Tank Buster- Mauser Anti-Tank Rifle WW1

[Ballsofice154]

If I may ,the ammo for this rifle, was it only armor piercing? I to had a chance to handle one of these rifles a few year back. The size and weight were impressive it had to be a chore to drag through the muck and myer and to keep it clean enough to fire it./QUOTE]

Good question armour piecing ammunition was made and I assume the German's made ball ammunition as there were machine guns chambered in the same calibre... but I'm not a expert on these.

 

[buzzmagoo]

Thanks for the get back, a machine gun you say! Cool! Never heard about them, were they based off a maxim?

 

[Ballsofice154]

Thanks for the get back, a machine gun you say! Cool! Never heard about them, were they based off a maxim?

Indeed it was based off the maxim. The link below has more on the maxim development and has a small section on the 13mm TuF Machine gun

www.cruffler.com/Features/FEB-02/historic-february02.html

From the link- Germany had devised another weapon which would have been ideally suited for antiaircraft use. This weapon was christened the "TuF' or Tank und Flieger machine gun, and unfortunately for the Germans, came into being too late to see service in the war. It was a scaled up version of the MG08 and fired a 13mm cartridge developed by the Polte ammunition factory in Magdeburg. The decision to develop the TuF had been taken in 1917 when the British tank threat was recognized as credible. While TuF development was ongoing, the Germans fielded the Mauser Model 1918 antitank rifle, a simple single shot bolt action rifle chambered for the same 13mm cartridge.
TuF parts were made by a variety of subcontractors, and final assembly was to be done by one of the MG08/15 contractors, Machinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg. In the event, only a few guns were produced by the war's end, and the project was scrapped. Interestingly, when Germany began to clandestinely rearm in 1927, a new 20mm machine cannon was adopted to fill the role proposed for the TuF.

 

[762shooter]

One of the perks of being a volunteer with a tiny all volunteer run military museum here in Brandon is I get to play with some fun stuff so without further ado pictures of one artifact that draws the most attention:

BIG BOOM!

Captured by the Canadians.. I'm in the process of finding which Infantry Battalion captured it.

13mm Cartridge specifications.

and shameless plug time visit the museums website: 12mbdragoons.com

I have one of those cartridges. My grandfather brought it back from the war. It is one of the few things I have that were his.