Ivo Rigter Sr.
Founder & Co Owner of BAIV and Tracksandtrade
+31 6 518 22 502 ivosr.rigter@tracksandtrade.comM31 76MM AA GUN
This gun was produced by Zenitnaya Pushka obr in 1938. At the time of Operation Barbarossa, the German army captured this gun and it was transported to Germany for home defense purposes. Later in the war this gun was one of the 114 which were transferred from Germany to Finland where they have been used for Coastal Defence. Therefore it has a very interesting story. The gun is deactivated but comes with its original two-wheel undercarriage.
Location
Overloon, The Netherlands
Year of construction
1938
Country of origin
Russia
Manufacturer
Zenitnaya Pushka obr
Type
M31 76MM
Condition
Complete but older restoration/ not active
Details
Condition
This gun was produced by Zenitnaya Pushka obr in 1938. At the time of Operation Barbarossa, the German army captured this gun and it was transported to Germany for home defense purposes. Later in the war this gun was one of the 114 which were transferred from Germany to Finland where they have been used for Coastal Defence. Therefore it has a very interesting story. The gun is deactivated but comes with its original two-wheel undercarriage.
Technical details
- Manufacturer
- Zenitnaya Pushka obr
- Model
- M31 76MM
- Manufacturing date
- 1938
- Serial number (breach ID)
- 2991
- Length
- (6,90 m)
- Width
- (2,40 m)
- Height
- (2,60 m)
- Weight
- 10.630 lb (4.820 kg)
- Main armament
- 3 in (76.2 mm) Fixed QF 76,2 x 558 mm.
- Firing range
- 14 km (height 8 km)
- Crew
- 10
- Production numbers
- Approx. 4000
History
The 76 mm air defense gun M1931 (Russian: 76-мм зенитная пушка обр. 1931 г.; Zenitnaya Pushka obr. 1931 g.) was an anti-aircraft gun used by the Soviet Union during the Winter War and the first stages of World War II.
The configuration of the air defense gun M1931 owed much to the design of the contemporary Vickers 3-inch anti-aircraft guns. The Soviet M1931 like the Vickers gun had a two-wheeled carriage with collapsible cruciform outriggers.
The M1931 however, was designed by Rheinmetall and sold to Russia long before the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1932 onwards about 4,000 of these guns were made.
A number of M1931 guns were captured by Finland during the Winter War and were employed by them as the 76 ItK/31 ss during World War II.
Likewise, M1931 guns captured by the Germans were given the designation 7.62 cm Flak M.31(r) and used until they were either worn out or their ammunition supply ran out. A few were rebored to fire German 8.8 cm ammunition and redesignated the 7.62/8.8 cm Flak M.31(r). However, the majority were scrapped in 1944.
After the war, a number of Finnish guns were converted into light coastal guns (76 ItK 31 Rt, where “Rt” stands for “rannikkotykistö” = coastal artillery) by the addition of a scope site with manual lead mechanism for direct fire against moving surface targets. These guns were still in use as training guns of the coastal artillery into the 1980s.
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