In September 1916, Great Britain first used tanks on the battlefield, and soon this technique became a common participant in the battles. The German army immediately began to look for ways to combat tanks, incl. create anti-tank weapons suitable for use by the infantry. The most notable result of such searches was the appearance of the Tankgewehr M1918 anti-tank rifle from the Mauser company.
Problems and solutions
By 1916, the German army already had an armor-piercing rifle cartridge 7, 92x57 mm with a Spitzgeschoss mit Kern (SmK) bullet. The parameters of such ammunition were sufficient to defeat early British tanks, and the army's standard rifles were turned into anti-tank guns. In addition, the SmK bullet was quite effective in anti-aircraft fire.
However, within a few months, more advanced tanks with enhanced armor appeared. The survivability of the aircraft also grew steadily. The SmK bullet lost its effectiveness and required replacement. The army needed new means to combat armored vehicles and aircraft.
In October 1917, the Gewehr-Prüfungskommission (GPK) commission launched a program to develop a new rifle complex. To combat tanks and aircraft, it was required to create a large-caliber machine gun and a cartridge for it. Subsequently, such a weapon was named MG 18 Tank und Flieger.
However, the development of a small arms complex could take a lot of time, and new weapons were required as soon as possible. In this regard, a proposal was made to create a special anti-tank rifle of the most simple design, which could be put into production as soon as possible. Despite the obvious limitations, even this temporary solution yielded positive results.
In November 1917, the Mauser company received an order to create a promising PTR. To speed up work in conditions of a lack of resources, the project was given a high priority - the same as the production of submarines. Thanks to this, already in January 1918, the first prototype was made, and in May, mass production was launched.
The new model was adopted as the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918. The abbreviated name T-Gewehr was also used.
New cartridge
A new cartridge with high penetration characteristics was considered as the basis of the program. In the early stages of his project, Mauser studied several similar designs with a bullet of 13 to 15 mm caliber and different characteristics.
The solution was found thanks to the Polte cartridge plant in Magdeburg. He has already created an experimental cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet of 13, 2 mm and a 92-mm sleeve with a partially protruding flange. The finished cartridge was accepted into service under the designation 13.2 mm Tank und Flieger (TuF).
The cartridge was completed with a 13, 2-mm bullet with a hardened steel core. It was possible to obtain an initial speed of 780 m / s with an energy of 15, 9 kJ. At a distance of 100 m, this made it possible to penetrate 20 mm of homogeneous armor (angle 0 °); at 300 m, the penetration decreased to 15 mm.
Rifle on scale
To speed up the development, they decided to make the new T-Gewehr based on the design of the serial Gewehr 98 rifle, supplemented with some elements from the Gewehr 88. This made it possible to do without a long and complicated search for technical solutions to obtain the desired result. However, the original design still had to be scaled to fit a new cartridge, modified to take into account a different energy and ergonomics improved.
The T-Gewehr was a single-shot large-bore bolt-action rifle. The barrel with a reinforced receiver and a simple trigger was fixed on a wooden stock. The store was absent, it was proposed to feed cartridges through the window for ejection of cartridges.
Experienced rifles and the first 300 serial rifles received a rifled barrel with a length of 861 mm (65 klb) with relatively thick walls. Later, thinner barrels with a length of 960 mm (73 clb) were produced. They allowed to reduce the total weight of the rifle, as well as slightly improve the fighting qualities.
PTR received a shutter made on the basis of the solutions of projects Gew.88 and Gew.98. Its main part was distinguished by its large size and corresponding mass. Locking was carried out with two pairs of lugs, in the front and rear of the bolt. As before, in the back there was a fuse flag that blocked the movement of the striker. In case of a breakthrough of gases from the sleeve, three holes were provided in the shutter - through them, gases from the channel of the striker were discharged outward.
The first 300 rifles retained the standard sight from the Gew.98, marked up to 2000 m. Further, a new open sight with markings from 100 to 500 m was used. Effective shooting at tanks from 500 meters or more was excluded. Moreover, most modern enemy armored vehicles could only be hit from 300 m.
A small part of the rifles received a solid wooden stock. Most were completed with a glued stock with an attached lower part of the butt. The reinforced stock had a too thick neck, which is why a pistol grip appeared under it.
PTR of the first issues were completed with a bipod from the MG 08/15 machine gun. It turned out to be not very comfortable and later gave way to a new one designed specifically for the T-Gewehr. The standard bipod mount on the stock allowed the rifle to be mounted on all mounts compatible with a light machine gun. The troops often improvised and put the PTR at other bases, incl. trophy.
Depending on the barrel, the M1918 PTR had a length of no more than 1680 mm. Rifles of late production with a long barrel without a cartridge and bipod weighed 15, 7 kg.
Rifles in service
Already at the beginning of the summer of 1918, the first serial PTR of the new model went to units on the Western Front, where the Entente actively used tanks. Serial production took place at the Neckar plant in Obendorf. The enterprise quickly reached the highest production rates. 300 PTR were produced daily. Until the end of the war, approx. 16 thousand of such products.
The weapons were transferred to the infantry regiments, where special rifle squads were formed. Each regiment was supposed to have only 2-3 PTRs, but the proposed tactics of use made it possible to realize the potential of the weapon even with a small number.
The calculation of the rifle consisted of two people - the shooter and the assistant. In connection with the specifics of the combat work, the PTR was trusted by the bravest fighters, who were able to let the tank go up to 250-300 m and shoot it in cold blood. Wearable ammunition included 132 13.2 mm TuF rounds. The shooter relied on a bag for 20 rounds, the rest carried the second number.
The main tactic of using the T-Gewehr was to concentrate calculations on tank-hazardous directions. The shooters were supposed to fire at the approaching tanks, trying to damage vital units or injure the crew. In this they were assisted by soldiers with standard rifles and SmK bullets.
13, 2-mm bullets could penetrate the armor of a tank and cause damage to units or people. Cracking of armor and destruction of rivets was also observed, giving a stream of fragments without direct penetration. The simultaneous use of anti-tank rifles and rifles increased the chances of incapacitating the tank.
It should be noted that the PTR from the "Mauser" did not differ in convenience and ease of operation, which affected the combat use. The rifle did not have any means of reducing recoil. To avoid injury, the shooters had to change after a few shots. However, in this case, there were headaches, temporary hearing loss and even dislocations. It was the Tankgewehr that caused the jokes about the weapon, from which you can shoot only twice - according to the number of healthy shoulders.
In general, the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 anti-tank rifle has established itself as a fairly effective, but difficult to use weapon. It significantly strengthened the defense of the German troops and inflicted damage on the enemy. The exact losses of the Entente from PTR fire are unknown. However, they were sufficient to stimulate the development of armored vehicles and crew protection equipment.
After the war
The period of active use of the T-Gewehr PTR lasted only a few months - before the armistice. During this time, some of the rifles produced were lost or written off, but the army had significant stocks of weapons at its disposal. Soon the Treaty of Versailles determined their future fate.
Under the terms of the peace treaty, Germany was forbidden to have anti-tank guns in service. The accumulated stocks of M1918 items were seized as reparations and divided among several countries. Some of the rifles soon hit the secondary market. So, Belgium received several thousand ATRs, and then sold a significant part of them to China.
German PTRs were scattered across many countries and were thoroughly studied. Attempts have been made to copy and modify the existing design - with varying results and successes. Their main result was the understanding of the fundamental possibility of creating a relatively light anti-tank system for the infantry. Soon this concept was developed, as a result of which new versions of anti-tank rifles appeared.
It should be recalled that the Mauser Tankgewehr PTR was developed as a temporary measure in anticipation of a large-caliber machine gun. The latter could be created and even released in an extremely small series, but it was the "temporary" rifle that was widely used. Moreover, it became the first example of a new class and led to the emergence of a mass of new weapons of a similar purpose.
