Panzer I Ausf. B Gun Type and Placement?

The video I referenced earlier shows the balancing spring you're talking about, and tons of other minute details on things like the drivers view port, view port latches, etc., etc.  I really wish I'd found that video when I was working on the Panzerjager I... it would have answered so many little "fine detail" questions. 

I'm not familiar with the books you've referenced, but I did have the Nuts & Bolts book for the Panzerjager I.  It was pretty good (but not as good as the video) and it's the late war, 7 sided mantel (vs. the earlier 5 sided one) but was a good overall reference.

Next build is the Marder II, so I will definitely be checking references, then checking them again, and then again!

It's not every day that three authors are proven wrong at once! 

So Hilary Doyle did get it right. Goes to show that one needs to check their references, then check them again....and again. Sometimes one just needs to find the right photo and it changes everything.

Thanks for the confirmation Jack!

Funny that the war-time, German-made drawings on page 52 of Spielberger's Panzer I and II are wrong, I busted out the micrometer and they are not correct.

For that matter, Doyle's 1973 side-view drawing of an Ausf B on page 50 should show the staggered barrel lengths superimposed on each other, (at least as a cut-away view) but since it is a left-side view, it instead shows only the one barrel. If it were a right hand view, it would show this important detail.

Please forgive for the late reply, but I do have the Panzer Tracts publication.  All drawings/artwork (both original wartime and modern) show the guns as staggered. 

Quickly skimming through the turret section, there is no direct explanation as to why.   It does state the gun on the left hand side was fixed to the mantlet, while the one on the right was adjustable.

Now there is mention of a counterbalance spring located on the right side of the mantlet to offset the weight of the mg's.  I'm guessing this was not directly in the way of gun, but the attached spent cartridge bag (fitted to the right hand side) would limit how far forward the gun could sit in the mantlet because of that spring?

regards,

Jack

That was my thinking exactly!  Funny how so many models and drawings have this wrong!  This picture is CRAZY good!

This is the clearest wartime photo I can find, and it does indeed appear to show different barrel lengths. So much for reference drawings....

In fact, the photo is good enough that you should be able to use the bipod mounting stud as a reference and simply count the ventilation holes back to the mantlet to determine the barrel placement.

Awesome, thanks!  I found a great video with lots of angles on this and even lots of INSIDE the turret views which do show it was asymmetrical!

https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/panzer-ausf-i-a/

The tank in the video is the Ausf. A version, but I don't think there were any changes to the turret or weaponry between the Ausf. A and B.

Also, this picture of an Ausf. B (I think this is a real "of era" picture?) seems to concur that the right side gun sits deeper in the turret than the left.

I've seen various models and/or drawings done both ways.

This is the article that first suggested to me they were asymmeterically mounted:
https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/adlersnest/anm35019-20.htm

But the video is the most compelling info I've seen thus far.

The MG 13k (kurz or short) is the correct barrel for tank use. Not owning Panzer Tracts 1-1, I can't say for Hilary Doyle, but top-view line drawings by Uwe Feist, George Bradford and Walter Spielberger all show uniform barrel length.

Perhaps it is possible that barrels damaged in combat were replaced with the standard infantry version due to lack of available kurz barrels?