122 mm gun M1931 (A-19)

122 mm gun M1931 (A-19)
M1931 displayed in Hämeenlinna Artillery Museum, Finland
Type	field gun
Place of origin	USSR
Production history
Designed	1927-1935
Manufacturer	Barrikady
Produced	1935-1939
No. built	about 450-500
Specifications
Weight	Combat: 7,100 kg (15,653 lbs) Travel: 7,800 kg (17,196 lbs)
Length	8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)
Barrel length	Bore: 5.48 m (20 ft) L/45 Overall: 5.65 m (18 ft 6 in) L/46.3
Width	2.345 m (7 ft 8 in)
Height	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Crew	9
Caliber	121.92 mm (4.80 in)
Breech	interrupted screw
Recoil	hydropneumatic
Carriage	split trail
Elevation	-2° to 45°
Traverse	56°
Rate of fire	3-4 rounds per minute
Maximum firing range	20.4 km (12.67 mi)

122 mm corps gun M1931 (A-19) (Russian: 122-мм корпусная пушка обр. 1931 г. (А-19)) was a Soviet field gun, developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1939 the gun was replaced in production by an improved variant, M1931/37. The piece saw action in World War II with the Red Army. Captured guns were employed by Wehrmacht and the Finnish Army.

From the late 1920s the Red Army sought to upgrade its First World War era artillery pieces. In January 1927 the Main Artillery Directorate (GRAU) initiated development of a new 122 mm gun for corps artillery. The development was initially entrusted to GRAU design bureau (led by F. F. Lender until its death in September 1927), and from June 1929 - to the design bureau of All-Union Ordnance Trust, with assistance from GRAU designers.

On 17 June 1929 a prototype, along with technological documentation, was ordered from Motovilikha Plants. It underwent trials starting in October 1931, with two barrels of different construction, both fitted with muzzle brake. In May 1932 the gun was sent for improvements to the No 38 Plant, and it received that plant's designation A-19. In 1933, three more prototypes were ordered from the Barrikady Plant in Stalingrad and were completed in March 1935. The gun reached trials again in November 1935. After successfully completing the trials, it was adopted by RKKA on 13 March 1936 as 122 mm corps gun M1931 (A-19).

The M1931 was in production in 1935-1939. It was gradually improved until 1937, so late production pieces differ from the early production ones. In 1939, the gun was replaced in production by an improved variant, M1931/37, which combined barrel of the M1931 with the carriage of the 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20). The exact number of pieces manufactured is not known; estimations are 450-500 pieces.