8 cm anti-tank launcher 600
| 8 cm anti-tank launcher 600 | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 8 cm anti-tank launcher 600 |
| Manufacturer country: | German Empire |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Rheinmetall, R. Wolf |
| Development year: | 1943 to 1944 |
| Production time: | 1944 to 1945 |
| Number of pieces: | 260 |
| Team: | six soldiers |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 2.941 m |
| Caliber : |
8.14 cm |
| Elevation range: | –6 ° to + 32 ° angular degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 55 ° |
The 8 cm anti-tank launcher 600 was an anti-tank weapon used by the Wehrmacht during World War II .
Development and production
The anti-tank launcher was developed by Rheinmetall in Düsseldorf from 1943 and built by the R. Wolf company in Magdeburg . Due to the late development time, only 260 units were completed and introduced into the army by the end of the war.
description
The gun worked according to a new high-low pressure system, which made a light construction possible. It is based on accommodating the propellant charge in a particularly thick-walled chamber inside the grenade cartridge , where it can burn efficiently under high pressure after ignition. After breaking the predetermined breaking points, the powder gases flow out of this chamber through a number of narrow channels. Their pressure is reduced significantly to around 200 bar , but remains at this level for a long time due to the delayed outflow. They drive the grenade out of the barrel. The relatively low and constant pressure curve outside the cartridge chamber reduces the load that the grenade and weapon have to withstand.
As a result, the grenade launcher itself, like the rest of the cartridge, can be built relatively lightly, and the recoil remains controllable. However, the effective range against moving targets was limited by the muzzle velocity, which is unusually low for anti-tank purposes.
ammunition
There was a shaped charge grenade (HL Gr) with a bullet weight of 2.7 kilograms for fighting armored targets and a high-explosive grenade with a bullet weight of 4.46 kilograms for so-called soft targets. The projectiles were fin stabilized. At 750 meters, vertical armor plates could penetrate 140 millimeters of armor. The scatter at this distance was within a square with an edge length of 1 meter.
commitment
The anti-tank launcher was to become the main weapon of the infantry tank destroyer companies and at the same time to replace the infantry gun. The gun was still being field tested when the war ended.
literature
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939-1945. Special edition. 2nd Edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 ( Motorbuch-Verlag special ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Ian V. Hogg : German Artillery of World War Two , Greenhill Books, London, 1975, 1997.