Pak 43/41 Assembly Advice

[Peter Windmill]

I have encountered a problem whilst trying to mount the barrel assembly to the main cradle.

The problem is that the barrel assembly will not sit correctly in the main cradle so that the barring caps can be secured, the issue appears to be where the elevation gear engages with the pinion that is part of the elevation system, if I remove the elevation pinion the barrel assembly sits correctly in the main cradle allowing the pivot pins and the bearing caps to be secured. I have disassembled and reassembled the affected parts but still encounter the same problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

I have attached some photos of the problem

[graham pipe]

On my PAK I used very thin slivers of epoxy glass fibre board (0.3 mm thick) to make packing pieces 'twixt the trunnions to ease the binding problem. Only needed a couple to make it move freely. Initially, I tried thick silver foil tape which is normally used on heating ducting but this compressed too much when the bolts were tightened so therefore opted for a more robust medium.

Hope you get your problem resolved.

Best regards from Normandy.

[Peter Windmill]

Thank you for your advice, I wonder if you have any photos of were you used the epoxy board

[graham pipe]

Hi Peter

No, sadly, I don't have any close up photos of the trunnion packing as I sold the gun 2 years ago to help fund my Jagdpanther build.

Just cut a couple of packing shims, drill and sandwich inbetween the half round trunnion pivots. Too many and the barrel will wobble with free play. It's a matter of trial and error and you may find you only need one shim at the back or front edge. Once happy, trim the shim flush with the trunnions and you're done. Hardly noticeable once painted.

You could use shim steel stock but whilst being easy to cut with scissors or aviation snips, is difficult to drill or punch the necessary holes.

Bon courage as we say in France!