76-mm divisional gun M1936 (F-22)

76-mm divisional gun M1936 (F-22)
76-mm divisional gun F-22 in The Artillery Museum of Finland, Hämeenlinna
Type	Field gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
Designer	Design bureau of No. 92 Plant, headed by V. G. Grabin
Produced	1937–1939
No. built	2,932
Specifications
Weight	combat: 1,620 kg (3,571 lbs) travel: 2,820 kg (6,217 lbs)
Length	7.12 m (23 ft 4 in)
Barrel length	bore: 3.68 m (12 ft 1 in) L/48.4 overall: 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in) L/51.2
Width	1.93 metres (6 ft 4 in)
Height	1.71 metres (5 ft 7 in)
Crew	6
Shell	76.2 × 385 mm. R
Caliber	76.2 mm (3 in)
Carriage	split trail
Elevation	-5° to 75°
Traverse	60°
Rate of fire	15 rounds per minute
Maximum firing range	14 km (8.69 mi)

The 76-mm divisional gun M1936 (F-22) was a Soviet divisional semi-universal gun, adopted for Red Army service in 1936. This gun was used in conflicts between the USSR and Japan on the Far East, in the Winter War and in World War II. Many F-22s were captured by Wehrmacht, modernized by the Germans and used against Soviet forces.

The F-22 was a semi-universal gun which combined the capabilities of a divisional gun and - to some extent - of an anti-aircraft gun. It had a split-trail carriage with suspension and steel wheels with rubber tires. The gun was equipped with a semi-automatic vertical sliding breech block; the recoil mechanism consisted of a hydraulic recoil buffer and a hydropneumatic recuperator. The sights and the elevation controls were located on different sides of the barrel. The chamber fitted the standard model 1900 cartridge, which meant that the gun could use ammunition of older 76.2-mm divisional and regimental guns.

In the early 1930s the RKKA command considered the idea of universal guns - i.e. guns which could be used both as field and anti-aircraft weapons. Mikhail Tukhachevsky, the head of the ordnance department between 1931 and 1934, ordered the development of universal (with 360° traverse) and semi-universal divisional pieces.

Among other artillery design bureaus joining the program were the design bureau of the "Krasniy Putilovets" plant (L-1 and L-2 universal guns), the design bureau of the no. 8 plant (semi-universal guns 25K, 31K and 32K) and GKB-38 (universal A-52 and semi-universal A-51). GKB-38 was closed in 1933, and V. G. Grabin, the leading developer of the team that was working on the A-51 project - became the head of a design bureau of the new Novoye Sormovo (no. 92) plant in Gorky. In 1934 the A-51 - redesignated F-20 - was finished, but Grabin wasn't satisfied with the result and started to work on a new gun, the F-22.