PTRS-41
Type Anti-tank rifle
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1941
Used by Soviet Union, North Korea, China
Wars World war II, Korean War, Chinese Civil War
Production history
Designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov
Designed 1941
Produced 1941–1945
Variants General specifications
Specifications
Weight 20.3 kg
Length 2,020 mm
Barrel length 1,219 mm
Crew 2
Cartridge 14.5x114mm
Muzzle velocity 1,012 m/s (3,319 ft/s)
Effective range 400 m
Maximum range 800 m
Feed system 5-round magazine
Design
In the years between the World Wars, the Soviet Union began experimenting with different types of armour-piercing anti-tank cartridges. Finding the 12.7x108mm insufficient, they began development of what would become the 14.5x114mm armor piercing round. Famous Soviet weapons designers such as Vasily Degtyaryov and Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov designed rifles to accommodate this cartridge. In 1938, Simonov designed the PTRS-41, a magazine fed, anti-tank rifle with a scaled down version of it becoming the SKS rifle.
The five round clip was loaded into the receiver and held under pressure by a swing magazine under the receiver. On firing the last round the bolt is held open, and the magazine release catch can only be operated when the bolt is locked back. The PTRS is gas operated. It has a tendency to jam when dirty, and the 14.5 mm cartridge produces significant residue, blocking the gas port. The 14.5 mm armour-piercing bullet had a muzzle velocity of 1012 m/s and good ballistics. It could penetrate an armour plate up to 40 mm thick at a distance of 100 meters.
[edit] History
The rifle entered mass production in 1941 and was widely used on the Eastern front in World War II. While it was heavy and had a terrible muzzle flash, it was a cheap and simple weapon, thus ensuring its place in the Soviet arsenal. It performed well against early German tanks, but was more useful in attacking supply trucks and other soft-skinned vehicles once the armour thickened on the German tanks.
The 14.5 mm antitank rifles were put to a variety of other uses. Besides tanks and armoured vehicles, they were used to destroy mortars, gun, and machine gun emplacements, some ambitious gunners even shot at aircraft.
During World War II, a number of these rifles were captured by the Germans and used by them. The Germans used the designation Panzerbüchse 784(r) or PzB 784(r).
The PTRS and rifles like it were given to the Chinese and North Koreans during the Korean War, where they were used against light tanks and other vehicles as well as serving as long range sniper rifles.
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