122 mm howitzer M1910 / 30 122 mm howitzer M1910 / 30 ( ) was a Soviet 121 . 92 mm ( 4 . 8 inch ) howitzer , a modernization of World War I era 122 - mm howitzer M1910 . It was the most numerous divisional howitzer of the RKKA at the outbreak of Great Patriotic War and remained in service throughout the war . Development and production history . The gun resulted from a modernization of the Russian 122 - mm howitzer M1910 , initially developed by Schneider Electric . The M1910 was employed by the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and remained in service after the revolution . In late 1920s the RKKA decided to upgrade the M1910 . The modernization , handled by " Perm Plant " in 1930 , included : The resulting gun was adopted as 122 - mm howitzer M1910 / 30 . The exact production statistics exist only for years 1937 to 1941 when the production stopped . During that period Perm Plant produced 3 , 395 pieces . In addition , 762 old M1910 guns were upgraded to the M1910 / 30 standard . The M1910 / 30 was a typical short - barrel howitzer , intended mostly for shooting with elevations from + 20° to + 45° . Shell could be fired with six propellant loads ( no . 1 to 5 and full ) , but when shooting with elevation smaller than + 20° with full propellant load , the gun was prone to turning over . The gun had interrupted screw breechblock ; hydraulic recoil buffer and hydropneumatic recuperator were both mounted under the barrel . The carriage was of single trail type with unsprung wooden wheels ( from 1936 some guns received steel wheels with cast rubber tire s ) and limited traverse . Organization and employment . Red Army . The M1910 / 30 was a divisional level howitzer . According to the organization of 1939 , each rifle division had two artillery regiments - light regiment ( a battalion of 76 mm guns ; two mixed battalions with one battery of 76 mm guns and two batteries of 122 mm howitzers ) and howitzer regiment ( a battalion of 122 mm howitzers and a battalion of 152 mm howitzers ) , giving 28 122 mm howitzers per division . In June 1940 one more battalion of 122 mm howitzers was added to the howitzers regiment , bringing the number to 32 . In June 1941 the howitzers regiment was removed and the number of howitzers dropped to 16 . This organization was used throughout the war , except in guard rifle divisions which from December 1942 had three artillery battalions ( two batteries of 76 mm guns and one battery of 122 mm howitzers each ) , totaling 12 howitzers . From December 1944 they received howitzer regiment ( 5 batteries , 20 howitzers ) . From June 1945 rifle divisions were reorganized identically . Mountain rifle divisions in 1939 - 40 had one battalion of 122 mm howitzers ( 3 batteries , 9 guns ) . From 1941 they received instead one artillery regiment ( 2 battalions , each from 3 four - gun batteries ) with 24 howitzers . From early 1942 only one battalion ( 2 batteries , 8 howitzers ) remained . From 1944 howitzers were removed from mountain rifle divisions . Motorized divisions had two mixed battalions ( battery of 76 mm guns , two batteries of 122 mm howitzers ) , totaling 12 howitzers . Tank division had one battalion with 12 howitzers . Cavalry divisions until August 1941 had two batteries of 122 mm howitzers , totaling 8 , then the divisional artillery was removed . Until late 1941 rifle brigade s had a battery of four 122 mm howitzers . 122 mm howitzers were also used by the howitzer brigades of the Reserve of the Main Command ( 72 - 84 pieces ) . From 1930 the M1910 / 30 started to replace the M1910 . By 1936 only 44 M1910 remained in service , of which only two were operational . The howitzer saw action in all pre - World War II conflicts of the Soviet Union , notably in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol and in the Winter War . From 1940 onward the M1910 / 30 was in turn being replaced by the M - 30 122 mm howitzer , but in 1941 it was still the most numerous divisional howitzer of the RKKA . By 1 June 1941 more than 5 , 500 were in service compared to 1 , 667 M - 30s . It continued to serve in significant numbers for the duration of World War II , however from 1942 on its share in the RKKA dropped significantly due to combat losses and mass production of the M - 30 . The M1910 / 30 was also mounted on the T - 26 light tank chassis to create the SU - 5 self - propelled gun - the only Soviet pre - war self - propelled gun adopted by the RKKA . On 1 June 1941 the army possessed 28 of these . Other operators . Hundreds of M1910 / 30s fell into the hands of the Wehrmacht in 1941 – 42 and were adopted as 12 , 2 cm le . F . H . 388 ( r ) . Germans opened mass production of 122 - mm ammunition for the howitzer , producing 424 , 000 shells in 1943 , 696 , 700 in 1944 and 133 , 000 in 1945 . The Finnish Army captured about 30 guns of the type in the Winter War and a further 145 in the Continuation War . An additional 72 were purchased from Germany in 1944 . In Finnish service the gun was designated 122 H / 10 - 30 . According to Finnish sources , these guns fired 369 , 744 shells in combat against the Soviet Union ; 20 pieces were lost . The howitzer remained in service for some time after the war . It was generally liked by the crews , but its recoil mechanism was considered weak . The Finns also modernized in a similar way most of the 40 M1910s they possessed since the Civil War , resulting in a gun designated 122 H / 10 - 40 . The guns were used in the Continuation War ; a few were lost . Summary . The M1910 / 30 was a relatively minor upgrade of a World War I - era howitzer , which did not address the main flaws of the latter , namely : A short barrel meant short range , less than that of its main adversaries , such as the German 10 . 5 cm leFH 16 ( 8 , 9 km vs 10 , 7 km ) . Low muzzle velocity and small traverse also made the gun helpless against enemy armor . Although in 1943 a HEAT shell was developed , the aforementioned deficiencies meant that a chance of hitting small moving target was slim . On the other side , the M1910 / 30 was rugged and reliable . It was also lighter than the M - 30 or the 10 . 5 cm leFH 16 and could be set up for combat in 30 – 40 seconds . Thanks to it , the howitzer was well liked in the RKKA . In 1930 the Soviet Union still was not ready for development and mass production of modern artillery , so the upgade of old guns was a reasonable decision .