76 mm mountain gun M1958 (2A2)

The 76 mm mountain gun M1958 (M-99, GP or 2A2) was a Soviet mountain gun designed during the 1950s.

History

Developed by SKB-172 under the guidance of Mikhail Yurievich Tsirulnikov. The M-99 passed factory tests in December 1954 and passed military tests on 21 April 1955.

The M-99 was officially adopted in 1958 under the name 76 mm GP mountain gun. At this time, a new indexing of guns was introduced, and the M-99 received the GRAU index number 2A2.

Design

The barrel is the same as the 76 mm mountain gun model 1938. It has a split-trail carriage, a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, a semi-automatic horizontal sliding wedge breech, torsion bar suspension, and pneumatic tires for motor transport. The gun is collapsible or can be broken down into 10 pack loads for transport.

Surviving examples

• Museum of the History of PJSC Motovilikha Plants, Perm.
• Museum of Russian Military History, Moscow.
• UMMC Museum Complex, Sverdlovsk.
• Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Moscow.
• Tula Artillery Engineering Institute, Tula.
• Omsk Cadet Military Corps, Omsk.

Ammunition

See also

• 76 mm mountain gun M48 — A similar Yugoslavian Cold War design
• OTO Melara Mod 56 — A similar Italian Cold War design
• M116 howitzer — A similar American WWII design

References

Further reading

• Shirokorad A. B, Encyclopedia Of Soviet Artillery, Kharvest, 2017
• Ruzaev S.V, Artillery systems from the collection of the UMMC Museum of Military Equipment, Ural Worker, 2017