By 1917, when Britain and France began to display their "Landschiffe" -- better known today as the "Panzer" -- on the European battlefield, the German army was forced to develop counter-weapons. These tracked armored vehicles were designed to break the stalemate on the Western Front caused by bloody trench warfare in Europe during World War I. A7V Monsters - They also found value in developing portable anti-tank solutions for large-caliber rifle systems. This rifle is specifically designed to penetrate armor with a simple one-shot, then disable key internal components of an enemy vehicle - the crew, engine or other critical vital systems. Mauser's attention to design and development culminated in a new type of firearm that is still in use today and remains as popular as ever - the "Anti-Tank Rifle". Thus, Mauser developed the world's first such weapon system - the Mauser 13.2mm Tank Defense Rifle Mod.
18 (or simply "Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr"). The T-Gewehr would be the only anti-tank rifle in service during World War I.
The T-Rifle is designed to fire the powerful 13.2mm TuF ("Tanks and Flyers"). Jacketed armor-piercing rounds with 525 caliber steel cores, as the name suggests, are designed for armored vehicles (tanks) and/and aircraft (pilots).
The cartridge was actually originally intended for the new water-cooled large-caliber machine gun "MG18" produced by Maxim. However, the war ended before the gun was properly developed and put into service with the German Empire. The gun is a single-shot system that requires the operator to reload the firing chamber after each shot - so each gun is usually assigned a crew of two.
Operation is via a manually operated bolt action system, which is nothing more than an expanded form of the basic Mauser action used in service rifles. Effective range up to 500 yards, aiming is through the rear V-notch and front post, penetrating 20mm of armor thickness up to 100 yards (15mm at 300 yards) on a 90 degree surface. Violent recoil is partly addressed by a heavy-duty spiked bipod unit that can be folded for transport and a heavy-duty shoulder rest that rests firmly on the operator's shoulders. As expected, the T-Rifle is designed to be fired from the prone position for the safety of the user.
Operation of the weapon was no different from that of a bolt-action rifle of the time, with firing action controlled by a traditional pistol grip and a trigger mechanism behind and below the receiver. The length is 1,680mm and the barrel is 983mm. The muzzle velocity is 3,000 feet per second.
Unloaded weight is 35 lbs and listed load weight is 41 lbs including bipod assembly.
At the beginning of 1918, Waffenfabrik Mauser AG delivered about 15,800 T rifles in Oberndorf am Neckar. By May, this rifle type was in service with specially formed Bundeswehr anti-tank groups, and shortly after it entered combat operations.
The T-Gewehr generally performed well in this area, and certainly paved the way for other similar anti-tank systems during the interwar period and during World War II. Since the enemy tank is protected by no more than 12mm of armor at all times (enough to protect it from standard rifle fire), the penetration of the T-Rifle is unmatched.
Despite the heavy weapon system, the rifle proved to be a useful addition to the German Army. Ultimately, however, the German Empire was forced to surrender, and the armistice was officially signed in November 1918officially ending World War I, but in many ways setting the stage for another to come in the 1930s and 1940s .
Today, anti-tank/anti-material rifles are still an increasingly important part of the modern military, with the T-Gewer embodied in designs such as the American Barrett M82/M107 and the Hungarian Cheetah. Despite changes in caliber and technology, these weapons have the same range of action as the original T-Rifle - disabling enemy armor.
For collectors today, the T rifle is a rare find, as the caliber is largely obsolete in most circles, and the rifle itself was produced in limited numbers nearly 100 years ago. Therefore, they tend to share a considerable amount in the auction block.
- anti-tank/anti-material/breakthrough
1,691 mm (66.57 in)
15.90 kg
Backward; previous post.
Single Shot; Bolt Action; Manual Action
8 rounds per minute
1,640 ft (500 m; 547 yd)
M1918 - Name of the basic series.
M1918 (Abridged) - Short form.