Infantry of World War 2

[CharlesBronson]

Originally Posted by trackend

The SMLE would be no good for hunting its a soldiers gun for people killing if you want to hunt you buy a hunting rifle converting army rifles for hunting is a bodge job it would be like using an Express 600 for shooting ducks or a 12 bore for sniping.

I just give that information to prove the good quality of the action 98, in the K-98K you could use all the gama of ammo for the 8 mm, including armor piercing, tracer , High pressure V-max cartrigdes, Beobachtungs ( german 'De Wilde') etc.
In some others bolt actions military rifles like Mosin Nagant, Enfield, Berthier, etc, you cannot do that and the special ammo is stenciled "only for MG" "only for aircraft use"... and so

[trackend]

Your welcome to fire an AP over charged round from a rifle CB having a strong bolt doesnt always make a good rifle, the Boys fired a .5 AP but it was total **** escpecially if you was the poor sod to have to hold on to it when it went off ( the army only put padded butts on a weapon if there is danger of breaking your collar bone )

[CharlesBronson]

Your welcome to fire an AP over charged round from a rifle CB having a strong bolt doesnt always make a good rifle, the Boys fired a .5 AP but it was total s**t escpecially if you was the poor sod to have to hold on to it when it went off ( the army only put padded butts on a weapon if there is danger of breaking your collar bone )

.5 inch...? I though it was 14 mm in caliber, anyway I would like to fire one of these, I really love the the large caliber guns. I had shoot a couple of .50 BMG rounds but only in a Browning M2 wich was in a Shooting club.

[trackend]

BOYS ANTI-TANK RIFLE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Country Of Origin: UK
Designation: Bolt Action Rifle
Cartridge: .55in Boys
Production Date: 1937-1942

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Weapon Dimensions:
Length: 1.613 m
Barrel: 914 mm
Weight: 16.33 kg
Rifling: 7 grooves, rh
Mag Capacity: 5 rounds

[Glider]

There was a story of an Australian who shot down a couple of 109's with a Boys on Crete. He positioned himself in the control tower of the airfield knowing that sooner or later someone would straff it. When they did he shot back. It would only take one hit in the engine to bring a plane own.
I admit its probably one of those stories that has been embelished with time, but knowing how stubborn and bloody minded an Aussie can be I wouldn't put it past one to try it.

The Boys was pretty accurate and probably one of the most over engineered AT rifles. Bit like the 2pd AT gun which was considered to be the best of the 37-40 mm AT guns but was kept in action way past its sell by date.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Damn I dont know though if I would want to play chicken with a fighter.

[CharlesBronson]

There was a story of an Australian who shot down a couple of 109's with a Boys on Crete. He positioned himself in the control tower of the airfield knowing that sooner or later someone would straff it. When they did he shot back. It would only take one hit in the engine to bring a plane own.
I admit its probably one of those stories that has been embelished with time, but knowing how stubborn and bloody minded an Aussie can be I wouldn't put it past one to try it.

I ve read somewhere that the boys was also used in the 1942s Dieppe landings for disabling 20 and 37 mm Flak emplacements.

Well ..Trackend....we both are right...if you convert .55 inches to mm it gives you 14 mm ..

I am inlove of these old, big bore rifles, I always tough that the antitank or antiarmour infantry gun was too forgetted in the WWi and with the exception of the russians the others armies failed in create a tactic to use this rifles with good effect.

For example the germans give away to the finns all the Boys captured in Dunkerke, and all the Polish 8 mm Maroczek rifles to the rumanians, and eslovaquians.

[CharlesBronson]

German Flammerwerfer 34 in color.

[Gnomey]

Nice pics Charles, where did you find them?

[CharlesBronson]

Right Here:

http://www.mundosgm.com/smf/index.php?topic=436.0

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Wow great pics.

[CharlesBronson]

Some very interesting material:

The Panzerknacker, german army manual for close-antitank combat.

Panzerknacker means something like Tank cracker, crasher, is like another word for antitank:

Plate 1:



"Tank Killer: Instructions for Close Combat with Tanks

Leaflet 77/3"


Plate 2:



"You also can crack tanks!
You need vim and presence of mind. Above all superior savvy will prevail.
Think that tanks don't come only where there are paks [anti-tank guns]. Every day it happens that tanks infiltrate somewhere. You also can face suddenly such a coffer ["Kasten" also means box, hutch cabinet]. Anybody, if you are in the rear, if your are in the furthermost trench, you can get into this situation. The tank does not ask, weather you were trained to be tank cracker or something else.
Every body can do this - even you!"

Plate 3:



"A tank every 150 meters.
Over 1500 km.

What many others do daily,
You can do just as easily.

Over 10,000 German soldiers wear the Tank Close Combat Medal [Panzernahkampfabzeichen]. That many knocked-out tanks corresponds to the equipment of 200 Russian tank brigades and the total Russian tank production for a half year.

And all that done with the most primitive means, no less. But these lay in the hands of real men, and that’s what it boils down to.

You ask yourself, how is that possible under such unequal conditions? It’s quite clear: First off, tanks go after evenly matched opponents: tank, AT gun, and flak. At first they don’t pay you any mind. But then, pay attention:

You can kill tanks too!"


Plate 4:



"On the other hand,
Even the strongest tank has weaknesses.

Have you ever attacked alongside tanks? Or ever sat in a tank? You will have noticed right away that the fight between man and tank is so uneven—not at all, because even a tank has its weaknesses!

It sees poorly, poorest of all that which goes on right next to it.
It hears poorly.
It can’t defend itself well against you, particularly when you’re right next to it.
It’s highly dependent on terrain.

You have to know the weaknesses of the tank. You’ll find every different production type shown in exact detail in the Tank Close Combat cards (Supplement to Army Manual 469/4) Get them and study them. The first requisite for the tank killer is: know the type. Know the weaknesses. And of course: observe, observe, observe.

(Cannon blind spot = around 7-24m
Small arms blind spot = around 5-9)"



Plate 5:



"Success at tank killing comes
When you know their weaknesses, otherwise not at all.

Overall, note the weaknesses from this sketch. It’s only a schematic drawing, though.

(front: hatches, optics, guns and mantlet, turret ring, MG and vision port, running gear, final drive train.

(aft: hatches, turret ring, hatches, running gear)

(side: cannon, mantlet, vision ports, ventilation, running gear, turret ring)

(His coat has worn patches,
And tanks show their weaknesses in the same way!)

There’s no basic formula for the positioning of these locations. So, commit to memory the Tank Close Combat and Tank Identification cards.

It’s fear that it generates!"


Plate 6:



"Dangers are already half averted,
As soon as we recognize them clearly.

(black bar: “From here here he sees you.”
Red dot: “Danger lurks here.)

A tank is definitely not completely defenseless against close attacks. It has pistol ports through which the tanker can shoot with pistols and machine pistols and throw grenades. Aft MG’s are also dangerous. You only need to know: where does he see me most easily? Where does danger threaten?

Note: With hand grenades, he can also reach you in the blind spots.

Look out, danger lurks here!"

--------

You can found the Panzerknacker booklet translated in here:

http://www.3pgd.org/reference/panzerI.htm

[trackend]

That must be where the English get the word Knackered from as in "I've been working so hard I'm totally Knackered"

[Blackwatch]

I have a Argentine Army Mausers M1909 rechambered for cal 30.06...I was living in Utah and need a very dependable rifle that was aready had hard use on the wood but extremely accurate....I found the Mauser that someone had poorly mountied a scope to....the only beef I had was the terrible trigger mechanism....so I had the scope remounted using a Bushnell 4x and a national match trigger installed set to 4.5 lbs....when I bought the rifle I paced out a 400 meter target (a large rock in the desert about man-size....On the first shot I hit midway up the rock using the military 2-stage trigger!!!!....since then I would not be afraid to take a 800 meter shot with the rifle now that I have a 6x Leapold mounted....I use standard Winchester 180 gr rounds....

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I have allways enjoyed shooting my Mauser but I dont have 1909's.