Hi all,

I've noticed American 75mm D-Day M4 and M4A1 Shermans with both 'flared' and 'straight' gun barrels. Which is the correct type? Were these two types used at the same time during the D-Day period?

I've been looking at photos from the Musee des Epaves in Normandy which has about 4 wrecks of Shermans that sank on D-Day (so were not later models) and it seems both the straight and flared barrels were in use on US Shermans on D-Day?

The differed due to different tank manufacturers and different production batches. There is no one answer. Your best bet is to match a particular picture. You said you're looking to acquire aftermarket bits. What are your base kits? DML? Asuka? Tamiya? Why don't you tell us what you're starting with and what you hope to end up with. Lots of us who have built many Shermans can advise you on what's needed for simple corrections or more serious corrections/detailing.

Hi Roy.
Thank you for your reply and the offer to share your expertise.

I've got four M4/M4A1 kits,not all to build now but I'd like to get all the aftermarket parts I need in advance and research them all at the same time. All are 1:35th scale. In particular, I am looking for which type of barrel the guns on each had?

I have the 1:35 DML M4 "75mm Normandy" kit, which I would like to finish either as:
- 746th TB serial 3039577 'All American' on Utah Beach on D-Day (T-51 tracks?)

or

- 70th TB serial 3039442 'columbia Lou' on Utah Bach on D-Day (T-48 tracks?)

The other three kits are the Eduard (Tasca?) Profipack M4A1.

I'd like to finish them as:

1) 741st TB serial 3036947 "Aide de Camp" on Omaha Beach on D-Day

2) 743rd TB serial 3036589 "13/Alligator" on Omaha Beach on D-Day

3) 66th AR/2nd AD serial 3036754 G-2 "Goldie" on 13 June 1944 at the Battle of Carentan

I have the appropriate decals from Star Decal and Bison and a variety of T-48 and T-51 tracks.

I hope from the above someone can tell me which barrels each one may have had (ie 'flared' or 'straight' M3 75mm)?

Thanks so much in advance!

Tanks used at Normandy were stockpiled over about two years, so either gun barrel could be seen, though the flared type would be in the minority. The flared gun barrels were being issued through mid 1943, at least, and there was no intrinsic reason to replace them. The M4A2 Shermans deployed by the Marines at Tarawa, for example, include both barrel types, so they were used interchangeably.

In some cases, when tanks were upgraded from the M34 to the M34A1 gun mount, the entire gun assembly was swapped out, simply because it was faster, through presumably, the original gun tubes would have been retained in the supply system. The replacement gun mounts would have had the later, tapered gun tube.

As for which barrel to use on your tank, just look at the reference photo.

Thank you very much for your reply and for that info. That makes a lot of sense.

Unfortunately I have very poor reference photos (some don't show the barrels or even the front of the subject tanks at all ) so I shall have to just guess/use my discretion.

Given the dates and likely production batches, I would go with straight barrels for every subject -- unless a pic emerges to show differently.