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Description
This weapon was
the first "throwaway" recoilless weapon, as it was
cheaper to simply produce a new one rather than
return them to the factory for reloading. The weapon
was a simple metal pipe with a simple spring hammer
to ignite the charge; this was cocked by raising the
rear sight. The top of the massive bomb had a simple
sighting post that lined up with the rear sight to
facilitate aiming: when the gunner had his
target he depressed the slot trigger, releasing the
spring that struck the percussion cap in the base of
the bomb. The propellant charge in the base caused
the round to fly forward, while the bulk of the
propellant was ejected out the other end, negating
the recoil. Like many shaped charge weapons at the
time, the warhead was rather larger than one would
suspect from its stats. The round was loaded at the
front of the 5cm tube, allowing the larger bomb to
protrude visibly from the muzzle. |
