People and weapons. Probably the dream of any designer is to create such a sample of a locking device so that it would be universal. Let's just say it would be suitable for several weapon systems at once. After all, that's why the Kalashnikov assault rifle is so fond of us in Russia? Yes, because, in addition to all its positive qualities, a light machine gun was developed on its basis, and an easel one too. They are all twin brothers, which makes it easier to train soldiers and use weapons in a combat situation.
And in Switzerland, at one time, there was a person who came up with an original idea: to create a weapon system, from a pistol to an anti-aircraft machine gun, that would have the same barrel locking system. So that the same pistol would differ from an anti-aircraft gun only in size.
The idea itself is simple. Supported the bolt in the form of a metal bar weighing 200 g with a spring, attached a magazine - here's a pistol for you. I put a "block" heavier, and a longer barrel - a submachine gun, even heavier - an automatic rifle. And if you have a 4-5 kg blank behind the barrel, here's a cannon for you. Everything is simple, obvious and … impracticable, because a blowback weapon is only suitable for low-power pistol ammunition.
The creator of the most expensive submachine gun MP41 / 44, Adolf Furrer, also understood this. That is why he chose for his sample a reliable lever action from the Luger pistol, tested by time and operation. And he made on it not only a submachine gun, but also a light machine gun chambered for a rifle cartridge. Moreover, the military had no complaints about the light machine gun, so it served until the early 70s. But the "expensive" MP41 / 44, though they scolded, was in the service for a very long time. So, it completely paid for itself!
And then the enterprising Mr. Furrer had a bright idea to add to his arsenal a powerful anti-tank rifle with the same lever action. As the director of an arms factory in Bern, he had the opportunity to carry out any design work, test any ammunition, have at hand absolutely everything that his heart desires. Lucky, one might say, the person. After all, before the eyes of the Swiss there was a whole arsenal of the most modern weapons purchased in various countries of the world!
As it has probably already caught the eye, Furrer was a calculating and far-sighted man. He knew that the Swiss army needed weapons for promising armored vehicles and new tanks purchased from Czechoslovakia. This is how the first sample of the Furrer PTR appeared in 1938, and it was nothing more than a light cannon for a tank, and only later it was improved and in 1941 it was put into service under the designation Tb 41 W + F, where the last letters denote the name of the manufacturer, that is, a military plant in the city of Bern. It is not surprising that the "gun" turned out to be heavy, but nevertheless it was used in Switzerland throughout the Second World War and was discontinued only in the 1950s. Moreover, although it was no longer produced, it remained in service with some special forces until the early 70s. A rare longevity, considering, for example, the fate of our Soviet massive anti-tank missile systems during the war.
In total, by the end of the war, the Berne plant produced 3581 ATR TB 41. They began to be handed over to the infantry since May 1941. They were also armed with armored vehicles and … patrol boats (!) Of the Swiss army. And by the way, it was on these boats that they served the longest! That is, it was initially assumed that it would be a tank gun, but when the tank did not work, the gun was simply named Tankbüchse 41 / Tb.41, that is, a tank gun.
That is, it all started with the fact that the Swiss military wanted to equip their new light tank with effective weapons: a rapid-fire cannon capable of bombarding enemy armored vehicles with a hail of shells, and two machine guns. And it was here that Colonel Adolf Furrer offered them his development. It was the long-barreled 24-mm Pzw-Kan 38 cannon, which served as the main armament for the 39 LT-H (Praga) and Pzaw B-K 38 armored vehicles. But why was such a strange caliber chosen for it? But why strange? After all, a 25-mm anti-tank gun was put into service in France, and a 25-mm anti-aircraft machine gun in the USSR.
By the way, Furrer also designed an anti-aircraft gun, using the same principle of automation, and chose the caliber for it, too, not quite usual - 34 mm, although the caliber that was widely used in Europe was 37 mm. A high-explosive projectile weighing 720 g left the barrel of this gun at a speed of more than 900 m / s. The 34-mm cannon was an enlarged copy of the 24-mm system, but with a belt feed rather than a magazine feed, and a rate of fire of 350 rounds / min. However, the Panzerwagen 39 light tank, an analogue of the Czech LT-38, for the armament of which this gun was originally intended, did not go into production. And then they decided to convert the tank gun into an infantry anti-tank gun.
Tb 41 received the same bolt from the Luger pistol, but placed on the right side, so that the levers that fold after the shot were extended to the right side. I had to cover them with a protective casing of a sufficiently large size, which is why its breech began to look unusually flattened. It was held and aimed at the target with the help of two handles, and the shot was fired by pressing the trigger, like a Maxim machine gun. The gun was also supposed to be used in an anti-tank fortification gun. Since the projectile speed of this gun was very high, a large muzzle brake had to be installed at the end of its long barrel to reduce recoil. It consisted of five split and three blind rings, and the rings in the muzzle brake could be changed (!) By changing the size of the holes between them, and thus adjusting the recoil force - a very unusual and truly original solution. This made it possible to shoot from this gun from a wheeled carriage, and a machine-gun carriage, and from a special installation mounted inside the bunkers.
As already mentioned, the principle of locking the barrel of this gun was used the same as that of the Swiss light machine gun Lmg 25. In the locked position, all movable parts of the bolt, as well as the barrel itself, were in line. When fired, the barrel retreated due to the recoil force together with the bolt and levers, one of which fell on the protrusion in the receiver and changed its position relative to the other two levers, which at the same time folded and made a "slide", pulling the relatively light bolt back (in this case, the spent cartridge case was extracted, and the bolt immediately, pushed by the spring, went forward again. He picked up a new cartridge from the store and pushed it into the chamber. The levers were straightened out, forming a straight line, and so the barrel was firmly locked. a special lever was installed on the back of the body, which pulled the movable part of the weapon, that is, the barrel, and the bolt back, as in a shot, forcing the levers to first fold and then straighten.
The Furrer's tank rifle could conduct effective fire at a distance of up to 1500 m. But the shells from it flew at all 3000 m, so that it was possible to shoot at this distance, but an optical sight was needed, which, however, was rarely used. The supply of cartridges occurred, as in the case of a machine gun, from the right side from a six-round magazine, and the ejection of cartridges took place on the left. After the last shot, the magazine is automatically ejected, which saved time on reloading.
When the "gun" was used as an infantry weapon, it could be transported on a wheeled carriage with pneumatic tires, and in this form it was also possible to shoot from it. With the wheels removed, its undercarriage was a three-legged carriage with carrying handles. In addition to the wheeled carriage, it was possible to use the Mg 11 carriage. For this, a special support had to be installed under the gun.
The shells were used from hardened steel. At the same time, the armor-piercing projectile did not have an explosive charge, but it did have a tracer. The kit also included a St-G steel grenade with a TNT charge. Tanks could be fired with a U-G semi-armor-piercing grenade with a fuse delay, as well as a smaller explosive charge. All shells were equipped with copper lead belts.
The barrel weighed 77 kg, and together with the machine, the "gun" weighed 132 kg. The barrel length was 1515 mm.
The total weight of the ammunition is 24x139 mm - 460 g. The projectile weighed 225 g. The tracer burning time was 2, 3 seconds. There are no data on the armor-piercing capability of this system, but there is no doubt that it had to penetrate the 20-mm armor of the then German tanks at a considerable distance. Here are the data for the French 25-mm cannon: armor penetration at an encounter angle of 30 ° 36 mm at a distance of 100 m, 32 mm - at 300 m, 29 mm - at 500 m and 22 mm - at 1000 m. At an angle of encounter 60 ° 35 - at 100 m, 29 at 500 m, 20 at 1000 m. It is unlikely that the Swiss 24-mm gun was weaker, especially considering the length of its barrel.
