While we normally stick to small arms here, this beast of a gun was just way too impressive for me to not pay attention to. I was at a cannon and machine gun shoot just recently where some folks brought out what is (I believe) the only functional Pak 40 in the United States. And shot it. The Pak 40 was the backbone of German anti-tank guns during WWII, and fired a 75mm AP shell out to an effective range of about a mile in a direct-fire role, with enough energy to defeat pretty much any Allied tank except the late-war Russian heavies. It was fairly light weight given its effectiveness, and makes one hell of a concussion when fired. A live round is fired, not a blank – Ian just didn’t get a shot of it being loaded.
Actually, the blank round is visible at 6.27. Not a live round.
There was a live round fired, Ian himself told this. He just didn’t have a shot of loading it.
If it was a blank, the action would not have cycled. It was a live round, just not pictured prior to firing.