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Panzerbüchse 38 / 39
The Panzerbüchse 39 (PzB 39) (German: "tank hunting rifle model 39") is a German anti-tank rifle used during World War II that is an improvement of the earlier PzB 38. It is a single-shot, manually loaded weapon that uses a falling-block action. To increase the rate of fire, a box containing spare cartridges could be mounted on the rifle's side. This is not a feeding device, but instead simply put spare ammunition within easy reach of the operator. Its cartridge is the propriety 7.92x94mm round, based on the common 7.92x57mm Mauser round, but with a much longer 94mm casing. It was first produced in 1939 and saw action during the Invasion of Poland and the opening phases of the war against the Soviet Union. The rifle was phased out by 1944; by that time, developments in tank armor systems rendered most anti-tank rifles ineffective against all but the lightest armored vehicles.
In August 1941 the production of a direct copy of PzB 39 and its ammunition was started in USSR in Tula as a stop-gap solution. In two months (August-September), only 144 were manufactured, and then this weapon was abandoned in favor of 14.5 mm AT rifles.
In 1942-1944 a number of PzB 39 rifles were converted into Granatbüchse Modell 39 (GrB 39) anti-tank grenade launchers by shortening the barrel to nearly half, from 1,085 to 590 mm, and fitting the Schiessbecher rifle grenade launcher. Three types of grenades were used: an anti-personnel Gewehr-Sprenggranate and two anti-tank, light Gewehr-Panzergranate and heavy Gross Gewehr-Panzergranate.
Specifications
- Produced: 1939-1942
- Calibre: 7.92x94 mm (Patrone 318)
- Action: Falling-block
- Length: 1,620 mm (63.8 in)
- Barrel length: 1,085 mm (42.7 in)
- Weight: 11.6 kg (25.57 lb)
- Muzzle velocity : 1265 m/s
- Effective range: 300 m (330 yd) (for penetration of 20 mm armor)
- Feed system: Single shot, no magazine
The PzB-39 (Panzerbüchse 39) German anti-tank rifle appears in the following:
Films
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| We Will Come Back (Sekretar raykoma) | Soviet partisans | 1942 | ||
| Invincible (Nepobedimye) | German soldiers | 1943 | ||
| Zigmund Kolosovskiy | Seen among Polish partisans weapons | 1946 | ||
| Soldiers (Soldaty) | 1956 | |||
| How I Unleashed World War II | German soldiers | 1970 | ||
| Poem of Kovpak: Snow-Storm (Duma o Kovpake: Buran) | Soviet partisans | 1975 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World War II Online: Battleground Europe | 2001-2011 | |||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | "PzB39" | 2007 | ||
| Battlefield Heroes | Cartoonified | Level 10 sniper rifle | 2009 | |
| Deadfall Adventures | Pzb.38 Anti-Tank | Has Granatbüchse 39 sights | 2013 | |
| Post Scriptum | Introduced with Plane Jaune update | 2018 | ||
| Battlefield V | Panzerbüchse 39 | Introduced in Chapter 4 update (June 2019) | 2018 | |
| Heroes & Generals | Panzerbüchse-39 | 2019 |