Panzerbuchse 38 (PzB 38)

History of Panzerbuchse 38 (PzB 38)

The Panzerbuchse 38 (PzB 38) was an early World War II (1939-1945) anti-tank rifle developed by Gustloff for the rearmament of the German Army. The B. Brauer is based on the WWI-era Mauser 1918 T rifle, which had a cannon-like bolt system.

As we all know, the T-Gewehr was the first dedicated anti-tank rifle system - designed to combat a new threat to the Allied forces in World War I, the main battle tank. Like the T-Gewehr before it, the PzB 38 operates using a manually-operated bolt breech system, firing only single armored stab rounds (the weapon must be manually reloaded after each shot).

Production was carried out by the long-established Rheinmetall-Borsig company, and production history shows that 1,400 to 1,600 samples were delivered to the German army (around 60 were available when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939). Although useful, this type was never installed as a standard German anti-tank rifle during the war.

Instead, the weapon was reduced to mass production in the form of the Panzerbusche 39 (PzB 39) series of anti-tank rifles, providing some 25,300 examples of this type - 568 of which were used in the German invasion of Poland.

In service, the PzB 38 showed promise, but its complex design and expensive manufacturing process meant that there would be problems on the battlefield (using complex breech block assemblies) and production would never meet the demands of the war. However, as the war progressed and Allied armor became stronger, the tactical value of this pre-war design was again limited as it would ultimately only be effective against lightly armored vehicles.

As a result, the PzB 38 series was only seriously used in the early days of the war, and abandoned as soon as better alternatives came online - either directly replaced with the PzB 39 series, or shoulder-mounted rocket-propelled, armor-piercing weapons, For example Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck.

The PzB 38 fires the armor-piercing variant of the German 7.92mm rifle cartridge (7.92x94mm bullet). When the stock is fully extended, the gun is 63.5 inches long, with just the barrel 42.7 inches long. The foldable stock and bipod attachment allow for some portability, but the core of the system is still heavy around 36 pounds.

Muzzle velocity is rated at 3,970 feet per second, and penetration of 25mm thick armor through a 90-degree surface is a good 328 meters. Damage to critical parts of a tank or armored vehicle (tracks, engine block, driver position) is better than nothing.

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes