On the gun of the IV A there's a portion that extends out with the gun that has eight screw , four abreast on the later Panzer IV's with the short gun . My question is on the IV A how many screws were there or was that the same from the A 's thru to the F1's ? I been looking for pictures of that piece but can't find any clear enough , anybody got any info or pictures ? Please any help would settle this argument between me , myself and I . Thanks . What is the proper terminology and function of that piece ?

I believe you're talking about the recuperator covers. They were the same up through the F1's. After that they used a cast one piece unit.

So you figure that the screws the four abreast would be the same for all short barreled panzer IV's ?

That is correct.

If you're talking about the 8 screws on top, Matt is correct.

Thank you , solves the argument .

A friend of mine disagreed , he said the IV A had only three screws and B and C's had five screws each then the D , E and F1 has four each . So it's time to find pictures or more reference material s are needed . I just opened up the dragon 6747 and it seems like they got it right with three screws on the recuperation cover . And I opened up dragon 6291 and there's five screws on that recuperator cover so they got right also then . Tristar got the IV B and C wrong then .

Ed, can you post a picture of what you're talking about? Just one of the piece we're discussing will do to make sure we're on the same page. Either we're talking two different things, or my reference is wrong.

I've been trying to post picture and I'm not capable of , one of the problems of not being computer literate . As somebody stated it's the recuperation cover . On the IV E there's eight screws , four abreast each on the top and bottom . Sort of oval in shape that the gun barrel goes right through . And mounts on the mantlet . I opened up the boxes of the dragon 6747 and the 6291 and they have different numbers of screw showing . So either they are correct or they are wrong . Maybe I'm just having difficulty understanding how to post pictures but will try .

Tristar panzer IV C , they got the recuperation cover right , it has five screws .

Thanks for the more detailed location explanation (no pic needed now). We are talking about the same thing. Seems my reference is the one in the wrong. Apologies for the false info.

Time to go out and find a different book. Now that that mistake has been revealed, I'll find it hard to trust it in the future.

No apologies are ever needed , my question now is the dimensions of the recuperator cover , are they the same for the IV A , B and C's any difference when you get to the D and later ? I could just disregard the detail but now that I know it would bother the heck out of me .