Unlike earlier ordnance pieces used by the Red Army, it had split trail carriage with suspension, and consequently improved mobility and traverse.

The elevation mechanism was slow and unreliable; solid-tired wheels hindered mobility to some extent; there were technological problems in carriage production.

[1] Soon after the M1931, the Red Army received another artillery piece in form of the 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20), developed at the No.

The breechblock was of interrupted screw type, similar in construction to that of the 152 mm howitzer M1910/37.

The carriage was fitted with leaf spring suspension and metal wheels with pneumatic tires.

The shield gave the crew some protection from small arms and shell fragments.

It was permitted to tow the gun with barrel in its normal position, but for short distances only and with speed of no more than 4–5 km/h.

Both variants, M1931 and M1931/37, had the same place in army organizations, were often used alongside each other and combat reports rarely differentiate between them; consequently, the data in this section is for M1931 and M1931/37 together, unless specified otherwise.

The A-19 was primarily used for indirect fire against enemy personnel, fortifications and key objects in the near rear.

[7] The Tank gun variant, the D-25 was even able to penetrate the upper frontal plate of the Tiger II at a range of 500-600 metres although it did require multiple rounds to be fired to do so.

[8] In the early stage of the Great Patriotic War hundreds of A-19s fell into the hands of Wehrmacht.

Germans used a total of 424 of these guns in field and coastal artillery and manufactured ammunition for them.

The model was well liked in Spain, and 32 additional pieces were ordered by the Army and produced – with neither documentation nor licenses – by the Trubia Arms Factory.

[citation needed] The Kingdom of Romania captured in 1941 a number of 477 various types of 122 mm howitzers and guns including M1931/37 and the modern ones were used as divisional artillery for units rebuilt after 1941 campaign.

Some guns captured by the Romanians were modified and fitted on the initial prototypes of the Mareșal tank destroyer.

In 1980s, in order to improve their mobility, the Polish guns were fitted with wheels from KrAZ-255B truck, resulting in 122 mm armata wz.