2 very rare photos, Solothurn S-18-100 in german use in the Eastern front. Very few rifles of the type were employed by german infantry.
Some nice pics there, I just got a copy of Hoffschmidt’s book “Know your anti-tank rifles” it has some pics of the different Solothurn models, and most all of the other rifles made or used . The pics, and tables are nice, but the text may contain some errors.
Put some text and we will see.
Well, I dont want to create some myth, but honestly this topic has been robbed and robbed, just put “solothurn s-18” in google images and youll see hundreds of pictures/information in several forum/sites extracted from here.
Not to mention the topic in spanih I ve created in 2005, now suddenly there is antitank rifles experts in all the spansih language world, give me a break.
Hi Tankgeezer. I’m interested in photos of the Solothurn, as used by the Dutch and the Italians. Are there are any good shots in this book of the weapon being crewed by soldiers from these nations?
I had a look Ardee, nothing showing field use of the different Solothurns, only proving ground/training pics,manned by Swiss soldiers.
Hi Tankgeezer. I’m interested in photos of the Solothurn, as used by the Dutch and the Italians. Are there are any good shots in this book of the weapon being crewed by soldiers from these nations
Incidentally there are some pictures of italian used solothurns in the Italian tanks and Italian artillery, both in the other military section.
And talking about the swiss they got a massive 24mm rifle in service for antitank purposes, quite a monster.
Excellent, note that weird muzzle brake, needed as the air and bread but I guess the noise and muzzle blast was horrendous with that device.
The 24mm round was something, tho it didnt look like much by itself, when placed next to other contemporary A.T. rifle ammo, it does stand out. the image is from member Tony’s book rapide fire, The 24mm is at far right, the round for the Lahti, and Solothurn is 4th from right. And, for those who noticed the rather large 20 mm cartridge 20x180R, that is for the Carl Gustav recoiless A.T. rifle.
Quite interesting, do you got more photos of the swiss beast?
I’ll have to take a look and see if there are more, I do have a link to a clip of the Carl Gustav rifle tho, look here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx7AfAyEies
alrighty, I found one additional pic, probably from the same source. this is the field transport for the TB41… (try to think of Benny Hill with his “chase music”)
Definately looks heavy for a single biker.
That was recoiless but definately not blastless. Thanks for the vid and pic.
I will agree, especially in the mud, it would be a nightmare to pull behind a bike.
Thanks for looking!
Incidentally there are some pictures of italian used solothurns in the Italian tanks and Italian artillery, both in the other military section.
Yeah, I’ve seen them. What I’m trying to find is an uncropped image of it as an infantry ground weapon (vs mounted on vehicles such as the Sahariana), and the soldiers in more-or-less standard Continental (vs. N. African) uniforms. I have a good photo of some RSI Bersaglieri, but that’s as close as I’ve come so far…anyway, as I said, thanks for looking…
Okay I see, if I find something like that I will post.
Thanks, Panzerknacker. Nice photo of a KNIL trooper. Too bad the image is cropped…
R
I bet using a motorcycle with a side car the Swiss 24mm would have been interesting. The side car passenger would have been the assistant gunner and a quantity of ammo could have been carried. Note that some motorcycles and side cars were tracked to be more mud capable.
Wonder what the penetration was for the 24mm? Is there any place that shows the MV and ballistics of this round?
Deaf
The only book I ve seen this swiss gun mentiones in “Rapid fire” by Tony Williams and he didnt gave penetration figures.
My stimate in about 10 % more than the solothurn 20x138mm guns, probably was around 40 to 42 mm at 150 meters.
Thanks, Panzerknacker. Nice photo of a KNIL trooper. Too bad the image is cropped…
Oh…you cant have it all.
I found this, it doesnt have alot of info, or show the TB 41 firing, but it will give some sense of the ponderous size and heft of the gun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa2Q2Vvbxs8