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Tanks have rifled barrels? Why are all tank barrels smoothbore?

Tanks traditionally have had rilfed barrels. Smoothbore tank cannon is a recent development for US tanks. IIRC the only 2 US tanks to have smoothbore cannon are the recent Abrams models and the Sheridan.


The Russians have used them off and on for decades.

Mostly because rifling, while it increases accuracy, also seriously increases wear and tear. With the latest generation of fire controls and spin stabalized rounds the need for riflign is almost nil. Thus using smoothbores with modern ammo allows you to keep all the accuracy and drop the maintenance requirements significantly.

The Challenger 2 has a rifled 120mm gun.

I might add, the British TA use Challengers with rifled barrels because of the preferred use of HESH rounds as a general weapon compared to simply using APFSDS (which doesn't need nor gain any advantage from rifled barrels) all the time. The HESH is a good overall round and can get some damn good ranged kills (Americans and Germans prefer HEAT). The rifled barrel gives these rounds better accuracy and I hear the wear and tear isn't all that bad on the L30 anyway. But this is just another choice one military takes over the other, not everyone has to follow the leading trend because it suits others.