the m1931 was one of the first soviet artillery pieces to feature split trail carriage. this carriage construction allowed for much better traverse angles compared to earlier single trail or box trail carriages. good elevation angle and ability to use different propellant charges made the gun flexible indirect fire weapon, and its ballistics were powerful enough to make it useful in direct fire role against enemy armor (though, as mentioned above, it was not an ideal anti-tank gun because of its size, traverse speed and rate of fire).