The Panzerbüchse 39, abbreviated PzB 39, (German: "tank hunting rifle model 39") was a Germananti-tank rifle used in World War II. It was an improvement of the Panzerbüchse 38 (PzB 38) rifle.
Panzerbüchse 39
A Wehrmacht soldier with PzB 39 in Northern France
German anti-tank rifles originated back in 1917 with the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, the world's first anti-tank rifle, using a special 13.2 mm (0.52 in) cartridge. It was created in response to the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front. That single shot manually operated rifle enjoyed moderate success; approximately 15,800 rifles were built.
German development resumed in the late 1930s. In an effort to provide infantry with a man-portable lightweight anti-tank rifle, Dipl.-Ing. (certified engineer) B. Brauer at Gustloff Werke in Suhl designed the Panzerbüchse 38 (PzB 38). It was a manually loaded single-shot weapon with a recoiling barrel, using a special 7.92 mm (0.311 in) cartridge. When fired, the barrel recoiled about 9 cm (3.5 in), which opened the breech and ejected the spent cartridge casing. The breech block was then arrested in the rear position, remaining opened for the gunner to manually insert a new cartridge. The gunner then released the cocked breech with a lever at the grip. The breech and barrel would then move forward again and the trigger was cocked in preparation to fire. This rather complicated mechanism was reportedly prone to jamming as the system got dirty in field use.
Although manufactured with pressed steel parts that were spot-welded, because of the complicated vertical breech block mechanism it was difficult to manufacture and only a small number of 1,408 PzB 38 rifles were built in 1939 and 1940 at the Gustloff Werke plant; 62 of these weapons were used by German troops in the invasion of Poland in 1939.
The rifle was 161.5 cm (5 ft 3.6 in) long - 129.5 cm (4 ft 3.0 in) folded for transport - and weighed 15.9 kg (35 lb).[1][2] It used a specifically designed cartridge with a standard caliber of 7.9 mm, but a very large 94 mm long case (nominal 7.92×94mm).[3] also known as the "7.92 x 94 Patronen".
Dug in soldiers with the Panzerbüchse 39 deployed on the Eastern Front
PzB 39edit
The next development, onto which production was immediately switched, was the Panzerbüchse 39 (PzB 39), an improvement made by Gustloff on their PzB 38. It also used a vertical breech block mechanism and the same cartridge as the PzB 38. It retained the barrel of the PzB 38 and had an only slightly increased overall length of 162.0 cm (5 ft 3.8 in); weight was reduced to 12.6 kg (28 lb). Performance was basically the same as that of the PzB 38. To increase the practical rate of fire, two cases each containing 10 rounds could be attached to the sides of the weapon near the breech - these were not magazines feeding the weapon, but merely put the cartridges closer to hand for the gunner. 568 PzB 39 were used by the German army in the invasion of Poland; two years later, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, 25,298 PzB 39 were in use by German troops. Total production from March 1940 to November 1941, when production ceased, was 39,232 rifles. The PzB 39 remained in use until 1944, by which time it had become hopelessly inadequate against all but the lightest armored vehicles.
Variantsedit
The short barrel and muzzle-mounted grenade launcher cup distinguish this Granatbüchse 39 grenade launcher version of the PzB 39 from the standard rifle
Starting in 1942, remaining PzB 39 rifles were rebuilt with a shortened barrel (590 mm) and an affixed Schiessbecher ("firing cup") attachment threaded to the barrel and used to launch standard rifle grenades. The cup was the standard type used with the ubiquitous Kar 98k infantry rifle and the ammunition was also interchangeable; there were three types of grenades: an anti-personnel grenade, a light anti-tank grenade and a large-diameter anti-tank grenade. The grenades were propelled by a special cartridge with a wood bullet. The rifle was also outfitted with a special sighting arrangement for firing up to 150 m and the wooden forend was removed. These converted rifles received the designation Granatbüchse Modell 39 (GrB 39) and remained in use until the end of the war.
^ abcBishop, general editor, Chris (2002). The encyclopedia of weapons of World War II. New York: MetroBooks. p. 209. ISBN1-58663-762-2. Retrieved 17 February 2011. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Westwood, David (2005). Rifles: An Illustrated History of their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 337. ISBN1-85109-401-6. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
^Rottman, Gordon L. (2004). German field fortifications 1939-45. Ian Palmer. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 21. ISBN978-1-84176-761-1. OCLC 56539905.
External linksedit
Anti-Tank Rifle History and Collecting
An Introduction to Anti-Tank Rifle Cartridges
Forgotten Weapons - Panzerbüchse 39 German Anti-Tank Rifle
November 23, 2023
panzerbüchse, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december, 201. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Panzerbuchse 39 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2012 template removal help The Panzerbuchse 39 abbreviated PzB 39 German tank hunting rifle model 39 was a German anti tank rifle used in World War II It was an improvement of the Panzerbuchse 38 PzB 38 rifle Panzerbuchse 39A Wehrmacht soldier with PzB 39 in Northern FranceTypeAnti tank riflePlace of originNazi GermanyService historyIn service1939 1945Used byNazi GermanyWarsWorld War IIProduction historyDesignerB BrauerDesigned1939ManufacturerGustloff WerkeProduced1938 1941No built1408 PzB 38 39 232 PzB 39 VariantsGranatbuchse 39SpecificationsMass16 2 kg 35 71 lb PzB 38 12 6 kg 27 78 lb PzB 39 Length1 620 1 280 mm 63 8 50 4 in folded for transport Barrel length1 085 mm 42 7 in Cartridge7 92x94mm PatronenCaliber7 92 mmActionFalling block actionRate of fire10 rounds min practical rate Muzzle velocity1210 m s 1 Effective firing range300 m 330 yd for penetration of 25 mm armor 1 Feed systemSingle shotSightsHooded front post rear V notch Contents 1 Development 1 1 PzB 38 1 2 PzB 39 2 Variants 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksDevelopment editPzB 38 edit German anti tank rifles originated back in 1917 with the Mauser 1918 T Gewehr the world s first anti tank rifle using a special 13 2 mm 0 52 in cartridge It was created in response to the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front That single shot manually operated rifle enjoyed moderate success approximately 15 800 rifles were built German development resumed in the late 1930s In an effort to provide infantry with a man portable lightweight anti tank rifle Dipl Ing certified engineer B Brauer at Gustloff Werke in Suhl designed the Panzerbuchse 38 PzB 38 It was a manually loaded single shot weapon with a recoiling barrel using a special 7 92 mm 0 311 in cartridge When fired the barrel recoiled about 9 cm 3 5 in which opened the breech and ejected the spent cartridge casing The breech block was then arrested in the rear position remaining opened for the gunner to manually insert a new cartridge The gunner then released the cocked breech with a lever at the grip The breech and barrel would then move forward again and the trigger was cocked in preparation to fire This rather complicated mechanism was reportedly prone to jamming as the system got dirty in field use Although manufactured with pressed steel parts that were spot welded because of the complicated vertical breech block mechanism it was difficult to manufacture and only a small number of 1 408 PzB 38 rifles were built in 1939 and 1940 at the Gustloff Werke plant 62 of these weapons were used by German troops in the invasion of Poland in 1939 The rifle was 161 5 cm 5 ft 3 6 in long 129 5 cm 4 ft 3 0 in folded for transport and weighed 15 9 kg 35 lb 1 2 It used a specifically designed cartridge with a standard caliber of 7 9 mm but a very large 94 mm long case nominal 7 92 94mm 3 also known as the 7 92 x 94 Patronen nbsp Dug in soldiers with the Panzerbuchse 39 deployed on the Eastern FrontPzB 39 edit The next development onto which production was immediately switched was the Panzerbuchse 39 PzB 39 an improvement made by Gustloff on their PzB 38 It also used a vertical breech block mechanism and the same cartridge as the PzB 38 It retained the barrel of the PzB 38 and had an only slightly increased overall length of 162 0 cm 5 ft 3 8 in weight was reduced to 12 6 kg 28 lb Performance was basically the same as that of the PzB 38 To increase the practical rate of fire two cases each containing 10 rounds could be attached to the sides of the weapon near the breech these were not magazines feeding the weapon but merely put the cartridges closer to hand for the gunner 568 PzB 39 were used by the German army in the invasion of Poland two years later at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa 25 298 PzB 39 were in use by German troops Total production from March 1940 to November 1941 when production ceased was 39 232 rifles The PzB 39 remained in use until 1944 by which time it had become hopelessly inadequate against all but the lightest armored vehicles Variants edit nbsp The short barrel and muzzle mounted grenade launcher cup distinguish this Granatbuchse 39 grenade launcher version of the PzB 39 from the standard rifleStarting in 1942 remaining PzB 39 rifles were rebuilt with a shortened barrel 590 mm and an affixed Schiessbecher firing cup attachment threaded to the barrel and used to launch standard rifle grenades The cup was the standard type used with the ubiquitous Kar 98k infantry rifle and the ammunition was also interchangeable there were three types of grenades an anti personnel grenade a light anti tank grenade and a large diameter anti tank grenade The grenades were propelled by a special cartridge with a wood bullet The rifle was also outfitted with a special sighting arrangement for firing up to 150 m and the wooden forend was removed These converted rifles received the designation Granatbuchse Modell 39 GrB 39 and remained in use until the end of the war See also editAnti tank rifle Boys anti tank rifle Lahti L 39 Mauser 1918 T Gewehr PTRD 41 Mass produced competing design to the PTRS PTRS 41 Mass produced competing design to the PTRD Solothurn S 18 100 Type 97 automatic cannon Wz 35 anti tank rifleReferences edit a b c Bishop general editor Chris 2002 The encyclopedia of weapons of World War II New York MetroBooks p 209 ISBN 1 58663 762 2 Retrieved 17 February 2011 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a first has generic name help CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Westwood David 2005 Rifles An Illustrated History of their Impact Santa Barbara CA ABC CLIO p 337 ISBN 1 85109 401 6 Retrieved 17 February 2011 Rottman Gordon L 2004 German field fortifications 1939 45 Ian Palmer Oxford Osprey Publishing p 21 ISBN 978 1 84176 761 1 OCLC 56539905 External links editSmall Arms Review Anti Tank Rifle History and Collecting An Introduction to Anti Tank Rifle Cartridges Forgotten Weapons Panzerbuchse 39 German Anti Tank Rifle Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Panzerbuchse 39 amp oldid 1159611725 PzB 38, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
