Soviet HEAT rounds.

[Peasant]

There is so little data on these available, that every bit counts. This is from a US document dated 1951:

[Peasant]

The HEAT rounds, domestic 76mm as well as german 75mm ones, possess considerable penetration capability that does not depend on their striking velocity (the 76mm shells defeat 45mm of armor at obliquities of up to 45°)

Experiments with spaced armour arrangements using domestic 76mm HEAT shells has demonstrated that 16mm screen set in front of a 45mm main armour provides almost complete protection when the gap between two plates is at least 80mm, both at normal attack as well as at 30° angle. (shell velocity 292m/s, maximum size of the hole in the main armour was 5-7mm). There are indications suggesting that the thickness of the screen can be reduced to 6-8mm, while for the german 75mm HEAT shell that has shown to be less efficient than the domestic one, the gap size can even be reduced to 50mm.

[Peasant]

In October 1941 the works has began on reverse engineering captured german HEAT shells. From May of 1942 76mm HEAT shells entered mass production. They were capable of defeating 100mm of armour at 90° impact angle and 60mm at 60° respectively.

I'm a bit skeptical about "100mm" figure but the 60mm/30° seems plausible and in line with previous data.

Source: "Энциклопедия отечественной артиллерии А.Б. Широкорад, 2000"

[Yoozername]

I have seen drawings showing they used a tracer.

[Peasant]

This this only the first page, the FT and other data is located here.

This is a note (3th of September 1942) for the artillery officers about the introduction of a new shell, 76mm BP-353A HEAT in the ammunition selection of the 76mm regimental gun Mod.1927. The table is self-explanatory and shows the armor penetration figures for this shell, and notes that they do not depend on the distance to target. The document also notes the existence of another type of HEAT shell for this gun, BP-353 (without "A") and tell to use the same FT for it. Commands the reader to report on the use and effectiveness of these shells back to higher command.

The second document, dated 2nd February 1943, elaborates that currently the BP-353A shell is being supplied assembled into various rounds:

1)The UBP-353A round is meant to be fired from all 76mm guns in service, except the 76mm mountain guns Mod.1909 and Mod.1938 and AA guns Mod.1931 and Mod.1938.

2) The UBP-354A round is meant to be fired only from the 76mm divisional guns. ZiS-3 and others.

3) The UBR-355A round is meant to be fired from the 76mm mountain gun Mod.1938.

The author then complains that there has been reports of troops using these rounds against soft targets and stresses the need to use them only for their intended purpose due to their limited supply because of their high cost and complexity.



Edit: Found a document describing testing of the 122mm BP-460A HEAT shell vs a King Tiger. To keep it short: all 90° hits to the hull side, superstructure, turret and hull rear penetrated the armour leaving 45-60mm diameter holes. In one instance the shell hit the lower edge of the turret and made a hole in the turret side and a gash in the turret floor, of combined depth of 140mm. A single shot at the UFP left a dent 40mm long, 25mm deep.

[Yoozername]

Thanks!, NICE!

[Peasant]

New information:

[Peasant]

...with detonation from a static position, a reliable perforation of a 100mm plate was achieved.

So, there you go, the soviet 76mm HEAT was only capable of this level of performance when it was not affected by launch from rifled guns.

Source: magazine "Техника и Вооружение" (2002) No.12