AFV Club Military 1/35 US 3 Inch M5 Gun on M1 Carriage Kit

The 3 inch Gun M5 was developed as a need for a more potent anti-tank gun then the 37mm Gun M3 then in service at the outbreak of WWII and combined a 3-inch (76.2 mm) barrel from the anti-aircraft gun T9 with the 105 mm howitzer carriage M2. The barrel of the 3-inch gun was combined with breech, recoil system and carriage of the 105 mm howitzer M2 and designated M5 on carriage M1 resulting in a gun that outperformed existing designs. Despite its weight M5production began in December 1942 and was widely used in the Italy and NW Europe until replaced by an improved M6 on a modified carriage with slanted shields that was in turn phased out in favor of better protected self propelled tank destroyers by the end of the war.