Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr

Mauser Mod. 1918 13.2 mm Tankgewehr
13.2 mm Rifle Anti-Tank at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris
Type	Anti-tank rifle, Anti-materiel rifle
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1918–1933
Used by	German Empire Weimar Republic
Wars	World War I German Revolution of 1918–19
Production history
Manufacturer	Mauser
Produced	January 1918
Number built	15,800
Variants	M1918 shortened Magazine-fed
Specifications
Weight	15.9 kg (35 lb), 18.5 kg (41 lb) loaded with the bipod
Length	169.1 cm
Crew	two man crew
Cartridge	13.2 mm TuF (German: Tank und Flieger)
Caliber	13.2 mm (.525 inches)
Action	bolt-action
Rate of fire	single shot
Effective firing range	500 m
Feed system	manual
Sights	100 – 500 m (notched V)

The Mauser 13 mm anti-tank rifle (German: Tankgewehr M1918, usually abbreviated T-Gewehr) was the world's first anti-tank rifle, i.e. the first rifle designed for the sole purpose of destroying armored targets and the only anti-tank rifle to see service in World War I. Approximately 15,800 were produced.

History

The British had first deployed tanks at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette in 1916 and were followed by the French. The Mauser Company began mass production at Oberndorf am Neckar in May 1918. The first of these off the production lines were issued to specially raised anti-tank detachments. The idea of using heavy-calibre and high-velocity rifles as anti-tank weapons originated in Germany. In June 1917, the German Army faced the menace of the Mark IV tank, and found that the armour-piercing 7.92 mm K bullet was no longer effective.

Operation

The rifle was a single-shot bolt-action rifle using the Mauser action, with rounds manually loaded into the chamber. The weapon had a pistol grip and bipod, but no method of reducing recoil, such as a soft buttpad or muzzle brake. The iron sights were composed of a front blade and tangent rear, graduated in 100-meter increments from 100 to 500 meters. The rifle was operated by a two-man crew of a gunner and ammunition bearer, who were both trained to fire the weapon.

Cartridge

The armour-piercing hardened steel cored 13.2 x 92mm (.525-inch) semi-rimmed cartridge, often simply called "13 mm", was originally planned for a new, heavy Maxim MG.18 water-cooled machine gun, the Tank und Flieger (TuF) meaning for use against "tank and flier", which was under development and to be fielded in 1919. The rounds weighed 51.5 g (795 gn) with an initial velocity of 785 m/s (2,580 ft/s). At 100 m an armour plate 22 mm thick could be pierced.

Surviving examples

The anti-tank rifle can be found in several museums:

• Argentina
  • Museo de Armas, Circulo Militar, Buenos Aires
  • Museo de Armas, Colegio Militar de la Nación, El Palomar

• Australia
  • Army Museum Bandiana in Wodonga
  • Queensland Museum, Brisbane

• Belgium
  • In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres
  • In Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History, Brussels

• Canada
  • On display in the lobby of the McGill club, Montreal, being the gift made in 1919 by a Canadian general
  • The Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (ONCO) Mess of the South Alberta Light Horse in Medicine Hat, Alberta

• France
  • The Musée de l'Armée at the Invalides, Paris

• Germany
  • Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig

• UK
  • Imperial War Museum, London
  • King's Own Royal Border Regiment museum
  • 22nd Cheshire Regiment museum
  • Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds
  • Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich
  • Redoubt Fortress and Museum, Eastbourne
  • King's Shropshire Light Infantry museum, Shrewsbury castle
  • Norris Museum, St Ives, Huntingdonshire

• USA
  • Patton Museum, Fort Knox
  • The National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri
  • NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, VA
  • Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, VA

• Latvia
  • Latvian War Museum

See also

• MG 18 TuF

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External links

• Anti-Tank Rifle History and Collecting