Schwere Panzer-Büchse 41

Description

The schwere Panzer-Büchse 41 (heavy anti-tank rifle) was a squeeze-bore anti-tank rifle built by Mauser from September 1940. Its main ammunition was its anti-tank round, which in terms of penetration could fully measure up to most other German anti-tank rounds when production started:

Comparison of anti-tank rounds available on 1 July 1941.
Gun	Shell	Range
Gun	Shell	100 m	500 m	1000 m	1500 m
2 cm Kw K 30 2 cm Kw K 38	2 cm Pzgr.	23 mm	14 mm	-	-
s Pz B 41	2,8 cm Pzgr. 41	60 mm	40 mm	25 mm	-
3,7 cm Kw K 3,7 cm Pak	3,7 cm Pzgr.	34 mm	29 mm	22 mm	20 mm
3,7 cm Kw K 3,7 cm Pak	3,7 cm Pzgr. 40	64 mm	31 mm	-	-
5 cm Kw K (L/42)	5 cm Pzgr. 39	55 mm	47 mm	37 mm	28 mm
5 cm Kw K (L/42)	5 cm Pzgr. 40	94 mm	55 mm	-	-
5 cm Pak 38	5 cm Pzgr. 39	69 mm	59 mm	48 mm	37 mm
5 cm Pak 38	5 cm Pzgr. 40	130 mm	72 mm	38 mm	-
7,5 cm Kw K (L/24) 7,5 cm Stu K (L/24)	K. Gr. rot Pz	41 mm	38 mm	35 mm	32 mm
8,8 cm Flak 18 8,8 cm Flak 36	8,8 cm Pzgr.	97 mm	93 mm	87 mm	80 mm

The effectiveness of the gun was, however, marred by low production numbers (only 178 were available on 1 July 1941), and a weak high-explosive round containing only 5.1 grams of explosives. Furthermore, owing to the weight of the shell, the effective range of the schwere Panzer-Büchse 41 could not compete with the traditional tank and anti-tank guns.

In addition to its use as a stand-alone weapon, the schwere Panzer-Büchse was also mounted on the Sd Kfz 221 armored car and the Sd Kfz 250/11 half-track.

Production

Production Statistics

Month	Inventory	Wa A	Fz In			Losses
Month	Inventory	Wa A	Inventory	New and repaired	Shipped	Combat	Other
1940
July	-	30	N/A	-	N/A	-
August	-	60		-		-
September	80	-		10		-
October	90	-		4		-
November	94	-		-		-
December	94	-		-		-
1941
January	94	-	N/A	-	N/A	-
February	94	10		10		-
March	104	26		26		-
April	130	25		16		-
May	146	56		37		-
June	183	40		-		5
July	178	33		57		3
August	232	10		10		10
September	232	60		18		8
October	242	21		68		9
November	301	-		-		3
December	298	58		58		-
1942
January	356	53	N/A	7	N/A	4
February	359	38		57		44
March	372	34		9		66
April	315	72		3		7
May	311	22		28		24
June	315	120		50		10
July	355	136		160		18
August	497	22		-		19
September	478	92		70		19
October	529	137	27	62	39	-	39
November	552	154	50	197	189	10	79
December	660	149	58	162	161	10	47
1943
January	765	225	59	99	63	13	-
February	851	200	95	70	93	45	-
March	876	200	72	205	220	9	71
April	705	200	57	233	37	3	-
May	935	156	253	146	83	54	-
June	1 027	158	316	92	282	2	-
July	1 117	137	126	122	80	50	9
August	1 180	-	168	203	58	71	23
September	1 289	48	313	202	67	22	17
October	1 452	-	448	50	8	24	-
November	1 478	N/A	490	No further reports
Total	-	2 782	-	2 541	1 380	562	285

Production Costs

	Gun	Per 1000 rounds
	Gun	28 mm Pzgr. Patr. 41	28 mm Pzgr. Patr. 41 Üb	28 mm Platzpatr. 41	28 mm Sprgr. Patr.
Price (Reichmark)	4500	5300 (turned case) 5050 (stamped case)	4650	3400	-
Iron	322 kg	370 kg	454.3 kg	425.5 kg	0 kg
Molybdenum	0.015 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Chromium	2.480 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Tungsten	0 kg	56 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Magnesium	12.800 kg	16.8 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Tin	0.010 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Copper	0.605 kg	290 kg	291.2 kg	270.9 kg	340.2 kg
Aluminum	10.600 kg	0.6 kg	0.6 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Lead	0.020 kg	0 kg	0.33 kg	0 kg	0 kg
Zinc	0.355 kg	170.2 kg	170.2 kg	0 kg	170.2 kg
Nickel	0.159 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg	0 kg

Technical Information

Schwere Panzer-Büchse 41
Gun
Caliber	28/20 mm
Weight, combat ready	137 kg
Weight, with transport carriage	147 kg
Length	2.5 m
Barrel length	1.7 m
Barrel length in calibers	89.3 m
Width	0.75 m
Firing height	On wheel carriage: 0.72 m Without carriage: 0.5 m
Range (effective)	500 m
Rate of fire, effective	10 rounds per minute
Barrel life	500 rounds
Mount
Maximum elevation	25°
Minimum depression	-15°
Traverse	360°

Armor Penetration

Round	Shot type	Weight (shot)	Muzzle velocity	Range
Round	Shot type	Weight (shot)	Muzzle velocity	100 m	500 m	1000 m
2,8 cm Pzgr. 41	APCNR	121 g	1400 m/s	60 mm	40 mm	25 mm

Sources

Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres (Waffen und Geräte) : Stand: 1.2.41. Berlin, 1941. 86 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab IIc (Rüst) Nr. 300/41 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R164.
Munitionsstatistik Stand: 1. September 1942. Berlin : WaA/WaIRü 3/Stab Ib, 1942. 116 p. NARA T78 R176.
Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres - Waffen- u. Gerätegebiet : Stand: 1.12.1942. Berlin, 1942. 124 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIIc Nr. 3100/42 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R166.
Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres (Waffen und Gerät) : Stand: 1.2.1942. Berlin, 1942. 91 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIc Nr. 300/42 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R165.
Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres (Waffen und Geräte) : Stand: 1.11.1943. Berlin, 1943. 233 p. NARA T78 R167.
PAWLAS, Karl R. Waffen-Revue W 127 - Datenblätter für Heeres-Waffen, -Fahrzeuge und Gerät. Nurnberg : Publizistisches Archiv für Militär- und Waffenwessen, 1976. 248 p. ISBN 3-88088-213-4.
von Wedelstaedt. Zusammenstellung der Explosivstoffgewichte für deutsche Munition (zu H. Dv. 450 Rdnr. 46). Berlin : WaA, 1944. 39 p. Merkblatt geheim 28/1.