Canadian Boys Mk-I anti-tank rifle

[AFACadet]

I just got the "Walt Disney On The Front Lines" DVD set a couple days ago and watched an interesting training video created by the Disney studio to show how to use the Boys Mk-I anti-tank rifle.

I knew anti-tank rifles exsisted, but I had never heard of the Boys' one. Does anyone have any information if it was used in combat or not, and if so, what was the combat record?

[thatguy96]

The British Boys ATR was probably one of the most widely fielded ATR systems by the western allies, some of which even made their way to US forces in North Africa. I don't know any specifics in terms of combat record, but it was deployed as a light anti-tank weapon both with troops, on armored cars, and in improvised armored vehicles (such as the Bren Carrier for instance) during much of the early phases of WWII, primarily in North Africa.

It would appear that it served until replaced by the first iterations of the PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti-Tank) in 1943, being most successful against the lighter armor of Italian and Japanese tanks in North Africa and Malaya.

[bas]

It was also used by the Finns in the Winter War. Who had some success with it when they were able to set an ambush against the Russian light tanks.

[Tony Williams]

The .55 Boys fired a cartridge similar to the .50 Browning's except for the slightly larger calibre and the addition of a belt.

Like most AT rifles it was of limited use at the start of WW2 but soon became outclassed by the increases in armour protection for tanks. Probably the only AT rifle which was worth the effort was the Russian 14.5mm PTRD.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum

[ArmedPacifist]

Any soldier that had to lug that pos around cursed it's name every day.

It's extremely rough on the soldier.

[REMOV]

It was also used by the Finns in the Winter War. Who had some success with it when they were able to set an ambush against the Russian light tanks.

Well... Finns also had their own AT-rifle the 20mm Lahti-Saloranta M1939.

The Finnish 20mm Lahti anti tank gas-operated self-loading rifle of 1939. 10-round box magazine clipped into the top of the receiver. Lahti has a rack and pinion rotary cocking handle, a rotating muzzle brake and two bipods. There were only 1906 of this rifle ever produced.

Calibre: 20 mm
Length: 240 cm
Magazine: 10 Rd.
Weight: 43 kg

20mm Finnish AT Rifle Lahti-Saloranta, picture taken with PKM.

[FDF_Hemppis]

Hehe. Hawk-eye Remov correcting mistakes, as always...
Do you actually spend time otherwise than reading about weapons?

Good job, btw

[bas]

Hehe. Hawk-eye Remov correcting mistakes, as always...
Do you actually spend time otherwise than reading about weapons?

Good job, btw

What mistake? The Finnish armed forces deployed several different weapons during the Winter War, many of them supplied as foriegn aid. This included the Boys anti-tank rifle.

However as Remov correctly points out, the Finnish Army also had their own AT-rifle.

source:
http://www.winterwar.com/Weapons/Fin...tank2.htm#boys

[thatguy96]

It's extremely rough on the soldier.

Apparently most of the roughness was from improper handling, most of which was avoided if the solider never loosened their grip on the weapon during firing and constantly held it tight to their shoulder. A British study on the matter seemed to be overly biased on the matter however, and blamed everything from broken bones to athlete's foot found with Boys ATR operators on the weapon.

Not like the replaced it with another soldier friendly system either. From most accounts PIAT was a bitch to ****, requiring that you place the rear of the weapon on the ground and use your boot (this was in fact the standard operating procedure, described in the manual) to force the cocking handle down against the spring. Being difficult to tell whether the mechanism had locked led to more than a few teeth being lost by people who then got a PIAT in the face when it sprung back up at them.

[AFACadet]

Thanks for the info

[Tony Williams]

A friend of mind has a functional Boys and ammo - one of these days I'll try it out and report back

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum

[GazB]

Many of the photos I have of PTRS-41s depict them being used in urban combat.. from one side of the road to the other. One presumes they are being used against the roof of German Armoured vehicles and for use through walls at less well armoured targets. No doubt when they became useless against enemy armour they would still have a use against trucks and other light vehicles or even against troops behind cover.

I have read that quite a few Soviet anti tank rifles ended up in the US after the war (Presumably from captured german stocks) and converted to 50 cal browning calibre when stocks of the original ammo dried up. They can't have been that accurate however as they don't seem to have survived and I think the wave of anti material rifles had more to do with certain individuals experiences in Vietnam with sights on Browning HMGs.

[oldsoak]

A friend of mind has a functional Boys and ammo - one of these days I'll try it out and report back

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum

Good ear defenders and manly grip a must. Also some padding if you insist on more that a few shots.

[FDF_Hemppis]

Hehe. Hawk-eye Remov correcting mistakes, as always...
Do you actually spend time otherwise than reading about weapons?

Good job, btw

What mistake? The Finnish armed forces deployed several different weapons during the Winter War, many of them supplied as foriegn aid. This included the Boys anti-tank rifle.

However as Remov correctly points out, the Finnish Army also had their own AT-rifle.

source:
http://www.winterwar.com/Weapons/Fin...tank2.htm#boys

Ohhh...didn't know that one

Sorry, my mistake! (this is what you get when you only focus on the Finnish weapons )

[DeltaWhisky58]

I have considerable experience of the .55 Boyes owing to the fact that a friend owned one until they were banned in the late 80s.

The rounds was actually considerably larger than that of the .50BMG, being both longer and larger in diameter with a heavier bullet of I think around 900grs. in weight.

I have fired something in the region of 100 rds. from the weapon and can confirm any rumours of horrific recoil - however this was disapaited somewhat by the oil-damped stock, muzzle flash was significant but the muzzle break was reasonably effective.

I shot the .55 Boyes out to 300 yds, which was as good as you could have got under range conditions with the basic sights fitted, however I would have loved to have been able to test the accuracy potential of this weapon with optical sights and hand-loaded ammo. Fitting optics would have been rather difficult owing to the top-mounted magazine and bolt action - some arrangement mounted on the left-hand side of the rifle would have been the only possibility IMO.

I would be really interested to hear of any accuracy work done with this weapon.