"Bring up the PIAT" a great line from a classic movie (A Bridge to Far). I saw this advert for a DEWAT PIAT in the UK http://www.warstuff.com/WW2-BRITISH...il&utm_term=0_b44b3ba19b-903a73529a-242493357 and just about fell off my seat as I had been looking at a working PIAT for sale in Tobyhanna PA in 1999 for $550. Which I have always wished I had bought, even more after seeing this crazy price. So who has a PIAT and who has ever made up rounds and fired the thing??
Does anyone have a PIAT
- Thread starter XRCD011
- Start date
FWIW, there was a recent episode of "Sons of Guns" which involved re-WATTing and firing a PIAT.
They observed that as a military weapon system it was an accident waiting to happen.
Launching a contact-fused warhead with no distance fuzing system cause a lot of field casualties if
the operator didn't get a clean launch. (Which can happen for several reasons).
They observed that as a military weapon system it was an accident waiting to happen.
Launching a contact-fused warhead with no distance fuzing system cause a lot of field casualties if
the operator didn't get a clean launch. (Which can happen for several reasons).
Always thought of it as one of those "last ditch" weapons the Brits were notorious for, like the sticky bomb anti tank grenade.
Crown Surplus in Calgary had one on display in their window for years, complete with a round. Bit of a headshaker the first time I saw it. Grizz
It must take a lot of steel nerve for an anti tank gunner to stand his ground while a 50 ton monster tank is barreling down on him with its guns blazing. The natural human tendency would be to crap his pant, drop everything and run like hell out of the way.
Just a change of underwear
Some claim that they don't need to be DEWAT in the US.
Fun stuff:
ht tp://www.sangamoncorifleassociation.org/phildavis/antitank.html
They took the Blacker Bombard and changed it from a mortar to a anti-tank weapon and then called it the Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank or PIAT for short. One man of the Green Howards called the PIAT the most devilishly painful device ever inflicted on man. The PIAT weighed 37 pounds and fired a 7 pound shape charged bomb. It used a spring to propel the bomb. To #### the PIAT you stood it on its end, grabbed hold of the handle, put your feet on the shoulder brace and lifted up with 225 pounds of energy. When you got it up you had to twist it 30 degrees to lock it and then you pushed it back down. Then you placed your bomb in the front of it and you laid down prone. Most of you have fired rifles prone. You know that a 30.06 rifle when you're standing upright and you pull the trigger, it belts you a little bit. But when you're laying down prone with that thing sitting up against your collar bone, its pretty stout.
When you pulled the trigger on the PIAT it jumped away from your shoulder because of the spring. It hit the bomb and in the base of the bomb was an explosive charge. The explosive charge did not launch the bomb. The explosive charge fired back at you and re-cocked the spring. So that 225 pound spring is being blasted back by an explosive charge so it jumps away from your shoulder. Now what happens to a shotgun if you fire it and its not tight into your shoulder? It belts you pretty good doesn't it? A 30.06 has a 36 pounds of recoil energy. A PIAT has 258 foot pounds of recoil energy and you must fire it prone.
Some claim that they don't need to be DEWAT in the US.
Fun stuff:
ht tp://www.sangamoncorifleassociation.org/phildavis/antitank.html
They took the Blacker Bombard and changed it from a mortar to a anti-tank weapon and then called it the Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank or PIAT for short. One man of the Green Howards called the PIAT the most devilishly painful device ever inflicted on man. The PIAT weighed 37 pounds and fired a 7 pound shape charged bomb. It used a spring to propel the bomb. To #### the PIAT you stood it on its end, grabbed hold of the handle, put your feet on the shoulder brace and lifted up with 225 pounds of energy. When you got it up you had to twist it 30 degrees to lock it and then you pushed it back down. Then you placed your bomb in the front of it and you laid down prone. Most of you have fired rifles prone. You know that a 30.06 rifle when you're standing upright and you pull the trigger, it belts you a little bit. But when you're laying down prone with that thing sitting up against your collar bone, its pretty stout.
When you pulled the trigger on the PIAT it jumped away from your shoulder because of the spring. It hit the bomb and in the base of the bomb was an explosive charge. The explosive charge did not launch the bomb. The explosive charge fired back at you and re-cocked the spring. So that 225 pound spring is being blasted back by an explosive charge so it jumps away from your shoulder. Now what happens to a shotgun if you fire it and its not tight into your shoulder? It belts you pretty good doesn't it? A 30.06 has a 36 pounds of recoil energy. A PIAT has 258 foot pounds of recoil energy and you must fire it prone.
Rodreiger your mostly right but the PIAT bomb charge (not the large spring)actually sent the round downrange while the rearward pressure of the bomb firing recocked the device. The spring and spigot just absorbed the recoil after it had slid up the base of the round fired the bomb and then it was pushed back to the cocked position.
I'm just quoting an article. I kind of suspect that the big spring is designed to get the payload initially downrange and moving so that when the rocket motor lights off
it's far enough downrange that the operator is mostly clear of any propellant backblast. That is an improvement over the contemporary US bazooka or the German panzerfaust.
it's far enough downrange that the operator is mostly clear of any propellant backblast. That is an improvement over the contemporary US bazooka or the German panzerfaust.
The PIAT bomb is a funny thing in that its not a rocket but a shot itself. Sort of like having a shotgun shell in a shotgun chamber but backwards so the primer is facing the muzzle. Then a firing pin (PIAT spigot) is spring driven down the barrel and the shotgun shell goes off launching the gun (bomb) downrange. If you look at the PIAT bomb body the tube is the barrel that I speak of. As there is no back blast as one would have from a recoiless rifle/Bazooka the PIAT can be fired from an enclosed space such as a room without danger of over pressure or weapon firing signature. I believe alot of people see the big spring and conclude it is used to "push" the round on its way but actually it fires the round and absorbs recoil and is recocked by the bomb firing.
£5,250.00 for a dewat PIAT? Either they are really rare in the UK, or this guy is nuts...or maybe that's what they are selling for now?
After all, PIAT rounds are selling for $200~$300 plus.
Have any PIATS sold recently and, if so, what sort of price are they going for around here?
(Just asking, I like mine and it's not for sale.)
After all, PIAT rounds are selling for $200~$300 plus.
Have any PIATS sold recently and, if so, what sort of price are they going for around here?
(Just asking, I like mine and it's not for sale.)
stencollector
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
Doesn't everyone have a PIAT? As to firing it, inert rounds cost about $300-$400 these days. If you are lucky, you get the odd one for $100-$150. I have the ballistite cartridge for mine, but have no intentions of damaging the nose of a round firing it.
I lucked in and got mine when the market was depressed. I did see one at one of the MVPA Topeka conventions about 4 years ago, for $1100. Sweet deal, but I didn't have the nerve to try and bring it back across the border. They have been classed as C&R in the US, which means they no longer have to have the large bore size hole through the side.
- Location
- In lalaland, that is Ottawa.
For damn sure!
