This may seem a bit silly, but what is the effective range of German tank rounds during WW2? My understanding, as well as some basic research, indicates 700m to 2,000m, but I have a WW2 History Prof. who states it was 8-10 miles (which is understandable for artillery, but seems high for a tank round). Any information about any model is appreciated.

Effective range for the Abrams' 120mm sabot round is approximately 3000-3500m (two miles give or take). This is based more on the optical system than the weapon system. Our current optics only allow the gunner to positively identify the target at these ranges.

Keeping that in mind, the thought of a German tank being able to engage targets at 8-10 miles is ludicrious. You are right that he is probably confusing artillery with tank main guns.

My neighbor when I lived in Germany was an old Tiger tanker. He used to tell me he could kill a T-34 at 1000m but the T-34 had to close to within 300m to kill a Tiger. This puts the effective range of the Tiger at less than a mile.

I too have heard and read that the Tiger tank had an effective anti-tank range of 9+ miles. But who could fire at a target that far?!

Here is a good site with more specific info: PzKpfw IV Tiger II

I don't have the data of German ww2 tank guns at hand now. But I have the data of the L-7, the most famous post-war gun.

Range depends on what type of ammunition is used. Effective range for Sabot is 1800m, for HEAT it is 3000-4000m.

The effective range is the distant the projectile is able to punch through a certain thickness of armour. The maximun range is much longer, may be a couple miles more, but what is the use if you can't punch through the enemy tanks?

Anyway it is ridiculous for a ww2 German tank to have 10miles range.

I kind of figured this number was inaccurate, but not knowing a whole lot about WW2 armor, I figured I'd ask the experts. Thanks guys!

i agree that figure is rediculous,

the most powerfull tank gun in service today, the challenger 2 CHARM3, has a maximum effective range of approx 2-3 miles. now to effectively hit something at that range is a different matter.

ww2 guns are abviously significantly less capable than modern ones. i think the claim you mention is probably just one of the common misconceptions many people have about the effectiveness of the 88mm gun.

even by ww2 standards it had been bettered by 1943.

cheers

joe