M74 AP shells or M51 Shells? (Noob just started 2 and 1/2 hours ago)

[THEMANTA]

Whats better in terms of pennetration (thats what she said!)? So far, with the tanks im using (M2 and M2A4 1st American Division) the M51 seems to have less pennatration, but very slightly more crew damage as well as more acurate inside the tank. The M74 seems to have more Pen. but less crew damage with more shrapnel inside the tank?

In short: What shells are generally best and which does the most pennatration, crew damage, range, and accuracy? Thanks

[Foxtrot39]

AP = good pen + damage
HE = bad to no pen + huge damage (pen isn't an issue if you use stuff like the 122mm gun)
APCR = high pen + low damage (shell will go straight and do nealry no schrapnel)

AP on regular target, APCR close quarter on heavely armored target, HE light target (AA and light tank)

[Tankfriend]

Take the M74 for everything. It has the best raw penetration power, and the rest is virtually the same as on the M51.

The only advantage the M51 has is better performance against sloped armour, so if you keep bouncing shots off sloped armour that should technically punch through, you might give the M51 a go.

Anyway, info dump on ammo incoming:

HE: Only take this in very low numbers, because they will only be useful against targets with next to no armour or an open top. Exception: Large-caliber ammo (105mm+) can deal with armoured targets, too, especially when it's the large 122mm and 152mm of the Russians.

APHE (Note it goes through a lot of armour, but has a red explosion in the picture): An armour-piercing round that will explode after penetrating the armour of a tank. They tend to have a little less penetration than other AP rounds without explosives, but these should be your standard shells to fire. The damage potential is just much larger than on normal AP shells.
Also take note that some shells are not called APHE, but *are*, in fact, APHE. The German APHE shells are all declared APCBC, for example. In that case, look at the little pictures - if it appears to be an AP shell, but it has a red explosion, then it's APHE.

AP: Standard solid-shot AP shells that penetrate armour and then fragment. If you don't have APHE available, use these shells as your standard ammo. Otherwise, only load limited numbers of these for cases where you need that extra bit of penetration power and you don't have access to APCR, yet. Other variants are also called APC, APBC, APCBC etc. - it's all different designs of the shell to improve its characteristics, but they all generally work the same way. If you ever have to choose between several of these, go with the one that offers the better penetration power and weight.

APCR / HVAP / APDS: These shells have much more penetration power than standard ammo. But they also do a lot less damage, because the actual penetrator going into the tank is much smaller and lighter than on standard AP shells. As a result, you'll have to aim very carefully for what you want to hit.
All in all, only take a few of these as backup for when you need the extra penetration power.

HEAT: They have the same penetration power at all ranges, but suffer from limited damage potential like APCR. Quite often, their penetration power is also lower than that of any other AP shell on the tank, except at long range or on short guns like the early Panzer IV versions.
Unless you really need the penetration power (again, like on the early Panzer IVs, which really need it), only load a few or none of these.

[THEMANTA]

Thanks Tankfriend for that godsend of ammo info. Looked all over the internet and yours was the most comprehensive on ammo. Exactly what a noob like me needed. However, I just got the first Tier LEE tank (the one with the forward facing 75mm gun) and was wondering if it is best to have the 74MM ammo on the 37mm with HE (Its a special HE. forgot what its specifically called) on the 75mm gun, or 74MM ammo on both guns.
Thanks for the help.

[Tankfriend]

For the 37mm gun, I'd load the M74B1 AP shell, and the M51B1/B2 APC shell. It's basically the same decision as on the earlier tanks with a 37mm gun - either you take raw penetration power with AP, or improved performance against sloped armour with APC. Taking HE shells with this gun isn't really worth it, because it's simply too weak.

For the 75mm gun in the hull, the M61 APCBC shell is your best bet. It has decent penetration power and an explosive filler for increased damage.
Just in case you need some raw penetration power in an emergency, you can also load a few M72 AP shells.
You don't need to bring any HE shells, imho. They'd only be useful against almost unarmoured targets like AA trucks, but you've already got your fast-firing 37mm gun and MGs to take care of those.

Speaking of the Lee, watch out for its Battle Rating - it's much higher than a lot of the early tanks you can get, so if you use it immediately after you get it, it will drag you into higher matches. Wait with using it until you've got some other tanks of similar level.

[THEMANTA]

Too late. Now im getting my ass kicked by upgraded panzers, moble 75 halftracks, and soviet low tier TD's. FML. still not on 2nd tier and now im getting less XP and research due to no/low kills. TIME TO GRIND.

[Tankfriend]

You can always take it out of your lineup again, if you want.

[THEMANTA]

Oh I can do that? Sweet ok. thanks for all your fantastic help. You really are a Tank Friend. XD

[AHappyCub]

i keep getting high amount of kills using the M3 Lee, quite a surprise considering i got the tank yesterday and i'm using touchpad because i forget to bring my mouse. btw i use the 37 and 75 to double tap any tank i face (top kill is 12 for me) :P

[Fish]

Stop bloody reviving dead discussions holy ♥♥♥♥

[Coelian]

nice necro, Aufar.

[Son Of Odin]

xD

[The Wiggly Armed Man]

Początkowo opublikowane przez zerogoose:

xD

Why.

[Shard]

Slope penetration > Flat penetration. It's more versatile and rarely will you be shooting a tank at 0 degree. Even then, the new shell has more than enough flat pen to deal with flat situations. There's a reason why the APBC/APCBC shells became the armor piercing standards in mid-late war.

[MaximeDelaroux]

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