Germany was the first country to produce a purpose-built antitank rifle, in response to the major Entente tank attack at Cambrai. The design was pretty simple, basically a scaled-up Mauser 98 with 4 locking lugs chambered for the massive 13.2mm TuF cartridge. It would perforate about 20mm of armor plate at 100m, which was nicely effective on WWI tanks. By the end of the war more than 15,000 1918 Tank Gewehr rifles had been made. Interestingly, a bunch of them ended up at Springfield Armory, where they were used in the development of the .50 BMG cartridge.
General Purpose MGs
Vintage Saturday: Night Vision
German SdKfz 251 “Falke” with an MG42 machine gun and IR scope and spotlight.
Uncategorized
How to Classify the H&K MP-7 and FN P90
My recent video proposing a particular set of definitions for three generations of submachine gun design generated a lot of comments about the H&K MP-7 and FN P90. I focused largely on the first and […]
Accessories
Germany Copies the Soviets: L23 & L27 Silencers
The German L23 silencer was essentially a copy of captured Soviet Bramit silencers, complete with the attachment system locking around a rifle front sight. Two hundred of these made for the K98k rifle for German […]
Very interesting in comparison to follow-up, also German development, the Panzerbuechse 38/39: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jupKqqqgBJM
There was really big change in thinking.
One has to wonder why there was no attempt for Muzzle break of some kind on this particular specimen.
YIKES! That T-Gewehr would still be useful against baddies hiding behind brick walls today (anti-material rifles are nasty against improvised protection, open bunkers, and possibly helicopters). Wasn’t there also the MG 18 chambered for that 13.2 mm round? It would basically smash light tanks, armored cars, and aircraft of the Depression Era (especially if the aircraft were parked wingtip to wingtip).
Am I wrong in any of this content?
The modern “anti-materiel rifle” mainly had its beginnings in WW2 with the British 0.55in Boys rifle. Soon after hostilities broke out, it was realized that the 0.55in round’s AP performance was inadequate to deal with most of the new German panzers, although it was still pure murder on their armored cars out to 800 yards or thereabouts.
But it was also realized that the 0.55in round’s extreme effective range (over 1500 yards on “soft” targets) and high degree of accuracy offered other interesting possibilities. Like use for destruction of enemy aircraft on the ground by special operations forces, without the formality of sneaking up to each one and sticking an incendiary time pencil in the fuel filler.
The reason so many photos of LRDG Chevy 20cwt trucks and SAS jeeps in the Western Desert show Boys rifles in residence is exactly this. Using API rounds, they could be used to “light up” fuel dumps, bowsers, and even aircraft on alert from out of the darkness without having to penetrate the target area’s inner perimeter. This sort of harassment tied up a substantial number of German and Italian troops just guarding such sensitive “supply points” when they’d otherwise have been available for offensive operations.
According to Col. William Buckmaster, 53 Boys rifles were airdropped to the French Resistance, and they also found them highly practical for such activities. Not to mention shooting Gauleiters through the windows of their chateaus’ while they were sitting down to dinner with a comely lass, from far enough out to embarrass their security detail…
BTW, it’s a myth that the Boys’ barrel had to be sawn off to go into a drop container. It fit perfectly well in a “C” canister with no fiddling; all you had to do was fold the monopod and leave the magazine box off, which you would anyway for a drop.
U.S. forces in the CBI are reported to have used the Boys as well, both in the AM role and as an actual tank-killer. Considering the relatively (OK, suicidally) thin armor on most Japanese “tankettes”, it would have worked perfectly well on the most likely targets.
In the Korean war, PTRS, PTRD, and leftover Mauser T-Gew rifles, all courtesy of Red China, were used by NKPLA and Chinese “volunteers” in much the same way. Remember that prior to WW2, China’s main source of armaments was Germany, especially “war surplus”. A lot of those “missing” T-Gew’s apparently ended up in Chinese Army arsenals, not to mention warlords’ armories. Shansei Arsenal may have made ammunition, possibly loaded in original German cases.
Captured examples were sometimes fitted with American Browning M2HB barrels, modified to handle the 12.7 x 99 BMG round, fitted with telescopic sights, and used for long-range “countersniping”. At least one such modified rifle turned up in Florida a decade later in the hands of anti-Castro Cuban exiles who intended to have a crack at Fidel with it. (They could never get it into proximity with him, though.)
In 1955, Elmer Keith acquired a T-Gew, fitted it with an M2HB barrel and a five-shot box magazine, and created probably the most awesome bolt-action “big game” rifle seen to that date. A photo of him firing it ran in his G&A column in the ’70s, showing the tall and muscular Keith being forced backward and the muzzle at a 40 degree above LOS angle due to its massive recoil. And yes, he was firing offhand, standing. (!) Exactly what “big game” would require this much of a “hammer” I’m not sure, although it might be suitable for Cape buffalo, hippo, or the odd T-Rex.
The modern “AMR” has an interesting history. And the T-Gew and Boys share about equal credit for starting it all.
cheers
eon
Oh, before I forget, the 1918 heavy MG in 13mm was the actual gun referred to as the TuF (Tank und Flieger), indicating its intended use as both an AT weapon and a light AAA system. It was essentially an enlarged, water-cooled Spandau-built Maxim, about midway in size between the standard 7.9 x 57 and the big 37mm “pop-pom”.
About 100 were completed by the Armistice. The Allied commission confiscated every one they could find, destroyed most of them, and distributed a dozen or so to the British, French, and American ordnance establishments.
John Browning, who was working on the American .50 project at Colt at the time, wasn’t particularly impressed by the German gun.
No TuF HMGs are known to survive today.
Source; Chinn, The Machine Gun, vol. 2.
cheers
eon
Aw, nuts! I wanted to play with an MG 18 (perhaps we should make one and kill the leader of the “Islamic State” with it).
There was an MG18 chambered in 13.2. The German Flying Corps actually flew some missions with it late in the war. There weren’t enough of them to make an effect, but they did work well.
Is a 13.3mm round a bottle necked cartridge like the .50 BMG? How hard would it be to load one?
“Is a 13.3mm round a bottle necked cartridge like the .50 BMG”
It is bottlenecked design; source: http://www.municion.org/13x92sr/13x92sr.htm
“where they were used in the development of the .50 BMG cartridge.”
Was 13.2mm Hotchkiss cartridge inspired by Tank-Gewehr cartridge aswell or it was independent development?
“bottle necked cartridge”
So far I know almost all military rifle and big-bore cartridge adopted during WW1 or later were bottlenecked.
The T-Gewehr was 13 mm, not 13.3, not 13.2, and had a bottle-necked case (in a champagne-bottle sense), with a longish cone reducing from the main diameter to the neck. Plus a semi-rimmed (hence SR in 13 mm x 92SR designation) head. The .50 BMG has a case profile scaled-up from .30-06, so it had a pronounced shoulder and is rimless. The 13.2×99 French/Japanese was in fact a .50 Cal clone with a skin-of-the-teeth thicker bullet – but it had nothing in common with 13 mm German. The outer diameter of the .50 case mouth is 14.14 mm, while the 13.2 is 14.38 mm.
Wait, wait, what!? Let’s get this straight. The T-Gewehr bullet diameter is 13mm exactly? I must be going crazy…
And the Breda SAFAT was a clone of the Browning M1919, unless I’m totally wrong-and the Italians stuffed some of the 12.7mm bullets with HE, which some people would claim violates the Petersburg convention or something like that…
“bullet diameter”
No; German style cartridge designation refers to bore diameter in lands NOT bullet diameter, see for example 7.63x25mm Mauser, according to municion article which I linked above, bullet diameter is 13,30mm
“violates the Petersburg convention”
Petersburg 1868 declaration ban only “explosive projectiles under 400 grams” used in anti-personnel role. You can read declaration here:
https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=568842C2B90F4A29C12563CD0051547C
so considering following statements:
“That the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy;”
and
“That this object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable;”
Explosive bullet less than 400 grams in weight can be used as anti-aircraft, anti-tank, anti-vehicle e.t.c. roles
Противотанковое ружье Шолохова (Sholokhov AT rifle):
http://weaponland.ru/load/protivotankovoe_ruzhe_sholokhova/145-1-0-848
was single-shot version of German Tank-Gewehr chambered in 12.7×108 cartridge, it can be recognized from Tank-Gewehr by having muzzle-brake, different tripod. It was produced as a stop-gap solution and used during Battle of Moscow, production halted after PTRD and PTRS (firing more powerful 14.5×114 cartridge) could be supplied in enough quantity.
“14.5×114 cartridge”
Some information considering this cartridge: it was developed in 1938 by following designers: Г. Ф. Андреев, Г. А. Касаткин, С. И. Панков, В. А. Легостов, И. Н. Николаев, Л. Н. Кошкин, В. М. Таныгин, В. И. Кузнецов. Formally it was adopted in 1941, but first weapon firing 14.5mm adopted was Противотанковое ружье Рукавишникова образца 1939 года (Rukavishnikov AT rifle model 1939) which was self-loading gas-operated weapon, ammo capacity: 5 (magazine sticking to left side), official adoption: 7 October 1939
source: http://weaponland.ru/board/patron_145x114/52-1-0-257
Our local Museum has one captured by the New Zealand Division in 1918. Actually also have a PTRS and PTRD anti tank rifle. I also love the PTRS just an enormous SKS.
http://newzealanddivision.org/photos/mauser-anti-tank-gun
New Zealand soldiers pose with a captured German Mauser T-Gewehr anti-tank rifle near Grevillers, 1918
Great picture!
Of course, tanks were in their infancy it WWI, and that monster rifle with a well placed shot could knock them out of the fight.
Well, having played War Thunder, I know that you’d probably need to shoot a vision slit if you wanted to kill the crew of that tank. The T-Gewehr’s shot would need to go at the thinnest armor at a perfect 90 degree deflection in order not to ricochet, unless I’m totally off.
“perfect 90 degree”
http://landships.info/landships/weapon_articles.html?load=weapon_articles/german_13mm_atrifle.html
states that:
“The troops soon found out that it was ineffective against the French Renault FT light tank with its many sloped armour plates: the bullet required a hit at a 90° angle to penetrate.”
America built Renault tanks in WWI as part of the “Patriotic war effort” BUT since we had NO capacity for producing armour plate then they were made of Boilerplate. I saw one of these at the Smithsonian in 1964. There was a small brass plate on the rear which read ” mild steel for exhibition purposes only”.
We gave a number of these to Canada in 1939 for training purposes.
The angle of the bipod feet/claws and the angle of the ‘spats’ just above the claws seem to hint that in actual firing the bipod would likely have been reversed from its configuration in the video, so as to act as a recoil attenuator by channeling some of the rearward force to the now-forward-leaning bipod and against the ground ‘anchor’ provided by the feet/claws.
I am curious. Was the actual German Army designation for this anti-tank rifle the ‘1918 Tank Abwehr Gewehr’? The reason I ask is because their later anti-tank rifles have designations such as ‘Panzerbuechse’, and their anti-tank guns (which are cannons) are referred to as ‘Panzerabwehrkanone’, which literally means ‘tank defense gun’. I find it very interesting that they would use the English word ‘tank’ in the designation for the earlier gun during World War I. Sorry, I specialized in British and German operational and tactical doctrine, leadership, and training when doing my history degree, and I am always looking to improve my knowledge base. That’s why I asked. Great video as always. Thanks again.
As I recall the word “tank” was used by the British to confuse the Germans into thinking they were just getting a water delivery, when they were thirsty.
The word “Panzer” means armored vehicle.
Everybody read everyone’s mail and radio transmissions back then.
Even regular British soldiers didn’t know what they were getting until the “tank” showed up with no drinking water.
The name “tank” came from the cover story for when they were being built. The cover story was that they were water tanks for use in the Mesopotamia (Iraq) campaign against the Ottomans.
German first tank – A7V was called Sturmpanzerwagen meaning assault armoured vehicle. Article in German wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer states that word tank was used in German until 1930s.
In two publications of “Chef des Generalstabs des Feldheeres” from August 1918 titled “Merkblatt für Tankbekämpfung” and “Merkblatt über den kleinen französischen Tank” the name “13 mm Tankabwehr-Gewehr” is used.
So the name tank was frequently used at that time.
Bore diameter is 13.0+0.08 mm
Groove diameter 13.28+0.1 mm (8 grooves)
Twist 400 mm
(from a Rheinmetall drawing “13 mm Tuf-Patrone” of 1934, based on Mauser drawing 11645E)
Firstly, the Example of T1918 wasd missing the Flag safety lever ( very similar in dimension s to the Gew98 safety Lever. Going further, many of the Parts of the Bolt and Trigger Mechanism have the same (elongated) Dimensions of the G98 parts (Trigger lever, Sear, Firing Pin ( interrupted lugs for cocking piece) and Bolt body to cocking piece Buttress threads) The Cocking Piece Shroud is a Machining simplified Version of the Gew98 (without spring)
and the Cock Detent to stop rotation). The Cocking Piece o0n the FP is also just a “thicker” version (deeper) of a normal G98 cocking Piece.
IN Fact for Machining, some simple adjustments to Jigs from the G98 Line could be used.
Development and Production of the T18 rivals the celerity of the US with the M1 Carbine Program in WW II.
After the Battle of Cambrai ( where the only successful AT use by the Germans was the M16 Liechtes MinenWerfer, fired “horizontally”) Mauser and Polte received instructions to develop ASAP, an Antitank rifle with a cartridge suitable to Penetrate 20mm Armour Plate (at Right angles) from a close range.
At the same time, there was development by DWM of a Large Maxim MG suitable to compare with the Vickers and Hotchkiss 11mm AntiZeppelin and Anti Aircraft MGs. It was decided that the same cartridge would suit both Guns ( Hence the “Tank und Flieger Patrone”;) The Use of the term Tank was from a British subterfuge for the transport by Rail (on Heavy low bodies flat cars) of “Water Tanks” made of steel Plate.
Churchill , ( Munitions Minister, but former First Lord of the Admiralty) wanted them to be known as “Land Ships” and to be crewed by Royal Navy personnel!!! Naturally, by 1917, Churchill was Back from his Stint as a Battalion Commander at the Front (after being replaced at the Admiralty by the Gallipoli disaster)and was in Lloyd-George’s Ministry of Munitions.
The Army formed the “Royal Tank Corps” with Men of Mechanical aptitude ( the engines of these early battlewagons were notoriously cantankerous) and the Gunners were drawn from the MG corps.
The Battle of Cambrai (Nov. 1917_ saw the beginning of design studies by Mauser in December 1917. By March 1918, both Polte and Mauser had established the final design Parameters of the rifle and Ammo, and were doing Field tests with prototypes. BY April 1918, POlte was tooled up and Producing cases, Project tiles, and Loading them, and Mauser had started serial Production of T18s.
Ammunition was Produced from April 1918 ( P 4 18 T) to November 1918 ( P 11 18 T) it is rumoured that some production continued after November, butthat ammo may have been destroyed by the Treaty Obligations. AFAIK, no “12 18” ammo has shown up in collections anywhere in the world. A couple of Months are very rare to find, but Production ran continuously from April to November.
The Long Tapered, bottle necked body and semi-rim were to aid extraction with the small, simple claw extractor of the Bolt. ( the TuF Maxim of course, used the Heavy side gibs for grip).
Following WW I, the Soviet Union experimented with the 13,2mm Cartridger both as an AT weapon, and for a HMG ( they had acquired from Germany, smaples of the TuF sMG and copied it ( part of the German Army transfer of Tank technology to Russia to continue covert development.). The Soviets eventually went on to the 12,7mm Degtyarev (12,7×108) cartridge, with fresh input from US .50 calibre Developments. Both the sMG and the 13,2x92SR cartridge were abandoned.
Sw23edenjh, with its earlier, pre-war connections with Mauser, adopted the T18 as its M21 PanserGevar, and Manufactured them at the Carl-Gustav plant at Eskilstuna in the 1920s. Examples are in Swedish National Museums. They also made the ammo.
FN and Edg.WF Thun both made ammunition some for European countries, and especially for China ( sunburst or “gear wheel” Mark, as many surviving T18 rifles went to China as “Mil-surp” in the 1920s.
Post War use of T18s: Polish-Bolshevik war of 1920, Chinese Warlord Use between themselves and also against the Japanese in the 1920s and 30s.
Poland went on to develop the High Velocity Maroszchek (?sp) 7,9×108(?) rifle in the late thirties…the action was almost the same as the T18 Mauser mechasnism.
Relationship[ with US .50 cal. and Hotchkiss 13mm Cartridges: Whilst the US development was essentially from a scaled-up version of the .30/06 case, this development drew from the Experiences of the .500 Colt-Vickers cartridge, and from the Projectile design (Steel cored Boattail) of the German T18, reduced to .510 bullet diameter ( from .525″ of the T18). A Lot of the experimental work in Cartridge design and Manufacture was done with
J M Browning and Winchester, for the appearance of the M1921 BMG in .50 cal. ( both Water cooled and Aircooled). SA may have done some scientific testing of the Cartridge, but the lion’s share was done by WRA.
BY far, the Number of surviving T18s is are found in Australia and New Zealand, and Mostly they are in the first 5,000 to 10,000 serial range. (* ie, first delivered to the field). The Later serials ( 10,000 to 15,000 plus) seem to have been “trapped” in the Logisitcs system, and never saw Combat; in fact, the US’s acquisition of large Numbers (for eventual “Test Bed” use ) bespeaks the Occupation and seizure of a depot or even the Mauser Inventory itself.
Now to the guns: here in Australia, despite so-called “National Uniform Gun Laws”(Neither National, nor Uniform) several states have T18 owners who regularly shoot them ( after all, they are a Bolt action Rifle) Cases are Made from .50 BMG cases, sized back a trimmed ( head diameters are within a few Thou. of an inch; the Rim of the BMG is sufficient to be grabbed by the T18 extractor, and the cases are Headspaced onto the shoulder. Projectiles are either CNC-Turned Copper or Brass rod, or Cast, Gas checked Lead ( 900 grains), or .50 cal M33 Bullets sleeved with K&S thin wall brass tubing
to .525” OD.
Since I have FOUR ( yes 4) T18s, I make both Movie Blanks ( extended neck from .50 cases) using both CNC turned Brass 13mm Projies, or the sleeved M33 type. Shooting is NOT pleasant ( with a “Factory” Load of about 200 grains of Very Slow Rifle Powder ( AR2218 or similar) so I “down load” a bit, and use a filled sandbag as a Cushion on my shoulder.
Mention of slings: eventually the “dog collar” style sling of the MG08/15 was used with the T18 in the filed, but otherwise, it was a Tall, well built so9ldier and an ammunition assistant, who crewed the T18. Ammunition was supplied in 20 round “Papier” Canvas bags ( maybe Jute, or a Paper-Based woven Fabric…I use Good quality Indian Jute Material to Make Movie copies.
The word “Panzer” in German means simply “armoured” from Medieval times (Panzer Ritter…armoured Knight) The term was adopted and the Meaning slightly changed in 1920s German to cover “armoured units” , and the Tank itself ( actually, “Pkzw” ( Panzer KraftZug Wagen…Armoured Mechanical Transport Wagon.) “Pkzw” was used by the German Army to prefix all its “Tank” Models.
Very well presented Video, as always. I know the Limited time of these constrains the total content, but it’s good to see them…How about a “Collection” on a set of DVDs for the Reference Library???
Doc AV
Down Under Film and Real Ordnance RKI.
Firstly, the Example of T1918 wasd missing the Flag safety lever ( very similar in dimension s to the Gew98 safety Lever. Going further, many of the Parts of the Bolt and Trigger Mechanism have the same (elongated) Dimensions of the G98 parts (Trigger lever, Sear, Firing Pin ( interrupted lugs for cocking piece) and Bolt body to cocking piece Buttress threads) The Cocking Piece Shroud is a Machining simplified Version of the Gew98 (without spring)
and the Cock Detent to stop rotation). The Cocking Piece o0n the FP is also just a “thicker” version (deeper) of a normal G98 cocking Piece.
IN Fact for Machining, some simple adjustments to Jigs from the G98 Line could be used.
Development and Production of the T18 rivals the celerity of the US with the M1 Carbine Program in WW II.
After the Battle of Cambrai ( where the only successful AT use by the Germans was the M16 Liechtes MinenWerfer, fired “horizontally”) Mauser and Polte received instructions to develop ASAP, an Antitank rifle with a cartridge suitable to Penetrate 20mm Armour Plate (at Right angles) from a close range.
At the same time, there was development by DWM of a Large Maxim MG suitable to compare with the Vickers and Hotchkiss 11mm AntiZeppelin and Anti Aircraft MGs. It was decided that the same cartridge would suit both Guns ( Hence the “Tank und Flieger Patrone”;) The Use of the term Tank was from a British subterfuge for the transport by Rail (on Heavy low bodies flat cars) of “Water Tanks” made of steel Plate.
Churchill , ( Munitions Minister, but former First Lord of the Admiralty) wanted them to be known as “Land Ships” and to be crewed by Royal Navy personnel!!! Naturally, by 1917, Churchill was Back from his Stint as a Battalion Commander at the Front (after being replaced at the Admiralty by the Gallipoli disaster)and was in Lloyd-George’s Ministry of Munitions.
The Army formed the “Royal Tank Corps” with Men of Mechanical aptitude ( the engines of these early battlewagons were notoriously cantankerous) and the Gunners were drawn from the MG corps.
The Battle of Cambrai (Nov. 1917) saw the beginning of design studies by Mauser in December 1917. By March 1918, both Polte and Mauser had established the final design Parameters of the rifle and Ammo, and were doing Field tests with prototypes. BY April 1918, POlte was tooled up and Producing cases, Project tiles, and Loading them, and Mauser had started serial Production of T18s.
Ammunition was Produced from April 1918 ( P 4 18 T) to November 1918 ( P 11 18 T) it is rumoured that some production continued after November, butthat ammo may have been destroyed by the Treaty Obligations. AFAIK, no “12 18” ammo has shown up in collections anywhere in the world. A couple of Months are very rare to find, but Production ran continuously from April to November.
The Long Tapered, bottle necked body and semi-rim were to aid extraction with the small, simple claw extractor of the Bolt. ( the TuF Maxim of course, used the Heavy side gibs for grip).
Following WW I, the Soviet Union experimented with the 13,2mm Cartridger both as an AT weapon, and for a HMG ( they had acquired from Germany, smaples of the TuF sMG and copied it ( part of the German Army transfer of Tank technology to Russia to continue covert development.). The Soviets eventually went on to the 12,7mm Degtyarev (12,7×108) cartridge, with fresh input from US .50 calibre Developments. Both the sMG and the 13,2x92SR cartridge were abandoned.
Sweden, with its earlier, pre-war connections with Mauser, adopted the T18 as its M21 PanserGevar, and Manufactured them at the Carl-Gustav plant at Eskilstuna in the 1920s. Examples are in Swedish National Museums. They also made the ammo.
FN and Edg.WF Thun both made ammunition some for European countries, and especially for China ( sunburst or “gear wheel” Mark, as many surviving T18 rifles went to China as “Mil-surp” in the 1920s.
Post War use of T18s: Polish-Bolshevik war of 1920, Chinese Warlord Use between themselves and also against the Japanese in the 1920s and 30s.
Poland went on to develop the High Velocity Maroszchek (?sp) 7,9×108(?) rifle in the late thirties…the action was almost the same as the T18 Mauser mechasnism.
Relationship[ with US .50 cal. and Hotchkiss 13mm Cartridges: Whilst the US development was essentially from a scaled-up version of the .30/06 case, this development drew from the Experiences of the .500 Colt-Vickers cartridge, and from the Projectile design (Steel cored Boattail) of the German T18, reduced to .510 bullet diameter ( from .525″ of the T18). A Lot of the experimental work in Cartridge design and Manufacture was done with
J M Browning and Winchester, for the appearance of the M1921 BMG in .50 cal. ( both Water cooled and Aircooled). SA may have done some scientific testing of the Cartridge, but the lion’s share was done by WRA.
BY far, the Number of surviving T18s is are found in Australia and New Zealand, and Mostly they are in the first 5,000 to 10,000 serial range. (* ie, first delivered to the field). The Later serials ( 10,000 to 15,000 plus) seem to have been “trapped” in the Logisitcs system, and never saw Combat; in fact, the US’s acquisition of large Numbers (for eventual “Test Bed” use ) bespeaks the Occupation and seizure of a depot or even the Mauser Inventory itself.
Now to the guns: here in Australia, despite so-called “National Uniform Gun Laws”(Neither National, nor Uniform) several states have T18 owners who regularly shoot them ( after all, they are a Bolt action Rifle) Cases are Made from .50 BMG cases, sized back a trimmed ( head diameters are within a few Thou. of an inch; the Rim of the BMG is sufficient to be grabbed by the T18 extractor, and the cases are Headspaced onto the shoulder. Projectiles are either CNC-Turned Copper or Brass rod, or Cast, Gas checked Lead ( 900 grains), or .50 cal M33 Bullets sleeved with K&S thin wall brass tubing
to .525” OD.
Since I have FOUR ( yes 4) T18s, I make both Movie Blanks ( extended neck from .50 cases)and Ball, using both CNC turned Brass 13mm Projies, or the sleeved M33 type. Shooting is NOT pleasant ( with a “Factory” Load of about 200 grains of Very Slow Rifle Powder ( AR2218 or similar) so I “down load” a bit, and use a filled sandbag as a Cushion on my shoulder.
Mention of slings: eventually the “dog collar” style sling of the MG08/15 was used with the T18 in the filed, but otherwise, it was a Tall, well built so9ldier and an ammunition assistant, who crewed the T18. Ammunition was supplied in 20 round “Papier” Canvas bags ( maybe Jute, or a Paper-Based woven Fabric…I use Good quality Indian Jute Material to Make Movie copies.
The word “Panzer” in German means simply “armoured” from Medieval times (Panzer Ritter…armoured Knight) The term was adopted and the Meaning slightly changed in 1920s German to cover “armoured units” , and the Tank itself ( actually, “Pkzw” ( Panzer KraftZug Wagen…Armoured Mechanical Transport Wagon.) “Pkzw” was used by the German Army to prefix all its “Tank” Models.
Very well presented Video, as always. I know the Limited time of these constrains the total content, but it’s good to see them…How about a “Collection” on a set of DVDs for the Reference Library???
Doc AV
Down Under Film and Real Ordnance RKI.
PS, very few TuF sMG18 survived the End of the war…Most were still “Parts Kits” at DWM, and were seized by the Treaty Control Commission and destroyed, but some obviously found their way to Ordnance facilities of the allies and Museums…and the Soviet Union got a small number to “Play” with.
Except for size and extra lugs, bolt of pattern 35 anti tank rifle was closer in construction to KP32 carbine one.
Doc,
Do the rear lugs actually bear? Or is there a small clearance?
At first sight, the rear lugs appear to be so far back, that the front lugs would need to be in extreme distress before contacting rear lugs got subjected to much load
reproduction of ammos (light loads) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-dCh8GJJA
BOOOOOOMM 🙂
FYI,
There was a Sling made for this rifle. It had an odd method to attach it but can be seen here about half way down the page: http://www.antitank.co.uk/ww1_anti-tank_rifles1.htm
When I was a lad in the 50s Our small County Museum ( Ithaca NY )had among it’s gun collection a WWI bring back Mauser AT. The curator allowed me to “examine”
those items periodically. I remember trying to hold that Mauser horizontally and failing. I might have been 6-7 at the time. 30 odd years later when the museum had grown and relocated, I enquired about that beast. Unfortunately it had been disposed of or traded off some years before.
The flag safety from a Gew98 fits perfectly. We have an example of the T-Gewehr in our museum collection that was missing this part and once installed, it worked fine.
Wanted – T-gewehr bolt for a barreled action, and whatever parts you have.