PTRD-41

• Name — PTRD-41 • Origin — Soviet Union • Type — Anti-tank rifle • Is Ranged — yes • Service — 1941– mid-1950s (Soviet Union) • Used By — See Users • Wars — World War II Korean War Chinese Civil War Vietnam War Syrian Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War • Designer — Vasily Degtyaryov • Design Date — 1941 • Manufacturer — Degtyaryov plant • Production Date — 1941–1944 • Number — 293,164 • Weight — 16 kg • Length — 2,020 mm • Part Length — 1,350 mm • Crew — 2 • Cartridge — 14.5×114mm (B-32, BS-41) • Action — Bolt-action, short recoil • Rate — up to 8-10 rounds per minute • Velocity — 1,012 m/s • Range — 300 m (on personnel targets, dispersion of bullets at 300 m is 0.36 m) • Max Range — 1000 m (mainly with scope) • Feed — Single-shot • Sights — Front post, rear notch

• Illustration — Soviet soldiers with PTRD-41 defending Moscow, 1942. Developed soon after the outbreak of the war with Germany in July-August 1941 and put into production on the 22nd of September on the Kovrov Arms Factory, PTRD utilized the cartridge that was initially developed for the Rukavishnikov anti-tank rifle. The 14.5 mm armor-piercing bullet had a muzzle velocity of 1012 m/s. The 64 g bullet had a 39 g steel core and could penetrate around 30 mm of armor at 500 m, and 40 mm of armor at 100 m. During the initial invasion, and indeed throughout the war, most German tanks had side armor thinner than 40 mm (Panzer I and Panzer II: 13-20 mm, Panzer III and Panzer IV series: 30 mm, Panzer V Panther (combat debut mid-1943): 40-50 mm). The same ammunition came to be used by the later semi-automatic PTRS-41. Guns captured by the Germans were given the designation 14.5 mm PzB 783(r). After World War II the PTRD was also used extensively by North Korean and Chinese armed forces in the Korean War. During this war, William Brophy, a US Army Ordnance officer, mounted a.50 BMG (12.7 mm) barrel to a captured PTRD to examine the effectiveness of long-range shooting. Furthermore, the US also captured a number of PTRDs in the Vietnam War. The weapon proved effective out to 1800 m.

PTRD is a single-shot bolt-action rifle, but with automatic opening of the bolt and extraction caused by the short recoil of the barrel akin to the German PzB 38, which was likely examined by Degtyaryov very early in the design process (as described in his postwar memoirs). Its bolt and cock-on-close firing mechanism show similarities to the Japanese Type 30 rifle, which was exported to the Russian Empire during WW1.

• Illustration — PTRD-41 in service with the Ukrainian National Guard in 2014 •: Limited use in the Syrian civil war • Donetsk People's Republic: Used by militiamen in 2014. •: Limited use in the war in Donbas

• Illustration — Anti-tank riflemen with PTRD on the Kursk salient. • People's Socialist Republic of Albania: Used as late as 1960 • People's Republic of Bulgaria: Equipped with 300 items (both PTRD & PTRS) by Soviet Union between 1944 and 1945, seen in combat operations. • China: Used by Communist rebels in the Chinese Civil War, later by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War. • Czechoslovak Socialist Republic: Used by 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the USSR. • Hungarian People's Republic: Used as late as 1960 • Nazi Germany: Captured and used by Wehrmacht under the title Panzerbüchse 783(r). • North Korea: Equipped by the USSR, saw extensive combat in Korean War against M24 light tanks. • Polish People's Republic: Used by 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division in 1943 then by other Polish divisions. • Socialist Republic of Romania: Used as late as 1960 • North Vietnam: In stockpile, used by Viet Cong in Vietnam War. • USSR: Largely used in Eastern Front by the Red Army.