By Christian Ankerstjerne - Last modified 2023-05-13
Reticle Functionality
Projectile drop
Due to Earth's gravity, a shell fired from a gun will fall towards the ground. This fall mainly depends on the shell's flight time. As a result, the further away the target is and the slower velocity of the shell, the more the shell will fall towards the ground. This is also called drop.
Illustration of shell drop-off over range (not to scale).
Direct-fire weapons, such as tank and anti-tank guns, will usually have a relatively high shell velocity. This is especially true for traditional anti-tank ammunition, which use kinetic energy to penetrate the armor of their target. This makes their shell drop relatively small. At the same time, however, their targets are also relatively small and are frequently moving at considerable speed. This means that even small differences in range will have a significant impact.
In addition to traditional anti-tank ammunition, tank and anti-tank guns would frequently use high explosive shells against unarmored targets. During the Second World War, high-explosive, anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition was also introduced. These ammunition types do not depend on the shell's velocity for their effect. In fact, they will often work better at lower velocities, which caused some issues for German anti-tank gunners with the introduction of HEAT ammunition.
For these reasons, accurate range estimation was very important to hit the target. To achieve this, gun sights were designed to make it easier to estimate the target range.
Strich (mil) measurements
The German army during the Second World War used the mil (in German, Strich) system also used by NATO today. This allowed the gunner to quickly make mental calculations to estimate target ranges and sizes.
In this system, an imaginary circle with the gun at its center is divided into 6400 sections called a Strich or mil. With this system, one mil is equal to approximately one meter at a range of one kilometer, approximately two meters at two kilometers, etc.1
Using this system gives the following equation:
As long as two of the three values are known, the third can be calculated. The most frequently required value was the distance, which can be calculated as:
To use an example, if a tank is known to be 6.7 meters wide and is measured to be 12 mils wide, the distance is approximately 6.7 × 1000 / 12 ≈ 558 meters. This method of course required the gunner to have an approximate knowledge of the actual size of potential targets, such as tanks, trucks, and cars, so that they could be compared to the size in mils.
Is should be noted that this is an approximation. A more accurate width of a mil at one kilometer is 0.982 meters. This is because a circle with a radius of one kilometer has a diameter of 2 × 1000 × π ≈ 6283 meters, and 6400 / 6283 ≈ 0.982. Because the calculations were done mentally, one mil = one meter is more intuitive and 6400 can more easily be divided. At the same time, because these calculations were mental approximations, a margin of less than two percent in an approximation did not significantly affect the result.
German reticle design
Range estimation
German reticles were designed to aid gunners estimate the width of their target in mils. Most reticles had a number of triangles that had specific mil sizes, which could be used to estimate the width and height of the target.
Example of reticle with mils measurements. The large triangle is the main spike (Hauptstachel) and six smaller triangles are sub-spikes (Nebenstachel). Some reticles also had subdividing strokes (Zwischenstrich) between the spikes. The specific measurements were different on different gun sights.23
Example of measuring the distance to a target: The target is known to be 6.7 meters wide, and in the gun sight the target is eight mils wide. The distance is therefore approximately 6.7 × 1000 / 8 ≈ 837 meters.
Adjusting for target speed
If the target was moving, the gunner further had to give lead to take the target's velocity into account. To aid the gunner, each gun's manual came with information specifying the amount of lead to be given for each type of ammunition. If the angle of the target's movement was not perpendicular to the direction of the gun, the manual might also include information on how to further adjust the lead.4
Aiming
When the range had been estimated, the gunner would adjust the range of the gun and aim using the top of the main spike. The range setting was usually done in intervals and was set to the first setting greater than the estimated range. To further aid the gunner, some reticles had a range around the edge of the reticle with a moving marker, which would indicate directly the current range setting of the gun. This allowed the gunner to set the range dial while tracking the target.56
First and second version of the reticle of the Selbstfahrlafette-Zielfernrohr 1. On the first variant the distance between the point of each spike was four mils. On the second variant the distance between each spike was eight mils.21
A modified version of the Turmzielfernrohr 5 a, the Turmzielfernrohr 5 a vorl. 5 cm, was used for Pz Kpfw III Ausf. E through Pz Kpfw III Ausf. G that had been up-gunned to the 5 cm Kw K.29
The Turmzielfernrohr 9 d had two settings, allowing for a lower magnification but a wider field of view, or a higher magnification with a narrower field of view.39
The Turmzielfernrohr 12 a had two settings, allowing for a lower magnification but a wider field of view, or a higher magnification with a narrower field of view.43
The Zielfernrohr 3 × 8° was a general anti-tank gun sight and could be used with multiple aiming devices. When used with the 7,5 cm Pak 40, two different aiming devices were available: The Pak-Zieleinrichtung 38 had a mechanical lead control and an optical indicator of ±10 mils, while the Pak-Zieleinrichtung 38A did not have a mechanical lead control and had an optical indicator of ±24 mils.
Reticle images of Zielfernrohr 3 × 8° and Zielfernrohr 3 × 8°/II. On the first variant the distance between the point of each spike was ten mils. On the second variant the distance between each spike was eight mils.52
Panther Ausf. A, D und G und Befehls-Panther Ausf. A, D und G : Gerätbeschreibung und Bedienungsanweisung zum Turm. Back
Neumann. 7,5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 42 : Beschreibung. Back
Panther Ausf. A, D und G und Befehls-Panther Ausf. A, D und G : Gerätbeschreibung und Bedienungsanweisung zum Turm. Back
Panther Ausf. A, D und G und Befehls-Panther Ausf. A, D und G : Gerätbeschreibung und Bedienungsanweisung zum Turm. Back
Neumann. 7,5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 42 : Beschreibung. Back
Koch. Panzerkampfwagen 38 (t) : Optische Ausrüstung. Back
Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Panzertruppe (A. V. Pz.) Heft 5a : Ausbildung an der 7,5-cm-Panzerjägerkanone 40 (mot. Z.) (7,5 cm Pak 40) (mot. Z.). Back
Wöhlermann. 12,8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 80 : Beschribung. Back
Bedienungs- und Schießanleitung für die 8,8 cm Pak 43 (Kreuzlafette). Back
Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Panzertruppe (A. V. Pz.) Heft 5a : Ausbildung an der 7,5-cm-Panzerjägerkanone 40 (mot. Z.) (7,5 cm Pak 40) (mot. Z.). Back
8,8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 43/1 (L/71) : Vorläufige Beschreibung Bedienungs- und Behandlungsanleitung. Back
Wöhlermann. 8,8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 43/1 (L/71) : Beschreibung. Back
Bedienungs- und Schießanleitung für die 8,8 cm Pak 43 (Kreuzlafette). Back
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