PTRS-41
The PTRS-41 is the semi-automatic cousin of the PTRD anti-tank rifle.
Design[]
The PTRS-41 was first produced and used by the Soviet Union during World War II. In the years between the World Wars, the Soviet Union began experimenting with different types of armor-piercing anti-tank cartridges. Finding the 12.7x108mm insufficient, they began development of what would become the 14.5x114mm armor piercing round. Famous USSR weapons designers such as Vasily Degtyarov and Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov designed rifles to accomodate this cartridge. In 1938, Simonov designed the PTRS-41. The five round magazine was loaded in to the receiver and held under pressure by a swing magazine underneath. On firing the last round, the bolt is held open and the magazine release catch can only be operated when the bolt is locked back. The gas-operated PTRS has a tendency to jam when dirty, and the 14.5mm cartridge produces significant residue, blocking the gas port. The 14.5mm armor-piercing bullet has a muzzle velocity of 1013 m/s and devastating ballistics. It can penetrate an armor plate up to 40mm thick at a distance of 100 meters.
In 1843 Simoniv used a scaled down PTRS-41 design for the SKS-45, that would accommodate the new 1943 designed M/43 7.62x39mm cartridge.
History[]
Designed in 1938 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, the PTRS-41 is a semi-automatic anti-tank rifle that was used along the Eastern Front in World War II and then used again in the Korean War and Chinese Civil War by various factions. Along with his partner Vasily Degtyaryov, Simonov helped the Soviet Union develop new weapons between the World Wars. During this time, Degyaryov would go on to create the PTRD-41, while Simonov would create and design its cousin rifle, the PTRS-41. As one of Simonov's creations, the PTRS-41 would sometimes be known simply as the "Simonov" on the battlefield. Although more advanced, the PTRS was harder to use and less reliable than the cheaper PTRD while yielding similar performance, so the PTRD was used more.
PTRS-41 during World War II.
Vasily Zaytsev used a PTRS-41 to attack machinegun nests, during the Battle of Stalingrad, where sandbag walls stopped standard rifle 7.62x54R bullets. The armor piercing bullets could easily penetrate the sandbag walls. However, Zaytsev found the mass produced bullets to be not consistent enough for precision shooting.