Hotchkis guns. SPECIFICATION* | Parameter | Value | | Calibre, mm | 37 | | Gun weight, kg | ? | | Weight of pendulous elements, kg | 103.8/? | | Normal recoil length, mm | ? | | Max. recoil length, mm | ? | | Ammunition | fixed | | Barrel length, clb | 21/31 | | Max range, m | ? | | Practical ROF, shot/min | 5-6 | SHOOTING TABLE | Projectile | Weight, kg | Muzzle vel. m/s | Range, m | | Pzgr.144(f) | 0.39 | 600 | ? | | Pzgr.146(f) | 0.7 | 705 | ? | ARMOUR PENETRATION TABLE* | Projectile | Angle | Range, m | | 100 | 500 | 1000 | | Pzgr1.44/146 | 60° | 25/29 | 19/23 | -/16 | | 90° | - | - | - | *Hochkiss data in numerator; PS-1 data in denominator. AMMUNITION USED IN USSR FOR Hochkiss AND PS-1 GUNS | Parameter | Ammunition | | Hochkiss Cast Iron Cannonball | Steel HE Round | Cast Iron HE Round | Normal Canister Round | Short Canister Round | | Shell weight, kg | 0.71 | 0.713 | 0.716 | ? | 0.684 | | Projectile weight, kg | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.51 | ? | 0.51 | | Cartridge case weight, kg | 0.168 | 0.168 | 0.168 | 0.168 | 0.168 | | Propellant charge weight, kg | 0.04 | 0.041 | 0.038 | 0.038 | 0.038 | | Explosive charge weight, kg | - | 0.04 | ? | - | - | | Shell lenght, mm | 162 | 165 | 167 | ? | 86.4 | | projectile lenght, mm | 85 | 96.6 | 91.5 | ? | 86.4 | | Number of bullets in canister round | - | - | - | 75 | 51(?) | Translation: Rodion Podorozhny
Proof-read: Chris Amundson
Sources: «Artillerijskoye Vooruzhevie Sovetskikh Tankov 1940-1945» Armada-Vertical, #4, 1999
T. Jentz «Panzertruppen» vol.1, 1996
A. Shirokorad «Entsiklopediya Otechestvennoi Artillerii», 2000
M. Svirin, A. Beskurnikov «Pervie Sovetskie Tanki», Armada #1
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