PzB 39

Panzerbüchse 39 (German: "tank hunting rifle model 39") was a portable, lightweight anti-tank rifle that served the Third Reich during the Second World War. Development of infantry anti-armor weaponry started during the First World War after the first "Tanks" appeared on the battlefield, with the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr achieving moderate success against the newly invented British armor fighting vehicles. However following the loss of the war and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany halted further development into anti-armor weapons. This was until the Nazi Party came to power in the 1930s, when development of anti-armor weaponry resumed. Dipl.-Ing. (certified engineer) B. Brauer at Gustloff Werke in Suhl designed the PzB38, predecessor of PzB39. The PzB39 is a falling-block action single shot rifle chambered for the 7.92x94mm Patronen cartridge, able to propel the bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1210 m/s, covering an effective range of 300 metres. Featuring the same designs and operated in the same way as it's predecessor PzB38, the recoiling barrel exposes the breech, ejecting empty shells after each shot. The breech block was then arrested in the rear position, remaining opened for the operator to insert a new cartridge. PzB39's performance was more or less the same as the 38. A few differences would distinguish PzB39 from a PzB38 model, such as increased barrel length, reduced total mass and two cases containing 10 rounds each added near the weapon's breech. Note that these are not feeding magazines, they merely serves to improve practical rate of fires, operation of the rifle is still single shot breech reload. A few PzB39 units were produced at the beginning of the war and saw action during the invasion of Poland. Following this, a large quantity of PzB39s were produced before the invasion of the USSR, though production would cease on November 1941 with 39,232 units produced. PzB39 served until 1944, finding itself struggling to penetrate the heavier armored Soviet tanks and replaced by cheaper and better alternatives such as the Panzerfaust and the Panzerschreck.