The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - WWII aircraft armament machine guns and cannon

**Mike Irwin** · May 5, 2025, 08:12 AM

"Never heard of a Firefly before this discussion, sounds like it was pretty formidable."

The 17-pound gun in the Firefly gave the Allies, or at least the British, a gun that could stand up to, and defeat on almost equal terms, anything that the Germans were going to roll out.

The early armor piercing ballistic capped rounds and especially the later armored piercing discarding sabot rounds allowed the Firefly to defeat any German tank out to 1,000 meters face on, and past 2,000 meters in side shots.

The American upgrade to the 75mm gun, the 76mm, was intended to give a gun that would equal the 17 pounder's performance.

Unfortunately early armor piercing shell designs were lacking and it was largely a disappointment until high velocity rounds using tungsten carbide penetrators became available.

May 5, 2025, 08:12 AM	#332
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,641	"Never heard of a Firefly before this discussion, sounds like it was pretty formidable." The 17-pound gun in the Firefly gave the Allies, or at least the British, a gun that could stand up to, and defeat on almost equal terms, anything that the Germans were going to roll out. The early armor piercing ballistic capped rounds and especially the later armored piercing discarding sabot rounds allowed the Firefly to defeat any German tank out to 1,000 meters face on, and past 2,000 meters in side shots. The American upgrade to the 75mm gun, the 76mm, was intended to give a gun that would equal the 17 pounder's performance. Unfortunately early armor piercing shell designs were lacking and it was largely a disappointment until high velocity rounds using tungsten carbide penetrators became available. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.