Antitank Rifles.

[von Poop]

This chap collects and shoots WW1&2 AT Rifles... in the UK!
Good site:
Antitank

Cheers,
Adam.

[kfz]

Good little find VP. I stil doubt you could hit a tank never mind a visiowith the Russian PTRS. The sightsa look like Dimitri knocked them up after vodka Rashion out of some old gas pipe.

Kev

[Warlord]

What good was the Boys, anyway? Did it ever knock out a can, beyond italian CV33 tankettes?

[Philip,ABRG]

Was the Boy not used with good effect in France in 1940, I know that Dutch army had some in 1940

[Bodston]

Lets hear it for 'Charlie the bastard'.
We should not forget just how rapidly armoured tecnology advanced during the war years. When designed the Boys AT rifle could penetrate most enemy armour at decent ranges. A well aimed shot could still be useful later in the conflict too.
Given the choice of a Boys in 1940 or a PIAT in 1944 I know what I would choose.

[kfz]

Originally Posted by Philip,ABRG

Was the Boy not used with good effect in France in 1940, I know that Dutch army had some in 1940

What Bod says..

20 years before the anti tak rifle was probably the best defence against tanks, full stop. 20 years is nothing, we still have fornt line aircraft 20 years old, never mind rifles. Not surprising that in WW2 they stil thought the rifle was relevent.

[von Poop]

I like that thought about the longevity of weapons systems kev, worth bearing in mind when looking at the obsolescence of a given device. Though the sheer scale & 'total war' nature of WW2 created a hothouse atmosphere in terms of technological progress there were still often roles to be found for weapons that were superceded in their primary role. Just thinking of red Army soldiers sniping with PTRS/Ds.
Don't often see the Boys in late war pictures though, I suppose as the Soviets never seem to have developed the man-portable rocket weapons like the panzerfaust & Bazooka they'd be less likely to put the next best thing aside.