The German infantry was the first to face the tanks. The appearance of tracked armored monsters on the battlefield shocked the German troops. On September 15, 1916, 18 British Mark I tanks during the Battle of the Somme managed to break through the German defenses 5 km wide and advance 5 km inland. At the same time, the losses of the British in manpower during this offensive operation were 20 times less than usual. Due to the small number of tanks, their low technical reliability and low cross-country ability, the further offensive of the British stalled, but even the first clumsy, weakly armored combat vehicles demonstrated their great potential, and the psychological impact on the German infantry was enormous.
From the very beginning, artillery became the main means of fighting tanks. The armor of the first tanks was designed to protect against rifle-caliber bullets and medium-sized fragments of medium-caliber shells. A direct hit from a 77-mm German fragmentation projectile into the 12 mm armor of a British Mark I tank, as a rule, led to its breach. It soon became clear that shrapnel shells with a fuse set to strike are even more effective. Good results in the fight against Allied tanks were demonstrated by the 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L / 20 and 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L / 27 trench guns, which were put into service in 1916 and 1917. For these guns, special armor-piercing shells were created with an initial speed of 430 m / s and armor penetration up to 30 mm. Also, the troops had a significant number of 75-mm Austrian Skoda 75 mm M15 guns, which in the German army received the designation 7.5 cm GebK 15.
However, the German field and infantry guns, with a good rate of fire and a satisfactory range of a direct shot, had sights that were not suitable for firing at moving targets and a small horizontal aiming sector. In addition, in the event of a tank breakthrough, quickly transferring the guns transported by horse teams to a new position was often problematic, and in this case the German infantry was forced to use various improvised anti-tank weapons, such as bundles of grenades and drill bits, which were thrown under the tracks of armored vehicles. … Of the fragmentation grenades, the Stielhandgranate 15 was the most suitable for bundles, on the basis of which the well-known "mallet" was later created. However, it was impossible to solve the problem of fighting the tanks of the Allies by handicraft means, and at the final stage of the First World War, a number of original anti-tank models were created in Germany.
Calculations have shown that for confident penetration of 15 mm of armor at a distance of 300 m, a weapon of 12-14 mm caliber with a bullet mass of 45-55 g and an initial speed of 750-800 m / s is required. In 1917, the Polte company from Magdeburg developed the 13, 25 × 92SR T-Gewehr cartridge.
It was the world's first large-caliber rifle cartridge specifically designed to combat armored targets. With a sleeve length of 92 mm, its total length was 133 mm. Bullet weight - 52 g. Muzzle energy - 15,400 J.
Under this cartridge, Mauser developed the Tankgewehr M1918 single-shot anti-tank rifle, which was put into service in 1918. The PTR was reloaded using a longitudinally sliding shutter with a turn. The new weapon was actually an oversized single-shot Mauser 98 rifle. The rifle had a wooden box with a pistol grip; in front of the box, a bipod from the MG-08/15 machine gun is attached.
The weapon turned out to be quite bulky and heavy. The length of the anti-tank rifle was 1680 mm, and the weight was 17.7 kg. But even taking into account the significant mass, the recoil when firing was crushing for the shooter's shoulder. Since the creators of the PTR did not bother with the installation of the muzzle brake and the depreciation of the butt, the members of the crew were forced to fire in turns. Ideally, the combat rate of fire could reach 10 rds / min, but in practice it was 5-6 rds / min. At a distance of 100 m along the normal 13, 25-mm bullet pierced 20 mm armor plate, and at 300 m - 15 mm.
However, it soon became clear that it was not enough to just pierce the armor, it was necessary that the bullet damaged any vital unit inside the tank, ignited the fuel and lubricants, or led to the detonation of the ammunition load. Since the energy of the bullet was small after breaking through the armor, there was little chance of this. And taking into account the fact that the crew of the British "diamond-shaped" tanks was 7-8 people, the death or injury of one or two tankers, as a rule, did not lead to a stop of the tank. Nevertheless, after the adoption of the Tankgewehr M1918 anti-tank missile system and the massive saturation of the first line units with them, the anti-tank capabilities of the German infantry increased significantly. In total, before the surrender of Germany, more than 15,000 anti-tank rifles were fired, of which more than 4,600 anti-tank rifles were in the front-line units.
After the end of the First World War, the Tankgewehr M1918 PTR was in service with several European states. Although Germany itself was forbidden to have anti-tank weapons, in the 30s there were more than 1000 ATRs in the Reichswehr. After the Nazis came to power, 13, 25-mm anti-tank rifles were used in testing promising armored vehicles and for training purposes. In the USSR, in the second half of the 30s, this weapon, converted for the 12.7 mm DShK cartridge, was produced in small quantities for the needs of the NIPSVO (scientific testing ground for small arms). In the initial period of the war in the workshops of the MVTU im. Bauman at the suggestion of engineer V. N. Sholokhov, they set up the assembly of anti-tank rifles, which differed from the German prototype by the presence of a muzzle brake, a shock absorber on the butt and another cartridge. In terms of combat characteristics, the PTRSh-41 corresponded to the Tankgewehr M1918, but it was a little lighter and much more comfortable when firing.
In addition to the anti-tank rifle chambered for the 13, 25 × 92SR T-Gewehr in Germany in 1918, Mauser specialists developed the MG 18 TuF heavy machine gun (German Tank und Flieger Maschinengewehr - anti-tank and anti-aircraft machine gun). Structurally, it was an enlarged easel 7, 92 mm MG 08, which in turn was the German version of the Maxim machine gun. The assembly of 13, 25-mm machine guns was to be carried out by Machinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg AG.
13, 25 mm MG 18 TuF became the first heavy machine gun in the world. At the time of its creation, it was capable of penetrating the armor of all British and French tanks at real battle distances, which theoretically made it possible to solve the problem of anti-tank warfare. Since the barrel of the machine gun was somewhat longer than that of the PTR of the same caliber, it penetrated 22 mm armor at a distance of 100 m. Rate of fire - 300 rds / min, combat rate of fire - 80 rds / min. Although the mass of the machine gun mounted on a bulky wheeled carriage was 134 kg, and the machine gun crew included 6 people, its combat characteristics as an anti-tank weapon and mobility were higher than that of field and infantry guns. However, with the number of 4,000 units produced planned for 1918, only 50 machine guns were assembled before the end of hostilities, and they did not have any effect on the course of hostilities. The first unsuccessful experience with a large-caliber machine gun led to the fact that in Germany, subsequently, large-caliber machine guns were not developed, intended for use by ground forces against armored vehicles and to combat low-altitude air targets.
Until the second half of the 30s, Germany was deprived of the opportunity to legally create and adopt anti-tank weapons, and therefore weapons of this purpose were developed abroad, or clandestinely in German design bureaus. In the initial period of World War II, the main anti-tank weapon of the regimental echelon in the Wehrmacht was the 37-mm PaK 35/36 guns. Like many other samples, the prototype of the anti-tank gun was secretly created at the Rheinmetall firm in the 1920s. This gun had a relatively low weight and was easily camouflaged on the ground. In the 30s, she was quite capable and could successfully fight against tanks such as BT and T-26, protected by bulletproof armor. However, the experience of hostilities in Spain has shown that in the event of a breakthrough of tanks to the front line, there is a need for battalion and company level anti-tank weapons. In this regard, at the end of the 30s, several samples of anti-tank rifles were developed in Germany.
In order to reduce the mass of weapons and speed up the launch into mass production, the first German anti-tank systems had a rifle caliber - 7, 92 mm. To increase the armor penetration, the firm "Guslov Werke" developed a very powerful cartridge with a sleeve 94 mm long (7, 92 × 94 mm). On tests, after a shot from a barrel 1085 mm long, a bullet weighing 14, 58 g left it at a speed of 1210 m / s.
In 1938, the production of 7, 92-mm anti-tank rifle Panzerbüchse 1938 (Russian anti-tank rifle) - abbreviated as PzВ 38 began at the enterprise "Guslov Werke" in Suhl. on the shutter. By the recoil energy, the coupled barrel and bolt were displaced back in a stamped box, which simultaneously served as a barrel casing. Due to this, the recoil was reduced, and the shooter felt it less. At the same time, the automatic ejection of the spent cartridge case and the opening of the bolt were ensured. After that, the next cartridge was loaded.
On both sides of the receiver could be attached cassettes open on top with 10 spare cartridges in each - the so-called "loading boosters". By reducing the time required to load the next cartridge, the combat rate of fire could reach 10 rds / min. The butt and bipod are foldable. Sights were designed for a distance of up to 400 m.
The PzВ 38 anti-tank rifle, despite the rifle caliber, turned out to be weighty, its mass in the firing position was 16, 2 kg. Length with unfolded stock - 1615 mm. At a distance of 100 m, when hit at a right angle, penetration of 30 mm of armor was ensured, and at a distance of 300 m, 25 mm of armor was penetrated. From the very beginning, the developers of the 7, 92-mm PTR were aware that their weapon would have an extremely weak armored action. In this regard, the main ammunition was considered to be a cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet, in the head of which there was a hard-alloy core, and in the tail there was an irritating poison. However, due to the small amount of the active substance in the pool, the effect of the ingestion of the tear agent inside the reserve space was small. In 1940, the production of armor-piercing cartridges with a tungsten carbide core of increased length began. This made it possible to bring the armor penetration up to 35 mm at a distance of 100 m; when firing at point-blank range, 40 mm of armor could be pierced. But in most cases, when the armor was pierced, the core crumbled into dust and the armor effect turned out to be very small. In the best case, one could hope that the crew members of the tank would be injured; small fragments could not damage the internal equipment of the armored vehicle. In addition, the German defense industry traditionally experienced an acute shortage of tungsten and cartridges with increased armor penetration were not widely used. But, despite the dubious combat effectiveness of the 7, 92-mm PTR, their release continued. During the Polish campaign, there were already more than 60 anti-tank rifles in the active army.
However, the combat debut of the PzB 38 PTR in Poland was not entirely successful. Although it pierced the thin armor of Polish tanks, the shooters complained about the large mass and size of the PzB 38, as well as the sensitivity to pollution and the tight extraction of the liner. Based on the results of combat use, Brower was forced to greatly rework his sample, simplify it, increase its reliability, and at the same time reduce its size. In 1940, after the release of 1408 copies, the production of the PzВ 38 was curtailed and the model known as the PzВ 39 went into production.
The new gun has become not only more reliable, but also lighter. In the firing position, the weight of the PzВ 39 was 12, 1 kg. All other characteristics remained at the level of the previous sample. At the same time, the PzВ 39, like the PzВ 38, had an extremely low resource, which was the price to pay for the record high muzzle velocity. In the original German cartridges 7, 92 × 94 mm, the muzzle velocity of slightly more than 1200 m / s was achieved at a gas pressure of 2600-2800 kg / cm², while the barrel resource was no more than 150 shots.
By the time of the attack on the Soviet Union, each German infantry company should have had a section of seven people with three 7, 92-mm anti-tank guns PzВ 38 or PzВ 39. One gun was sometimes attached to each platoon of the company, but more often the guns were concentrated to achieve at least some efficiency, they conducted concentrated fire on one target.
Serial production of the PzВ 39 was curtailed in 1942; in total, more than 39,000 PTRs were transferred to the troops. Their use continued until 1944, but in the summer of 1941 it became clear that 7, 92-mm anti-tank rifles were powerless against the new Soviet T-34 and KV tanks.
Another anti-tank gun, which used the 7, 92 × 94 mm cartridge, was the PzB M. SS-41, designed by the Czech company Waffenwerke Brun (before the occupation of Czechoslovakia - Zbroevka Brno). When creating this PTR, Czech gunsmiths used their previous developments.
In fact, this weapon became the first mass model, created according to the "bullpup" scheme. The use of such an arrangement made it possible to seriously reduce the total length of the MFR. A box magazine for 5 or 10 rounds was located behind the fire control handle. In addition, the Czechs designed a very curious locking system - there was no movable bolt in this weapon. During reloading, the shooter did not need to remove his hand from the pistol grip, since with its help, when the handle moved forward and up, he unlocked the bolt, ejected the spent cartridge case. The sending of the next cartridge and the locking of the barrel was carried out by a coupling and occurred when the handle moved backwards - downwards. On the pistol grip, a trigger and a fuse were assembled.
The sights were designed for firing at a distance of 500 m. The barrel, receiver and butt of the PzB M. SS-41 PTR were located on the same axis. This, in combination with a barrel length of 1100 mm, made it possible to achieve higher accuracy compared to the PzB 38 or PzB 39. The use of a spring shock absorber, rubberized shoulder rest and a single-chamber muzzle brake minimized recoil when firing. At the same time, the MTR PzB M. SS-41 slightly surpassed other samples of a similar caliber in terms of armor penetration. The weapon weighing 13 kg had a length of 1360 mm. Combat rate of fire reached 20 rds / min.
In terms of service, operational and combat characteristics, the model developed in the Czech Republic had advantages over the products of the German company "Suslov Werke". However, the gun, which was put into service in 1941, turned out to be more difficult and more expensive to manufacture than the well-mastered PzB 39. For this reason, about 2000 PzB M. SS-41 were produced, which were mainly used in the SS infantry units. A number of sources say that on the basis of the PzB M. SS-41, a single-shot 15-mm PZB 42 PTR was developed, which was produced in a small series and was used to a limited extent by the Waffen SS. The total length of the anti-tank rifle was 1700 mm, weight - 17, 5 kg.
The PTR PzB 42 used a Czech 15x104 Brno cartridge with an initial velocity of a bullet weighing 75 g - 850 m / s. At a distance of 100 m, it penetrated 28 mm armor. However, for 1942, such armor penetration characteristics were considered insufficient and weapons were not launched into mass production.
After the occupation of Poland, the Germans got several thousand Polish anti-tank rifles Karabin przeciwpancerny wz. 35. Like the German PTR, this weapon had a caliber of 7, 92 mm, but the Polish cartridge was longer. The 107 mm long sleeve contained 11 g of smokeless powder. In a barrel 1200 mm long, a bullet weighing 14.58 g accelerated to 1275 m / s. Muzzle energy - 11850 J.
At the same time, bullets with a lead core were used against armored vehicles, which, due to high speed at a distance of 100 m, could penetrate a 30 mm armor plate installed at a right angle, the hole diameter after penetration exceeded 20 mm, and all the resulting fragments penetrated the armor. Subsequently, the Germans used carbide-tipped bullets. This increased the armor penetration, but the diameter of the hole and the armor-piercing effect became smaller.
Anti-tank rifle wz. 35 did not shine with original technical solutions and, in fact, was an enlarged Mauser rifle. The PTR was reloaded with a manual longitudinally sliding shutter with a turn, power was supplied from a magazine for four rounds. The shooting was carried out with an emphasis on the bipod, the sighting devices allowed firing at a distance of up to 300 m. The barrel resource was 300 shots. Combat rate of fire - up to 10 rds / min. Length - 1760 mm, weight in firing position - 10 kg.
In Germany, the Polish PTR was adopted under the designation PzB 35 (p). Several hundred anti-tank rifles of this type were used in May 1940 against French tanks. The rifle showed good results when firing at the embrasures of bunkers and bunkers.
After the French campaign, the infantry units of the Wehrmacht had about 800 PzB 35 (p) anti-tank rifles, which were operated on a par with their own PzB rifles. 38/39. A number of captured Polish PTRs were transferred to the allies: Hungary, Italy, Romania and Finland, who also used them in battles on the Eastern Front.
Without exception, all 7.92 mm anti-tank rifles had a very high muzzle velocity, which in turn led to rapid wear of the barrel rifling. The use of a small-caliber high-speed cartridge made it possible to reduce the weight and dimensions of the weapon, but at the same time limited armor penetration. Bullets weighing no more than 15 g with an initial speed of slightly more than 1200 m / s, when fired at point-blank range, at best, pierced a 40 mm vertically mounted armor plate.
Such characteristics of armor penetration made it possible to fight against light tanks and armored vehicles. However, tanks with 7.92 mm anti-cannon armor were too tough, which ultimately led to the withdrawal of “small-caliber” anti-tank rifles from production and replacing them in the army with more effective anti-tank weapons.
In the early 1920s, the German concern Rheinmetall Borzing AG acquired the Swiss company Solothurn Waffenfabrik, which was later used to develop and manufacture weapons bypassing the terms of the Versailles Treaty. In the 30s in the design bureau of the German concern, a universal 20-mm system was created on the basis of a 20-mm cannon designed by Heinrich Erhardt, a German gunsmith Louis Stange. It could be used to arm aircraft, as an anti-aircraft machine gun and for installation on armored vehicles. However, to avoid accusations of violating the terms of the Versailles Treaty, new weapons began to be produced in Switzerland. In 1932, one of the variants of the 20-mm cannon was the heavy, self-loading, magazine-type anti-tank gun Soloturn S 18-100, designed to use a 20 × 105 mm cartridge. The heavy PTR automation worked on the principle of barrel recoil with its short stroke. The trigger mechanism allowed only single fire. The weapon was fed with ammunition from detachable box magazines with a capacity of 5-10 shells, attached horizontally to the left. Mechanical sighting devices consisted of an open, adjustable sector-type sight, designed for a range of up to 1500 m or an optical sight with a magnification of × 2, 5. The PTR was fired from a two-legged bipod, the barrel was equipped with a muzzle brake. For additional support and fixing the weapon in a certain position, a height-adjustable monopod support was mounted under the shoulder rest.
The anti-tank rifle at the time of creation had good armor penetration. At a distance of 100 m, a 20-mm armor-piercing projectile weighing 96 g with an initial speed of 735 m / s normally penetrated 35 mm armor, and from 300 m - 27 mm armor. The combat rate of fire was 15-20 rds / min. However, the dimensions and weight of the weapon were excessive. With a total length of 1760 mm, the mass of the PTR in the firing position reached 42 kg. Due to its heavy weight and strong recoil, the weapon was not popular among the troops. However, a number of Soloturn S 18-100 PTRs were used during the fighting on the Eastern Front. In most cases, the 20-mm anti-tank rifle could not penetrate the armor of new Soviet tanks, but it worked well when firing at firing points and in street battles.
In the second half of the 30s, the engineers of the Solothurn Waffenfabrik company decided to increase the effectiveness of the anti-tank rifle by remaking it for more powerful 20 × 138 mm shells. The new MTP, designated Solothurn S18-1000, was longer; the main external difference from the earlier model was the multi-chamber muzzle brake. With a total length of 2170 mm, the mass of the PTR without cartridges was 51.8 kg. Due to the increased barrel length and a larger volume of powder charge in the sleeve, the initial velocity of the armor-piercing projectile increased to 900 m / s. At a distance of 100 m, the shell pierced 40 mm armor at a right angle.
The development of the Solothurn S18-1000 was the Solothurn S18-1100 model, the main difference of which was the ability to fire in bursts. In this regard, round magazines for 20 rounds from the Flak 18 anti-aircraft machine were adapted to the weapon. In the Wehrmacht, the Solothurn S18-1000 PTR was designated PzB.41 (s), and the Solothurn S18-1100 - PzB.785. Since carrying weapons over long distances was too burdensome to calculate, and the recoil was excessive, there was an option installed on a special two-wheeled machine.
After the combat debut in Russia, it turned out that the heavy 20-mm anti-tank rifle was not able to effectively deal with the T-34 medium tanks, and its weight and dimensions did not allow accompanying troops on the offensive and using them as fire support weapons. For this reason, in 1942, the main part of the 20-mm PTR was transferred to North Africa, where they were used, not without success, against British and American light armored vehicles. A number of PzB.785s were installed by the Germans in bunkers on the Atlantic coast. In addition to the German army, the Solothurn PTR was used in the armed forces of Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and Finland.
During World War II, the German armed forces also used the Danish M1935 Madsen 20mm "universal machine guns". This weapon, in fact, a rapid-fire small-caliber cannon, was created to combat armored vehicles at medium and short distances and against air targets at low altitudes. The "machine gun" was designed for a cartridge of 20 × 120 mm caliber, and operated according to the old scheme of the "Madsen" machine gun with a short barrel travel and a swinging bolt. The air-cooled barrel was equipped with a muzzle brake. This weapon could be used in various ways. Basically, the body of the "machine gun" with a mass of 55 kg was mounted on wheeled or tripod machines, which made it possible to fire at both ground and air targets. The mass of the universal installation on a tripod machine is 260 kg.
An armor-piercing projectile with an initial speed of 770 m / s, at a distance of 100 m, penetrated 40 mm of armor, at a distance of 500 m, armor penetration was 28 mm. The maximum firing range at ground targets is 1000 m. The installation was powered from magazines with a capacity of 10, 15, 40 or 60 shells. Rate of fire - 450 rds / min, practical rate of fire - 150 rds / min.
In addition to 20-mm installations on wheeled and tripod machines, the Germans got several dozen "automatic anti-tank guns" in the form of trophies, some of them were installed on motorcycles.
In the infantry version, the 20-mm Madsen 1935 PTR relied on a bipedal bipod, in the rear of the receiver there were: an additional, height-adjustable, support and a shoulder rest. A powerful muzzle brake is located on the barrel of the weapon.
Although the fire mode switch of the anti-tank rifle allowed for the possibility of firing in bursts, given the strong recoil and low stability, they fired mostly single. At the same time, the practical rate of fire was 10-15 rds / min. The mass of the weapon in the PTR version, without cartridges, exceeded 60 kg. There is a lot of evidence of the use by the Germans of 20-mm universal installations for air defense purposes. However, the fate of the 20-mm PTR Madsen 1935 is unknown. It can be assumed that all of them were lost on the Eastern Front, without having a noticeable effect on the course of hostilities.
In addition to Czech, Polish and Danish models, the German armed forces used British and Soviet anti-tank guns in significant quantities. In the spring of 1940, a large number of various weapons abandoned by the British at Dunkirk were captured in France. Among the numerous trophies were several hundred 13, 9-mm PTR Boys Mk I.
The British model in its characteristics did not stand out in any way among the anti-tank rifles designed in the mid-30s. The weapon with a total length of 1626 mm, without ammunition, weighed 16.3 kg. A magazine for five rounds was inserted from above, and therefore the sights were shifted to the left relative to the barrel. They consisted of a front sight and a diopter sight with an installation at 300 and 500 m, mounted on a bracket. Weapon reloading was carried out manually with a longitudinally sliding bolt with a turn. Practical rate of fire - up to 10 rds / min. The shooting was carried out with support on the T-shaped folding bipod, on the butt there was an additional support-monopod.
For the PTR "Boyes", adopted in service in Great Britain in 1937, ammunition with two types of bullets was used. Initially, a cartridge with a bullet was used for firing, which had a hardened steel core. A bullet weighing 60 g left the barrel with an initial speed of 760 m / s and at a distance of 100 m at a right angle could pierce a 16 mm steel armor plate of medium hardness. A 47.6 g bullet with a tungsten core had a higher armor penetration. It accelerated to a speed of 884 m / s, and at a distance of 100 m at an angle of 70 ° it pierced 20 mm armor. Thus, 13.9 mm anti-tank rifles could only be effective against light tanks and armored vehicles.
In 1940, the British anti-tank gun "Boyes" was adopted by the German army under the designation 13.9-mm Panzerabwehrbüchse 782 (e) and was actively used during the initial period of the war on the Eastern Front. Also, these PTRs were available in the Finnish army.
Since 1942, the Germans used a significant number of 14.5-mm PTR designed by V. A. Degtyarev and S. G. Simonov. PTRD-41 received the official designation Panzerbüchse 783 (r), and PTRS-41 - Panzerbüchse 784 (r).
Compared to the British PTR "Boyes", Soviet rifles had higher combat characteristics. The single-shot PTRD-41 chambered for 14.5x114 mm had a length of 2000 mm and a weight of 17.5 kg. At a distance of 100 m, the armor penetration of a BS-41 bullet with a tungsten carbide core along the normal was 40 mm, from 300 m it was able to penetrate 30 mm armor. However, cartridges with armor-piercing incendiary bullets BS-32 and BS-39, which had a hardened core made of U12A and U12XA tool steel, were more massive. At a distance of 300 m, their armor penetration was 22-25 mm. Combat rate of fire PTRD-41 - 8-10 rds / min. Combat crew - two people. The self-loading PTRS-41 operated according to the automatic scheme with the removal of powder gases, had a magazine for 5 rounds, and was significantly heavier than Degtyarev's anti-tank rifle. The mass of the weapon in the firing position was 22 kg. However, Simonov's anti-tank rifle was twice as fast as the PTRD-41 - 15 rounds per minute.
In total, the Germans had the courage to capture several thousand Soviet anti-tank missile systems. In the spring of 1942, on the Eastern Front, newly formed infantry units and withdrawn for reorganization began to receive PzB 783 (r) in noticeable numbers, which were actively used in offensive battles in the southern direction. Taking into account the fact that at that time in the Red Army there was a significant number of old BT and T-26 tanks, as well as the light T-60 and T-70 light T-60s and T-70s created in the initial period of the war, captured 14, 5-mm PTR showed good results. Particularly active Soviet-made anti-tank guns were used by parts of the Waffen SS. In the second half of the war, after Germany's transition to strategic defense, the number of captured PTR dropped sharply, and there were not always enough ammunition for them. Nevertheless, 14.5 mm anti-tank rifles remained in service with the German infantry until the last days of the war.
As the production of anti-cannon-armored tanks increased in the USSR, the role of anti-tank rifles dropped to a minimum. In connection with the increase in the protection of armored vehicles, the caliber and mass of the PTR increased, the largest samples of anti-tank rifles came close to light artillery systems.
In 1940, at the Mauser plant in the city of Oberndorf am Neckar, production of the 2, 8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 "anti-tank rifle" began, which, by all indications, could be attributed to light anti-tank guns. The heavy PTR s. PzB.41 was created by order of the light infantry and mountain units of the Wehrmacht, as well as the parachute troops of the Luftwaffe. For operations on very rough terrain, during the landing of air and sea assault forces, anti-tank systems were required that were not inferior in efficiency to the 37-mm PaK 35/36 guns, but with much better mobility, the ability to be disassembled into parts and suitable for carrying in packs.
Having analyzed all possible options, the designers of the Renmetall company decided to use a tapered bore in order to increase the armor penetration and while maintaining a small caliber. The inventor of the weapon with a tapered bore is considered to be the German engineer Karl Puff, who in 1903 patented a gun with this type of barrel and a special bullet for it. In the 20-30s, the German inventor Hermann Gerlich was closely involved in this topic, who conducted a number of experiments at the German Testing Institute for Hand Firearms in Berlin. Experiments have shown that the use of a tapered bore in combination with special bullets with crushable belts can dramatically increase the initial velocity of the projectile, and, as a consequence, armor penetration. The downside of this type of weapon was the complexity of manufacturing a rifled barrel and the need to use expensive and scarce tungsten in armor-piercing shells.
In the summer of 1940, an experimental batch of 30 heavy anti-tank missiles was tested at the Kummersdorf training ground, after which the weapon was put into service. PTR s. PzB.41 had a rifled monoblock barrel with a muzzle brake weighing 37 kg. A feature of the barrel was the presence of a conical part - at its beginning, the barrel diameter along the rifling fields was 28 mm, at the end, at the muzzle - 20 mm.
This design ensured the preservation of increased pressure in the barrel bore over most of the projectile acceleration section and, accordingly, the achievement of a high muzzle velocity. The pressure in the barrel when fired reached 3800 kgf / cm². The price for the high muzzle velocity was the reduction in the barrel resource, which did not exceed 500 rounds. Since the recoil energy was very significant, recoil devices were used. The damping of barrel vibrations during firing and aiming took place with the help of a hydraulic damper. To aim at the target, an optical sight from a 37-mm PTO PaK 35/36 and a mechanical open sight with an entire front sight were used. The maximum range of aimed fire was 500 m. The combat rate of fire was 20 rds / min. Weight in combat position on a wheeled machine - 227 kg.
A feature of the gun is the ability to fire, both from the wheels and directly from the lower machine. The wheel travel could be removed in 30-40 seconds, and the calculation is located in the prone position. This greatly facilitated the camouflage and use of the s. PzB.41 in the trenches of the first line of defense. If necessary, the gun was easily disassembled into 5 parts weighing 20-57 kg.
For the landing and mountain units, a lightweight version with a total weight of 139 kg was produced on small rubber wheels. The 28/20-mm system did not have vertical and horizontal guidance mechanisms, aiming was carried out by turning the rotating and swinging parts of the gun manually. Apparently, based on this feature, s. PzB.41 in Germany was attributed not to artillery guns, but to anti-tank rifles.
The s. PzB.41's armor penetration was very high for such a small caliber. An armor-piercing sabot projectile 2, 8 cm Pzgr. 41 weighing 124 g accelerated in the barrel to 1430 m / s. According to German data, at a distance of 100 m at a meeting angle of 60 °, the projectile penetrated 52 mm of armor, and at a range of 300 m - 46 mm. Penetration when hitting at right angles was 94 and 66 mm, respectively. Thus, the heavy anti-tank missile system s. PzB.41 at short range could successfully fight medium tanks. However, the widespread production of heavy 28/20-mm PTR was restrained by the complexity of manufacturing a tapered barrel and a lack of tungsten for armor-piercing cores. The mass production of such tools required the highest industrial culture and the most modern metalworking technologies. Until the second half of 1943, 2,797 heavy anti-tank missiles s. PzB.41 and 1,602 thousand armor-piercing shells were produced in Germany.
Heavy PTR s. Pz. B.41 were in service with the infantry, light infantry, motorized, mountain infantry and jaeger divisions of the Wehrmacht and SS troops, as well as in the parachute and airfield divisions of the Luftwaffe. Some of the guns entered separate anti-tank battalions. Although production of the s. Pz. B.41 ceased in 1943, they were used until the end of hostilities. The latest cases of combat use relate to the Berlin operation.
