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Revision as of 04:38, 31 July 2005
Anti-tank rifle| Karabin przeciwpancerny wz.35 | |
|---|---|
| File:Anti-tank rifle wz 35.jpgKarabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35 | |
| Type | anti-tank rifle |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 10 kg (loaded) |
| Length | 1760 mm |
The karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35 (kb ppanc wz.35 in short, literally Armour-piercing rifle Model 35), was a Polish 7.92 mm anti-tank rifle used by the Polish Army during the Polish Defence War of 1939. It was also known by its code name of kb Urugwaj (kb Ur) or by the name of its designer, Józef Maroszek.
Secrecy and confusion
Since the weapon was initially one of the top secrets of the Polish Army, it was also known under many different code-names. Until the mobilisation of 1939 the combat-ready rifles were held in closed crates marked with the enigmatic inscription "Do not open; surveillance equipment". Among the cover names was Urugwaj (hence Ur) being the Polish name of Uruguay, the country to which the surveillance equipment was supposedly exported). After the fall of Poland the German army captured large quantities of the kb ppanc wz.35 and used it as Panzerbuchse 35 (polnisch) (PzB 35(p)). The Italian army also benefitted from the booty and used it under its own designation of fucile controcarro 35(P). In both cases the new name translating more or less as Anti-tank Rifle Number 35 Polish.
Description
In appearance it resembles a rifle with a longer than normal barrel supported by a bipod at the front of the wooden stock. It is a bolt action rifle, fed from a 4-round box magazine. The barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake for greater accuracy and to limit the recoil. The brake absorbs approximately 65% of the shot energy and the recoil was comparable to the standard Mauser rifle, even though the cartridge carried more than twice the amount of propellant. It has fitted iron sights fixed for 300 metres range.
History
Ammunition
In the late 1920s the Polish General Staff started the development of a light anti-tank weapon for the Polish infantry. In 1931 Lt. Colonel Tadeusz Felsztyn from the Institute of Armament Technology in Warsaw started the first tests of various low-calibre cartridges. After the tests of German-made Hagler bullets proved the possibilities of that type ammunition in perforating steel plate, the National Ammunition Factory in Skarżysko-Kamienna was ordered to develop its own 7.92 mm bullet with a muzzle velocity of over 1000 metres per second. After a series of tests, the new DS bullet was proposed.
The DS ammunition was based on a standard 7.92 mm bullet as used by both the Mauser rifle Model 1898 (wz.98) and its Polish variant the karabinek wz.29. The length of the cartridge was extended to 131.2 mm and the overall weight was 64.25 g. After an additional series of tests the copper cartridge case was replaced with a case made of brass (67% copper/ 23% zinc).
Uniquely, compared to other armour-piercing designs, the DS round instead of using tungsten or a similar hard metal for the core had lead in a steel coating, like ordinary rifle bullets. The penetration was not through punching the core through the armour but from the impact of the bullet flattening against the plate, transfering kinetic energy to the metal. The key to success for this technique was a very high bullet velocity. The result was that the bullet was punching a core, about 20 mm in diameter out of the armour, a larger size than the actual rifle caliber.
Rifle
Simultaneously to the development of the ammunition, a young graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, Józef Maroszek was ordered to prepare an anti-tank rifle. On August 1, 1935, the Committee of Equipment and Armament officially ordered the rifle and in October the first tests of the new weapon started.
The rifle was based on the successful construction of the Mauser rifle, a standard pre-World War I infantry weapon. The gun-lock was modified to sustain higher pressure of the new bullet and the muzzle was extended significantly. The first tests carried out in Brześć and Pionki showed that the new weapon was capable of perforating a 15mm steel plate from the distance of 300 metres. Similar results were reached after firing at a deflected steel plate. Initially the new muzzle could only sustain up to 30 shots, after which it had to be replaced with a new one. However, this drawback was soon corrected and the final prototype could fire approximately 300 shots. The committee accepted the new design on November 25, 1935, and in December the Ministry of Military Affairs ordered the delivery of 5 rifles, 5000 bullets and a set of spare muzzles for further tests.
After the tests carried out by the Centre of Infantry Training in Rembertów proved high effectivity and reliability of kbk ppanc wz.35, the Ministry ordered 7610 rifles to be delivered to the Polish Army by the end of 1939. It is uncertain how many rifles were actually produced, but it is often estimated that there were more than 6500 pieces delivered by September 1939.
Usage
The rifle was the main anti-tank weapon of an infantry platoon. Each infantry company and cavalry squadron was to be equipped with three rifles, each operated by a team of two soldiers. Additional anti-tank teams were to be created at a later stage. Although the weapon was successively introduced to the units, it remained a top secret. The rifles were kept in closed wooden crates, each marked with a number and a notice do not open; surveillance equipment. The teams were trained in secret military facilities just before the war, starting from July 1939, and then had to give an oath that they will preserve the secret.
The rifle was carried by the leader of the two-man rifle team on a carrying strap. The other member of the squad was his aid and provided him with cover while he was reloading. The weapon was usually fired from prone supported position with the bipod attached to the barrel. However, it could be also used in other positions, like prone unsupported and crouch. The effective range was 300 metres and the weapon was effective against all German tanks of the epoch (those being Panzer I, II and III, as well as Czech-made LT-35 and LT-38) at 100 metres. At up to 400 metres it could destroy all lightly-armoured vehicles. It could penetrate 15 mm of armour, sloped at 30° at 300 m distance, or 33 mm of armour at 100 m. What is interesting, an Italian manual stated maximum penetration as 40 mm.
Despite well-established opinion, the Karabin przeciwpancerny wz.35 was extensively used during the Polish Defence War of 1939 by most Polish units. After Poland was overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union, large quantities of this weapon were captured. The Germans pressed it into service as Panzer Buchse 35 (polnisch) (PzB 35(p)), and sped up works upon their own simplified, one-shot anti-tank rifle Panzer Buchse 39 (PzB 39). According to some sources, the Germans however replaced DS bullets in a captured ammunition with their own 7.92mm bullets with a hardened steel core from the PzB 39. Also, several features of the Polish rifle, most notably a lock, were used in development of the Soviet Simonov 14.5 mm anti-tank rifle.
In 1940 Germany sold approximately 800 Polish rifles to the armed forces of Italy, who used it in combat until the end of World War II.