How often were antitank rifles used by the allies?

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larrysmith

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I have never seen one in a war movie and the only time I saw them used was on that tank show on the history channel and the Russians used them with great success to turn back german tanks at Stalingrad I think it was.
 
Germans, Poles, Finns, Russians all used them early in the war. Later improvements in armour made them obsolete. Late war use was probably desperation but given Soviet doctrine might have been still on TOE to the end of the war.
 
Centrefire anti-tank rifles were obsolete in 1939. A close second was the PIAT which just chucked a grenade towards the target with a big coiled spring. More men were crippled cocking that thing than Veterans' Affairs Canada wants to admit. However, it was what the infantry had.
 
You would think the antitank rifle would have been god for something besides tanks. But maybe nobody wanted to carry that thing. Could have used it to shoot through buildings to flsh the Nazis out. The piddly .303 couldn.t go through concrete walls.
 
The Soviets loved antitank rifles. They would have half a dozen guys shoot into the side of a German AFV, 5 rounds semiauto. There was a good chance of hitting a weak spot, and they could penetrate up to 40mm on a good day. The Soviets didn't care much about how many men got killed in the process.
The Germans put mild steel plates over weak spots right up until the end of the war:
images

So it was clearly a concern. The UK and US infantry dumped the ATRs when the PIAT and Bazooka came along, since they could kill tanks from the front. A lot of British armoured cars had ATRs, mostly because nothing better was available.

So they were not great, but quantity has a quality of its own back in the USSR.
 
the at rifle type guns were only good for light tanks and trucks and stuff. also only good out on long range open country so after afrika I'm not sure how much use they would have been for the type of warfare the western allies were fighting. but here is a good video of a Fin gun. could very easy deal with light Russian tanks and ACs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7EfR4K17G8
 
I would imagine, that even in war, they would have found their way into the hands of individuals that adored them. Finding a use for something that you adore, comes easily.

ITB
 
tiriaq said:
In '42 the US Marine raiders successfully used Boys AT rifles in the South Pacific.
Click to expand...

Japanese tanks were thin skinned, probably one of the last places they had any use and easier than dragging the old 75 mm into place. Better penetration than the old 30/06 on those bunkers the Japs loved as well ;)

Grizz
 
larrysmith said:
You would think the antitank rifle would have been god for something besides tanks. But maybe nobody wanted to carry that thing. Could have used it to shoot through buildings to flsh the Nazis out. The piddly .303 couldn.t go through concrete walls.
Click to expand...

Certainly there is a limit to what you can carry, and when the choice comes between a more effective man-packable anti-tank weapon or the ineffective anti-tank weapon that can still go through the side of the building to get infantry therein, you take the former. The .303British cartridge was not deficient in power for the roles of rifles and light machine guns and the rifle and LMG cartridges used by other armies were not significantly different. Europe had a lot more buildings of stone than we do. Penetration of concrete depends on how thick the concrete is and when anyone used concrete for pillboxes and other fortifications they tried to make them the strong enough to withstand more powerful guns than any infantry carried.
 
When I went to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds 10 years ago, they had a Pz.38 (t) which was riddled all over the front armour plating with divots left behind by AT rifle hits.
 
The Russians made good use of 'em back in the big one. Search the web for Ukraine war news, you're sure to see some floating around there somewhere.
 
If you read any of the books covering Canada's Dieppe raid, the Boys rifles were mentioned as providing good penetration through sandbags and minor fortifications as anti-pers.

Years ago I talked to a Naval Vet who used them during the D-day landings. He said they were mounted on the ships and used to sink mines.

Re- their use on Bren carriers, the standard bren carrier was not meant to be attacking the enemy with guns-a-blazing. They were meant to deliver the Bren or the Boys rifle along with their ammunition into position and then retreat back.
 
the boys anti tank rifles were dropped to anti material roles later on in the war the Russians still used the PTRD and PTRS rifle right through the war you have a few guys shooting at one tank maybe someone will hit the turret ring or a barrel or jam the tracks then they could call in artillery
 
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