The Soviet PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle,At the beginning of World War II the Soviet Union lacked one weap

The Soviet PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle,At the beginning of World War II the Soviet Union lacked one weapon that almost everyone had, a good anti-tank rifle.  Being obvious that the war with Germany would involve a great deal of tank warfare, the Soviet Union scrambled to put together a simple yet effective anti-tank weapon.  In 1941 the PTRD-41 was introduced.  Designed by Vasily Degtyaryov, the PTRD-41 was in part based on other Polish and German designs.  It was a single shot bolt action that fired 14.5X114mm round with a maximum range of around 10,000 meters.  Technically its effective range was around 3,000 meters, however to knockout most tanks it need to be within 100 meters or less.  Sometimes, the PTRD-41 needed to be within point blank range in order to effective.As the war raged on, anti-tank rifle became ineffective as tank armor evolved to be thicker and able to stop larger and larger rounds.  During the war, Soviet gunners were trained to only fire at the sides and rear of tanks.  When side and rear armor became even thicker, they were then trained to aim for weak points such as portholes.  However the crude sight and lack of telescopic sights made such shooting exceedingly difficult.  One effective strategy was developed in the urban fighting of battles such as Stalingrad and Leningrad.  Anti-tank rifle crews would position themselves at the top of buildings, high enough that German tank guns could not elevate sufficiently to return fire.  From their high vantage point, they could then fire on the top of the tanks, where the armor was thin enough for the PTRD’s 14.5mm round to penetrateRegardless of tactics, the PTRD-41 was obsolete by mid war, and was relegated to anti-material use and use against lightly armored vehicles such as armored cars, half tracks, and trucks.  Production continued up to 1950, and many were used in the Chinese Civil War and Korean War. Today, a number have been noted being used by militia forces in the current conflict in Ukraine.  -- source link

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