I was doing some research into getting a metal barrel for a StuG IV early version model, Dragon 9038. According to the Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War II the gun is described as a 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48. In Sturmgeschutz and its Variants by Walter Speilberger it is described as a 7.5 cm StuK L/24. In that volume the L/24 gun is listed for every StuG variant except the 10.5 cm StuH, the Sturmhaubitze. The actual model I'm building shows no Ausf revision, but it's the version with the two side mounted spare road wheels in a carrier like a Panzer IV. It has the manually fired MG 42 on the top mounted through a flat, slightly angled towards the rear armor plate. The gunner's hatch opens to the front and rear rather than to the sides. As I searched ebay and some modeling sites I found lots of brass ammo for the L/24 gun and there seem to be many StuK 40/48 barrels. I noticed all of them are listed for a StuG III and seldom is a StuG IV even mentioned. I found one reference that said the late StuG III gun is the same as the early StuG IV. I also saw a listing for a shorter barrel version of the StuK 40. I contacted one shop owner and he said he no longer carried the L/24 barrels and that it didn't have a muzzle brake anyway. Another point of uncertainty is the end-most ring of the kit gun's muzzle brake has somewhat flattened sides while the top and bottom are more rounded. The 40/48 muzzle brake on the barrels I looked at appear longer than the kit's and all the sections, ribs or whatever, appear perfectly round. I know that the StuK designation is given when a gun is installed in an assault vehicle and the same gun is labelled a Kwk when mounted in a tank. Cross referencing that way didn't add any clarity.

So, can somebody explain the discrepency in my references?

Does the kit have the wrong barrel/muzzle brake?

Most importantly, what barrel do I actually need?