Brady:
Neil Wakefield (Posted 28 August 2003 - 03:08 PM) made a similar observation about the 65/17:
it says the Italians had a HEAT round ('Effeto Pronto') for the 65/17 Infantry Gun which could penetrate 120mm of vertical armour at 100m. Since a short German 75mm gun only penetrates 100mm at the same distance I'm suspicious.
So I just now checked. Using Mass x Velicity = Impact, the 75/32 hits
2.6 times harder than the 65/17. Either the 65/17 had
quite the shell or Neil has a point and we should be suspicious. Even though two different sources give high performance to the 65/17,
that's a lot of difference. I do a lot of wargaming and can usually calculate how many guns of what caliber were on a battlefield through November 1942 and I have never once found a 65/17 in an anti-tank role. Of course, the shell itself did not come out until April,1942, was probably produced in minimal quantity, and maybe the ship they put them on got sunk or they were sitting in crates in Tripoli.
Ignoring Wakefield's "suspicion" and your pointing out the problem, my first assumption of why I didn't see it in gaming was that the 65/17 wasn't accurate enough to hit a tank at 500 meters and for which reason it served as a frontline infantry support gun. It might have been present at second El Alamein as the date is right and the Italians did very well there and it could destroy a British Mk III, Mk VI, US M3, and maybe a Sherman. But, otherwise - no - I can't see this gun doing this.