The Sherman 75mm

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Considering all the complaints one reads about regarding this standard Sherman main gun, could a simple fix not have been to extend the length of the original barrel by a factor of 2 or 3? When the Germans did this with the Panther Main Gun, it certainly improved the range and velocity of the shell.

Not really in this case. The standard 75mm Sherman gun shell case just didn't hold enough "umph", which is why they went to the 17-pounder (76.2mm), which did. The Americans later went to the to 76mm gun, which of course did as well, albeit perhaps not quite as well, hence the adoption of the 90mm later. The original 75mm was good in 1942 but that was the end of its service life except in extraordinary circumstances.