Mauser PzB-38/PzB-39
Notes: The
PzB-38s round combined an 8mm Mauser bullet with a much larger 13mm cartridge
shell. The result was a small but fairly heavy bullet that flew at a very high
velocity to achieve penetration by a principle similar to modern sabot rounds.
The bullet used a core of armor-penetrating steel combined with a small capsule
of tear gas; the tear gas portion was entirely useless, as the capsule seldom
ruptured as it was supposed to, and the amount of tear gas was so tiny as to
have negligible, if any, effects. (It may be safely ignored for game purposes.)
The PzB-38 was a single-shot rifle using an operation more akin to artillery
pieces than to rifles, with a breech block rather than a conventional bolt
action.
The PzB-38,
while nearly useless (as were most antitank rifles) against the armor of the
day, was an effective long-range sniping weapon. It was also expensive and slow
to manufacture, even in the small number that were built. The PzB-38 was thus
replaced in production by the simplified PzB-39. This rifle dispensed with the
recoiling barrel and semiautomatic breech, and using the pistol grip to open the
breech instead of a separate handle. Unfortunately, it was also more painful to
fire, and Nazi snipers got a hold of the earlier PzB-38 whenever possible.
During the
invasion of Poland in World War 2, examples of ammunition for the Polish Wz-35
antitank rifle were captured. This weapon fired a tungsten-cored AP round. This
round was reverse-engineered for use in the PzB-38 and PzB-39.
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
PzB-38 |
7.92mm Patronen |
15.88 kg |
1 Internal |
$2142 |
PzB-39 |
7.92mm Patronen |
12.35 kg |
1 Internal |
$2085 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
PzB-38 |
SS |
6 |
1-3-5 |
8/9 |
4 |
Nil |
161 |
PzB-38 (Bipod) |
SS |
6 |
1-3-5 |
8/9 |
2 |
Nil |
204 |
PzB-38 (AP) |
SS |
6 |
1-1-2 |
8/9 |
4 |
Nil |
193 |
PzB-38 (AP, Bipod) |
SS |
6 |
1-1-2 |
8/9 |
2 |
Nil |
245 |
PzB-39 |
SS |
6 |
1-3-5 |
9/10 |
5 |
Nil |
160 |
PzB-39 (Bipod) |
SS |
6 |
1-3-5 |
9/10 |
3 |
Nil |
203 |
PzB-39 (AP) |
SS |
6 |
1-1-2 |
9/10 |
5 |
Nil |
192 |
PzB-39 (AP, Bipod) |
SS |
6 |
1-1-2 |
9/10 |
3 |
Nil |
243 |
Mauser Tankgewehr M1918
Notes: Also
known as the Mauser 13mm Antitank Rifle and the T-Gewehr, the M1918 was the
first rifle designed for the sole purpose of dealing with armored targets – at
first, the armor plate used in trench fortifications and soon thereafter, the
first tanks. Mauser was inspired by rifles used in big game hunting, but the
M1918 quickly grew larger than any of them. The M1918 was a single-shot bolt
action weapon using the tried-and-true Mauser action; in many ways, the M1918 is
an overgrown Gewehr 98. It uses a 984-millimeter barrel. It has a pistol grip
and a bipod, but had no other means of reducing recoil, and felt recoil is
heavy. It was meant to be fired from a bipod or from inside a trench; hand
firing the M1918 was brutal. The 13mm T-Patrone round the M1918 fired was
originally designed for the projected Maxim MG18 machinegun (which was to be
fielded by Germany in 1919), and was a large, high-velocity cartridge the size
of a short cigar.
After World War
1, the M1918 was tested by the Allied Powers, and Britain kept a number of them
in working order, thinking they might be useful at some point.
The Germans likewise was allowed to keep them in service.
Poland, Sweden and Finland put them in service, though Finland merely
kept them in working order and never used them in combat. The Russians had a
small collection of M1918s they got from Britain and Poland, and in 1939 they
retro-engineered the M1918 to fire 12.7mm Russian ammunition, and small amounts
were hand-produced by the Baumann Institute in Russia and put into service in
1941. These modified M1918s were
later discarded in favor of the PTRS-41 and PTRD-41 antimateriel rifles.
Right or wrong,
some collectors in the US and Europe have rechambered M1918s to fire .50-caliber
ammunition. Yes, 13mm T-Patrone ammunition is rare and expensive, but that’s
criminal…
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
|
Tankgewehr M1918 |
13mm T-Patrone |
18.5 kg |
1 Internal |
$4277 |
Tankgewehr M1918 (Russian) |
12.7mm Russian |
18.5 kg |
1 Internal |
$4701 |
Tankgewehr M1918 (Collector) |
.50 Browning Machinegun |
18.5 kg |
1 Internal |
$4488 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
Tankgewehr M1918 |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
5 |
Nil |
182 |
(Bipod) |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
3 |
Nil |
237 |
Tankgewehr M1918 (Russian) |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
5 |
Nil |
158 |
(Bipod) |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
3 |
Nil |
205 |
Tankgewehr M1918 (.50) |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
5 |
Nil |
169 |
(Bipod) |
SS |
9 |
2-3-4 |
10 |
3 |
Nil |
220 |