Most Jagdpanzer IV did not have a muzzle break because the profile of the tank was so low and the gun was so close to the ground that the dust cloud would simply have been too big - at least that's what is said here. |
The jagdpanzer IV with the 7.5cm L48 had a muzzle break. This was the same gun as the Stug III & IV. The Hetzer had the same gun at approximately the same height and no muzzle break. However, the Jagdpanzer IV with the 7.5cm L71, the same gun as the panther and much more powerful than the L48, did not have a muzzlebreak. I'm not sure how the distance of gun to ground would be the case as all these vehicles had the gun mounted at about the same height. And the Jgdpz IV was about 3x the weight of the Hetzer and about 25% longer, so I don't know why it and the Stugs would need for reasons of recoil space and/or chassis protection if the Hetzer didn't.