Piat?

Side note - anyone have some good schematics? I understand they weren't terribly complicated....

Would a panzerfaust or panzerschreck fall under the same category?

I handled most of one and some deactivated "rockets" for it on the weekend and just assumed it was prohib... this has me much more interested.



Edit - as a side note.... this could be easier than I thought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj76mfiIa34&feature=related
 
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That guy had no clue what he was doing.... I would have loved to have seen him fire a live round with the PIAT resting on his shoulder like that...:runaway: Sad part is that there are many knowledgeable collectors who would love to own something like that and this idiot is going to wreck his because he didn't bother learning how it works:mad:
 
If that guy fired a real round with his PIAT he would be looking at a minimum broken arm, shoulder, collar bone and badly bruised and cut up face. At a maximum dead. So many more deserving people who would respect owning a PIAT and demonstrate it proper use.
 
H Wally said:
Side note - anyone have some good schematics? I understand they weren't terribly complicated....
Click to expand...

Library and Archives Canada has an entire file of maintenance documentation for the PIAT, along with measurements. I have quite a few pages in digital images, but I didn't copy the entire document.
 
It would be interesting to see what the did internally. I'm curious if there was much reinforcing inside or around the barrel to cope with the discharge of the primer/small lifting charge. Maybe it's just a steel tube... that would make life remarkably easy...
 
H Wally said:
Side note - anyone have some good schematics? I understand they weren't terribly complicated....

Would a panzerfaust or panzerschreck fall under the same category?

I handled most of one and some deactivated "rockets" for it on the weekend and just assumed it was prohib... this has me much more interested.



Edit - as a side note.... this could be easier than I thought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj76mfiIa34&feature=related
Click to expand...

"Handled some rockets eh"..... any for sale?????

Definitely a "do not do" for the yahoo in the video.... nice "expert" :eek:
 
I remember coming across some old, (~50's) Guns and Ammo mags that had an ad for PIATs for sale.
$8.50 each, or two for $15.00!
 
Last Auction I was at that had a Deactivated Piat Projectile sold for ~$400 to a phone buyer.
Shame as I was one of two buyers and was hoping to snag that for myself at around $175.
Did pick up a couple of No.68 AT Grenades a couple 2 lber rounds and an 18lber.

piatgordon1.jpg

piatgordon2.jpg
 
H Wally said:
It would be interesting to see what the did internally. I'm curious if there was much reinforcing inside or around the barrel to cope with the discharge of the primer/small lifting charge. Maybe it's just a steel tube... that would make life remarkably easy...
Click to expand...


The PIAT is a spigot mortar. Imagine a firearm where you hold the "bullet" and shoot the "barrel" down range. Reverse from a conventional gun.
The propelling charge and primer are deep in the tail of the projectile. The long spigot on what looks like a breechblock lunges into the tail of the projectile. The charge fires, the projectile is launched, the "breechblock" is forced back, and recocks. This absorbs some of the recoil. There is still lots left for the shooter to enjoy. It is only the tail of the projectile that has to contain the pressure of the launching charge.
There were other spigot mortars, like the Hedgehog anti-submarine launcher, and the Blacker Bombard, used by the Home Guard for costal defense. The Germans had a small mortar equivalent spigot launcher that fired a projectile about the size of a rifle grenade. The artillery type spigot mortars didn't have the recoil absorbing counterweight of the PIAT. The Blacker Bombard was mounted on a concrete block, set in its emplacement.
When the batch of PIATs that Tootall mentionned were closed out, they were $5.95 each.
Inert Piat bombs are very scarce.
 
tiriaq said:
The PIAT is a spigot mortar. Imagine a firearm where you hold the "bullet" and shoot the "barrel" down range. Reverse from a conventional gun.
The propelling charge and primer are deep in the tail of the projectile. The long spigot on what looks like a breechblock lunges into the tail of the projectile. The charge fires, the projectile is launched, the "breechblock" is forced back, and recocks. This absorbs some of the recoil. There is still lots left for the shooter to enjoy. It is only the tail of the projectile that has to contain the pressure of the launching charge.
There were other spigot mortars, like the Hedgehog anti-submarine launcher, and the Blacker Bombard, used by the Home Guard for costal defense. The Germans had a small mortar equivalent spigot launcher that fired a projectile about the size of a rifle grenade. The artillery type spigot mortars didn't have the recoil absorbing counterweight of the PIAT. The Blacker Bombard was mounted on a concrete block, set in its emplacement.
When the batch of PIATs that Tootall mentionned were closed out, they were $5.95 each.
Inert Piat bombs are very scarce.[/QUOTE]

So the two I was holding that were $50 a piece... I should have bought them...?
Click to expand...
 
The practice bombs were expected to last only about 3 shots before becoming too damaged to use.

The big problem with the PIAT was if you had a misfire, it had to be recocked by hand. Not very easy to do at the best of times, damn hard to do when you were under fire.
 
I could see why - they were just bits of sheet metal threaded together...

Would also make it pretty easy to make. Especially if they had a turned hardwood core with sheet metal covering, they might stand up a little better.
 
The guy demonstrating his incompetence is an IDIOT.
To #### it, you plant your feet on the butt pad, lift slightly, give the butt a half turn and pull. It's a 200lb spring. Once it is cocked, you push the rod back in and give the butt a half turn the other way.
Now the fun part, if you do not fire the bloody thing with a bomb on it, You have to REVERSE the Procedure, easing the spring back down,while pulling the trigger at the same time to ease the spring.
If you dry fire it, you can damage the mechanism.

A friend who was in North Africa woke up in hospital next to a Second Lt. who forgot the cardinal rule when demonstrating it. ie; Get a DEATH GRIP on the thing. The recoil broke his jaw and knocked out his front teeth!
Also put your head down after firing it, as the tail acts like an gun tube and launches the .303 blank in it back the way it came. (better to have that blank bounce off your tin hat)
Mine came with the full size drill round, but I am still looking for the small practice round.

Oh yeah, while it is nothing more than a tube with a big spring, they are illegal in Kalifornia. But then what else would you expect?:rolleyes:

If the clown had fired a real bomb off that with the method he was using, his next stop would be the emergency ward at the local hospital.
 
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