The need of a high-angle weapon to fill the gap between the hand grenade
and the small infantry mortar has revived the rifle grenade. In World War I, both
the British and French developed rifle grenades; the British had a weapon mounted
on a rod thrust down the rifle barrel and propelled by a blank cartridge; the French
grenade was the "VB" of the American Expeditionary Forces. This grenade was
a steel container, about the size and shape of an ordinary can of condensed milk,
but pierced longitudinally with a dough-nut-like hole. When fired from a pint-size
steel launcher called a "tromblon" which was fastened to the muzzle by a bayonet
clip, the bullet of an ordinary ball cartridge passed through the hole in the grenade,
arming it in passage, and the gases following the bullet hurled it, tumbling end
over end, about 200 yards. The blast of the pound-and-a-half grenade was devastating,
and a very fair measure of accuracy was obtainable with practice.
The Germans have two types of rifle grenade launchers -- one, a spigot-type
launcher, similar to our own, and one, a cup-type launcher, of an entirely
different sort. The cup-type launcher will fire three projectiles -- an antipersonnel
grenade, a light AP, and a heavy AP, both containing hollow-charges. The heavy
grenade under favorable conditions will penetrate about two inches of armor, making
it a rather effective antitank weapon at close quarters. Complete data is still
lacking on the spigot hollow-charge grenade, but it would appear to be a powerful projectile.
* * *
PART I
a. Rifle Discharger, Cup Type (Schiessbecher)
(1) The discharger (figure 1) is made of steel, and consists of a rifled
barrel which screws into a holder fitted with a clamp for attaching to the rifle
barrel. There are no gas ports, and varying ranges are obtained by altering the
elevation of the rifle with the aid of a sighting attachment. With practice, however,
the discharger can be used effectively without the sight.
(2) Ammunition
Three types of grenade (figures 2-4) are fired, two of which in different
sizes are armor-piercing and the third is antipersonnel with provision for
throwing as a hand grenade.
(a) Small AP Grenade (Gewehr Panzergranate G. Pz Gr)
This grenade (figure 2) incorporates the hollow charge principle, with a
shaped cavity formed at the forward end of the HE filling with the result that, on
impact, a jet of blast is concentrated in a forward direction. It follows, therefore,
that the penetration of armor is equal at all ranges, since it depends on this jet
and not on the striking velocity of the projectile. The difficulty of hitting the target,
however, restricts the use of this grenade to ranges up to 100 yards. It is likely
to be effective only against lightly armored targets.
The body is made in two parts -- a forward portion of steel containing the
bursting charge and hollow-charge cone, closed by a light metal cap, and a rear
portion of light aluminum alloy containing the fuze and detonator system. An
exterior-rifled driving band is placed 6-mm (.236 in) from the rear end of the
grenade. Other details are as follows:
Total weight |
. . . . . |
8.8 oz |
Overall length |
. . . . . |
6.4 in |
Weight of filling |
. . . . . |
1.75 oz |
(b) Large AP Grenade (Gr. G. Pz Gr -- Gross Gewehr
Panzergrenate -- Large-weapon Panzer Grenade)
This grenade (figure 3) is constructed on similar general lines to the above,
except that the front portion is enlarged and contains a greater bursting charge.
The total weight of the grenade is approximately 12 3/4 ounces; the weight of the
bursting charge 4 1/4 ounces. This grenade and the small AP grenade both should
be handled with great care, as they arm very easily. Both of these grenades are fired
by the German antitank rifle when especially modified for their use.
(c) Antipersonnel Rifle or Hand Grenade (G. Spgr Gewehr -- Sprenggranate)
The cylindrical steel body of the grenade contains the HE filling and detonator.
It is screw-threaded at the nose to take the fuze-body and at the base to take the
rifled base-attachment. When fired from the discharger, the grenade functions on
impact, or after 11 seconds, by means of a self-destroying system should the fuze
fail to function. When thrown by hand, the base-attachment is unscrewed and removed,
giving access to a cord attached to a friction igniter. Immediately before throwing,
the cord is pulled and the grenade detonates after 4 1/2 seconds delay. Other
details are as follows: --
Overall length |
. . . . . |
5.5 in |
Weight fuzed |
. . . . . |
9 oz |
Weight of filling |
. . . . . |
1.1 oz |
Maximum range |
. . . . . |
250 yds |
(d) Propelling Cartridge
In the case of the small AP grenade and the antipersonnel grenade, the
propelling charge is a standard 7.92-mm steel cartridge case closed at the mouth
by crimping. For the large AP grenade the cartridge is provided with a wooden
bullet. The grenades are packed singly in cartons with their appropriate cartridges.
(e) The sight (figure 5) is in two parts; a fixed portion consisting of a
carrier-plate and clamping band, and a moveable portion comprising a sight arm
with rearsight, frontsight, and bubble level, and a range arc. The range arc has
two scales; the upper, for low-angle fire, is graduated from 0 to 250 meters, and
the lower, for high angle fire, from 50 to 250 meters (1 meter=1.1 yards approx).
The sight is attached to the left side of the rifle by means of the clamping
band, immediately to the rear of the rifle rearsight. The data on the range scale
apply only to the antipersonnel grenade. For the two AP grenades the following
corrections should be made: --
Small AP grenade
75 meter graduation corresponds to 100 meters (109 yards) required range.
50 meter graduation corresponds to 65 meters (75 yards) required range.
Large AP grenade
125 meter graduation corresponds to 100 meters (109 yards) required range.
100 meter graduation corresponds to 75 meters (82 yards) required range.
75 meter graduation corresponds to 50 meters (55 yards) required range.
PART II
a. Rifle Discharger, Spigot Type
(1) Discharger
The discharger consists of a hollow tubular spigot (see figures 6 - 7) of
about one inch diameter terminating in a part resembling the hilt of a bayonet. Over
this spigot fits the hollow tail-piece of the grenade. It is fitted to the rifle, in the
same manner as a bayonet, over the bayonet standard and foresight block, and is
locked in position by a spring-loaded bolt. On firing the propelling cartridge, the
gasses pass out of the barrel of the rifle, through the spigot, and into the hollow
tail-piece to propel the grenade.
(2) Sights
(a) A swing-over blade front sight is fitted to the left side of the base of
the spigot.
(b) A rear sight attachment is fitted to the left side of the rifle by means
of a metal strap and thumbscrew. The body, which is movably attached to the
metal strap by means of a carrier-plate, is in the form of a metal box about five
inches in length, on the forward end of which a V is formed. The other end, facing
the firer when the sight is assembled to the rifle, is inscribed with a range-scale
graduated from 25-100 meters in steps of 25 meters. To give the desired range,
the body is rotated and the appropriate graduation brought opposite a pointer on
the carrier plate. The body is then held in position by a ball and spring detent.
(c) Ammunition
Only one type of ammunition has been identified to date. This is a hollow
charge antitank grenade with a tubular tail which fits over the spigot of the
discharger, see figure 7. The grenade is grey-green in color. The head is bell-shaped
and contains the explosive filling, which is hollowed out to a depth of .79 inch
and contained by a concave aluminum diaphragm. The head is closed by a
slightly convex metal cap.
The fuze body, which is cylindrical, screws into the base of the head. On
firing, pressure acts on a cutting pin, the base of which is flush with the base of
the fuze. This shears a safety pin which is ejected by a spring. The firing pin
can then set forward on impact into the detonator. The tail screws into the base
of the fuze. It is tubular and has six tail fins near the base. The grenade is
propelled by means of a wooden-bullet blank cartridge. Until needed, this cartridge
is carried in the tail tube of the grenade which is closed by a rubber plug.