British Boys Anti-Tank Rifle

[@ZRFehr]

10:50 "And we're completely sure it's unloaded....and fi-" *Ian blasts a whole through the building ripping out thousands of dollars worth of plumbing*

[@rubenskiii]

I totally expect Ian to be quiet for a sec, look at the camera and say: *"Actually the recoil isn't that bad..."*

[@charlesfitton9677]

check you tube...it is, as a training film..

[@NORTH_CAROLINA_REAPER]

Rets in peace Ian's ears

[@norbertsoltesz1012]

Cracking open a Panzer with the boys

[@mkgod2958]

Norbert Soltész yes

[@powandwow750]

HAHAHAHHA

[@eldritchmaxwell2545]

Champion joke!

[@sumvs5992]

The double joke is amazing

[@Oblithian]

mmmmm das panzer gebräu. Schaumig und lecker.

[@coolvibes5470]

Everytime a new weapon comes to BF5 i see this channel's old videos talking about it. Nice.

[@MrTylerman127]

ikr. Also, I hate this thing in-game.

[@deeeeeeeench1209]

But irl can it be hip fired with good accuracy 😂

[@sovietmiko]

It can take down a house with one hit

[@TheRealTanSeeker]

Same here it's in my feed... Haha... Mad tho, I went to the War Memorial in Australia after BF1 came out and it was cool seeing some of the real weapons. The anti tank Sniper from BF1 is freaking massive.

[@raasbeng]

agreed

[@Netbug]

Damn... I can only imagine what the Men's version looks like.

[@majorgeneraljohnson8212]

N37BU6 it would be a tank

[@slimpickings59]

It's called 50.cal M82 i guess

[@dangluan92]

That would be NTW-20

[@AgentTasmania]

The 2 pounder

[@cistemshocke7731]

Thank you for this glorious meme.

[@SaturnCanuck]

My Dad was in the British Army, for a while in the Rifle Brigade. He told me of firing this, and what makes this profound (or even funny) is that my Dad was 5 ft 4 and he said it shot him back "extensively".

[@Wolvenworks]

in metric?

[@estebanvasquez2307]

Wolvenworks About 163cm

[@andrewince8824]

Very English. I salute him, Sir.

[@Alpostpone]

Bigger boys would only get shot back "intensively".

[@neilwilson5785]

Ouch.

[@DissonantValues]

Damn, that Recon must have some serious upper body strength holding that bad boy straight up in the company menu. Lol

[@dr2644]

I have had the "pleasure" of shooting one of these. It was converted with a 50 cal barrel as the original 55cal ammo is rare/unavailable . With a scope I was hitting a target close to center at about 1000 yds.

[@oskarejsmont]

Bullshit

[@cheyennereynoso4116]

Ok ykkkkjj no

[@michaelpielorz9283]

XD!

[@TSPhotoAtlanta]

Shazaaam!

[@meme4one]

My Grandad was a British soldier during WW2. I remember he said that firing this weapon was the only thing you didn’t HAVE to do during training. The recoil was so fierce that it gave you a bruised shoulder, so nobody was forced to use it during training. He tried and regreted it!

[@arthurfisher1857]

@Jifin^-^ my friend, just because you don't know anyone interesting, doesn't mean no one else does. Don't be that guy.

[@wondrinminstrel]

A bit late to the party. My Grandfather was an anti-tank gunner in the desert campaign and subsequently went on to Sicily - where he was captured but eventually escaped. The Boys was one of the weapons that my Grandfather used. So one day he and his mate were positioned on a farm in Sicily and his mate went to take a piss behind a haystack; unfortunately his mate was shot - not killed - by a sniper, my Grandfather says he saw the muzzle flash and opened up on that position with the Boys...once the dust had settled and no shots were coming back he went over with some comrades and found the dead sniper. According to my Grandfather the bullet hit the sniper on his belt buckle and the round pushed the belt buckle into their stomach. Suffice to say he was taken out. My Grandfather hardly ever talked about his time in WWII so I would like to believe that this story is true :-)

[@alangardner8596]

I once talked to a soldier of WW2 and he found it the ideal weapon for sniping because if you knew somebody was behind a wall or something similar you could down him through the wall.

[@Roshake77]

Cocking knob: my favourite new weapon part and cursing phrase

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Anglo-Saxon makes chunky expletives.

[@Imtahotep]

Ian has answered so many questions for me. I totally got lost in his CSA small arms (specific Spiller & Burr .36 Navy) Texas Tucker & Sherrard, cap and ball revolvers, etc. Not arms produced en mass, but small batches from small shops, in some cases handmade. Very interesting to follow the economics of CSA side arms acquisition expedients and Ian proved an unexpected font of historical knowledge precisely along these lines.

[@yam83]

Ian, you can NEVER "yammer" too much about history.

[@rogerwilco2]

+Yairo Martis I agree. It's one of the things, together with the good detailed mechanics, that make this a fun channel to watch, even though I am not a gun collector in any way.

[@janprochazka6330]

Now I know how to spell "yammer", thx

[@jimdowie2457]

Found one in West Belfast in 1971, took an old soldier at the time to identify it. The weapon was being used against the British Army, it was never fired.

[@firstnamelastname2298]

Fun fact: you cannot reduce recoil using springs, but you can increase recoil trying to reduce it using springs :) Springs does not absorb energy, they keep it for very tiny moment and boom! - it's all yours again. However, they can make your gun behave the same way as if your buttstock does not touch your shoulder. Same applies for resin. Thats why most anti tank rifles have metal buttstocks.

[@samrussell4065]

Another " forgotten weapon" from the same era is the Matilda tank, one of the few Allied AFVs to last the whole war. Her thick armour surprised the Germans when they first met her, and she soldiered on against the Japanese where her demure 2-Pounder could still give their tanks a good slap across the face.

[@Belvie]

Matilda 2 was indeed brought in, specifically for the start of WW2 and it's service lasted all 6 years, it was so effective that there are some photos of the North African campaign where German's took them intact and recrewed them.

[@theotherguy__]

Sam Russell The Aussies loved using em, blow out as many tanks as you could then surrender grinning at the enemy

[@rubenskiii]

Dunkirk messed up a bit, the Jerries got a hold of a lot of Brittish tanks in top notch condition, could exemine thouroughly. They exactly knew it's strenghts and weaknesses.

[@BoZoiD57]

Matilda 2 was fun until her tracks needed tightening or the tank needed maintenance in general.

[@sammoon2906]

Matilda tanks were terrible. Yeah, they fought in the Pacific, where Sherman tanks were the absolute best tanks in the field, but they were destroyed in masses in Africa, and withdrawn entirely from fighting against the Germans as a front line tank by 1943. Matildas were slow and unreliable, the Russians used them only when they had no other choice.

[@robtt997]

Senior partner at the firm where I started work in the early 1970s had been in the Green Howard’s in France in 1940. He was in the rear guard at Dunkirk and was eventually captured . His stories were fascinating but he never wrote them down. One he told me about was one of his soldiers from near Malton , North Yorkshire . They were in a ditch watching some Germans advancing behind a tank. This soldier had a Boyes rifle and decided he wanted a shot at the tank . He was given permission and to everyone’s surprise then moved into the middle of the road and took aim . He was in plain sight of the tank and inevitability , was blown to bits. His one shot had bounced off the tank.Brave or extraordinarily stupid it exposed his platoons position and they took a pounding and had to surrender.The senior partner ended up in Poland in 1945 and was marched back by the Germans towards Germany. He said how weird it was as he helped German civilians to escape the Russians. He got back to meet his son who had been born just after he want to France . He was then just six years old !

[@Trojan84]

Bounced on my British Boys Anti Tank Rifle to this video for hours. Very interesting, articulate, and informative. This channel is amazing! Thanks for all your hard work!

[@mikemessier7977]

Looks like a well though out design. Is the ammo available? Brass, bullets and reloading items? Another well done history lesson Ian! I thank you Sir.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

mike messier Not really. You can get it, but it's expensive stuff. Most shooters rebarrel them for .50 BMG.

[@DaniMacYo]

Battlefield V brought me here as did Battlefield 1. You are a real gun nerd and I love it. Thank you Forgotten Weapons for all these awesome reviews.

[@lukefurno1151]

Daniel Richardson so I depth am I right!

[@domhogan7842]

There is, of all things, a Disney instruction cartoon for this weapon....

[@MattsInTheBelfry]

Dom Hogan I saw this a few days ago, and MAN did this gun have a kick!

[@izauraschmidt2756]

Disney finally nailed what they were always meant to do teach boys how to use scofisticated A T rifles foR BoYyes

[@plasmahead2]

I was just watching that before I watched this LoL

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Wily Coyote?

[@ennisanderson2719]

A very interesting review. One thing I would like to add about firing this gun. I've a number of stories about firing these things and that is that it was known to the troops as "the shoulder breaker". If not held correctly (and sometimes even if you did) the recoil would break the shoulder of the shooter. It was widely known that recruits were often victims of them. I want to thank you for your reviews of the German and British anti tank rifles. I've enjoyed them both very much.

[@ogloko2967]

Battlefield 5 brought me here. Badass rifle.

[@aesthetic_dude795]

OG LOCO same

[@oldking9138]

Same

[@davondawson6845]

Me too

[@Binaryfarto]

Thoroughly enjoying the recent auction vids! Thanks mate! :)

[@MoejoTheGreat]

Pretty big for a boys rifle, when I was a boy I had a .22lr. /s

[@Qardo]

British boys seem to start off with big things. All to build character. After all. There was an age in British History that boys were sent off to work around machinery that was capable of crushing a full grown man without a second thought...if the machines were thinking.

[@TSPhotoAtlanta]

British mom, “You’ll put your ey…head out if you’re not careful with that thing!”

[@thebritishww2man]

Good Video. My neighbour said that his Uncle was using one of these at the rear guard at Dunkirk. He said that his uncle and unit were cut off and were trying to shoot at German tanks. He said that the rounds were just bouncing off or hitting the side and sliding down. The German tanks didn't care about it so much about it that they used to not even bother returning fire. The British got rather depressed so decided to shoot whatever came next, and it was a despatch rider and he was obliterated. They later buried it in a ditch and were captured.

[@AshleyPomeroy]

They buried the Boys, or the dispatch rider? Or whatever was left of him.

[@allahspreadshate6486]

Ha ha ha ha. That's a brilliant story. Kudos to that uncle.

[@TheRocker1950]

My Uncle Jim a Royal Marine used one in WW2 as a sniper rifle. I would add he was a mountain of a man who also favoured a Lewis MG as a personal weapon.

[@desantos1234]

thank you, I'm glad you read comments

[@desantos1234]

I love how your wearing British DPM Camouflage aswell

[@frankdantuono2594]

I was visiting Rock Island Arsenal in the Quad Cities recently and spent an hour among the artillery pieces they have in the park. Among the gems on display is an M50 Ontos Self-Propelled 106mm Recoiless Rifle Carrier. That thing is the epitome of a forgotten Weapon and since you have done hardly any Vietnam War weapons; I think you should do an episode on it next time you visit. BTW: they are much smaller in person. Also, they have a BMP-1 in the same park :)

[@beardo52]

For those who own one of these, but can't find factory .55 ammunition, the 50 BMG case can be used in place of the belted Factory. It's just a matter of necking up to .55 from .50. Plain 50 BMG Brass will serve, but will not last awfully long due to the lack of the Belt, but it is something one can use. If one is handy with metals, belts can be turned, and soldered to the case.

[@binaway]

My late dad had to carry one around Norway. After his return to the UK, near Glasgow, he was relieved to never saw one again. Bruised his shoulder when he fired it.

[@markgaskinssr1722]

I shot one before. Some friends of mine stopped by with one of these years ago along with two washing machines and an old refrigerator as well. They said it was the .50 caliber version. We set it up two hundred yards away from the appliances and shot it from the prone position with the bipod pinned to the ground. I fired it twice and that was enough for me. I don't remember the recoil really being terribly bad so much as the intense blast that it produced. Upon inspection of the refrigerator, my two rounds made a clean two-inch hole upon entry and exited with a nasty approximately eight-inch gash blasted out of the back.

[@jp-um2fr]

A very dear friend of mine, now deceased, had the opportunity to fire a Boys. He worked at The Royal Woolwich Arsenal. 16" naval guns down to ? He was given a pair of overalls far too large for him. His exact first words were 'bloody hell it's dark down here' He had been propelled backwards and the overalls were over his head. I believe there was a British officer somewhere in France who opened a sewer manhole and used it as cover to disable 3 Nazi tanks by firing up their barrels at very close range. Apparently he was totally disabled as his body could not recoil. I did notice the U.S. ones were 'downgraded'. It takes a real man to fire the Boys cartridge, even if your spine ends up like a teacake. Now, where did I put my 22 air gun pellets. Great vids.

[@ChadBroChill17]

Boys use this rifle... Its also coming to bfv

[@mbtt7420]

It's "meh" in bfv

[@eddielombera5862]

GarythePuma oh yeah when did you use it?

[@MemeMarine]

@@mbtt7420 IT'S FUCKING AWESOME IN BFV

[@chazhartwayne6493]

@@mbtt7420 It's "meh" against tanks but it is a lot of fun against infantry.

[@nutellatoast7890]

Thats why im here

[@ThePapadooks]

My Great Grandfather was an anti-tank gunner in an australian tank attack unit in WW2 and i can remember him telling me about their training using the Boys. they never used them in combat by that time they had british 6lb guns. his instructors told his unit whne firing the boys you got prone behind the gun pulled it tight into your shoulder and just before firing what ever you do don't dig your toes into the dirt. instead you lift your toes slighty off the ground. the reason for it was your body sliding along the ground backwards would help you not break your shoulder when firing. My pop was only a short man at 5'6" but was always a solid unit. his enlistment papers have him listed at just under 15 stone(about 200 pounds) and he said when he fired it he would move back a couple of inches on each shot.on a side note his whole training unit also cursed every officer who came anywhere near them for a couple of days after training on this.

[@ResaFMkII]

Was talking with my Grandad over Christmas, he was RN and served on a minesweeper in the Med/Adriatic, I think towards the end of the war. Apparently they used the Boys to take out mines once they'd had their cables cut and had floated to the surface.

[@charlesflint9048]

Wow! I would love to fire one of these, in spite of the reputed recoil. I can still remember the sore face from the recoil of firing a Lee Enfield .303 for the first time as a 13 yr old 50yrs ago.

[@51WCDodge]

In addition to the Universal Carrier the Boys was also mounted on the Morris Light Recconasince Car, that was a wheeled vehicle. The Monopod design allowed simple mount/dismount on a vehicle. There are also stories of the use in the Far East against snipers in trees and camoflauge wooden bunkers, the Aussies apparently liked it as it would shoot through the wood.

[@surfclod]

Very cool. Have some old photos of my grandfather and some squad mates shooting this during training.

[@iutarogirotto5110]

i would say "this one's for the boys" before every shot

[@RainytheNB]

I read a book of firsthand accounts of Dunkirk and most troops disliked using the boys as it was ineffective and heavy. One soldier recounts it being very effective at taking out stukas and even shot one down using one, as the high velocity and large rounds were effective at hitting planes

[@billthemanofgoodnis]

pz4 and 3s where also vulnerable to at rifles as the side aormor is only 15mm thick. later they add schurzen side armor which nullified at rifles. that was the main point of schurzen armor, not heat/he protection commonly stated.

[@vegarddelegg5472]

As soon as this came out for battlefield, I started seeing this vid recommended

[@mpetersen6]

When I saw the oil resivore (sp) my first thought was it had an oil filled recoil mechanism. I wonder how a cylinder off a rear hatch on a car or gas cylinder for a hood would work. Small, light and they take a surprising amount of force to compress.

[@ShawarmaFarmer]

Can we have a PTRS video?

[@cameronjenkins6748]

Pete Zaitcev Yeah, The PTRD automatically ejects the spent case even though it's technically a bolt action rifle, so that makes it just plain cool.

[@AMX-014S]

Oliver Diaz Are you harassing me? ╭☞( ͠° ͜ʖ ͡°)╭☞ ＲＥＰＯＲＴＥＤ

[@phileas007]

Pete Zaitcev Why do I feel disproportionately more excited about a "giant" SKS?

[@mateuszs6770]

Oliver Diaz PTRDs aren't forgotten at all. I've seen recent pictures from Ukraine, where they're still being used.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Oliver Diaz When I find one, yes.

[@Jesses001]

I have actually shot one of these, but re-chambered in .50. The recoil was not all that bad, but it was a bit more jarring than expected for the weight. I am sure it was considerably more of an issue in the original chambering.

[@cameronjenkins6748]

The thing I find most interesting about the boys is that Disney made a training video for it that included an animated Adolf Hitler.

[@kionamoerukaze9726]

I'm wondering do you have a "British Girls Anti-Tank Rifle"?

[@johntheexplainer]

The British *Man's* AT rifle is a formidable thing...

[@wesleyruff4997]

its the same but pink

[@R1davies]

Theres a british girls proTank rifle

[@californiaball2599]

Ain’t that just the vickers?

[@roybennett6330]

I could listen to ian all day his know age is vast and delivered in a friendly fashion

[@johnhardin4358]

The personal cannon was a dream from the advent of firearms. Early tries were short barrelled novelties. Ships hurled slugs the size of bowling balls at each other. Today a respectable rifle could transfix a sailing ship from one side to another. Cannon used cast iron. Rifles use steel. Cannon used black powder. Rifles use nitro powder, similar to dynamite, an unknown compound. Typical of sci-tech advancement, it started huge and refined to small with time. The common 30.06 can penetrate 15 feet of oak. So it could do the counter sniper duty the Boys did. I didn't find the recoil any worse than a 12 guage shotgun, but control was out of reach. When I touched it off the muzzle whipped around in a circle as the slug engaged the twist. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. Fun to see it kick up dirt on a hill a mile away, though.

[@bbbbBEOTCH]

one of the best channels out there man your explanations are excellent and u do a great job of pulling interest

[@ForgottenWeapons]

NoSkillzJustGillz Thanks!

[@matthewbrook7683]

Hey Ian,. I just read a book on Tobruk and there were a couple of comments about Australian troops putting a scope on boys rifles and using them for sniping out to 2500m. The book said it was done because they werent that good against the German armor but they had more than a few rifles and lots of ammo so why not. There was not a lot of comment about whether they were effective or not but just letting you know that this was actually done. Same thing with the Bren. My grandfather was at Tobruk and mentioned sniping with a Bren.

[@alfatazer_8991]

_"Walter! Give that bitch a cannon! Bitches love cannons!"_ If you're know where that's from you're awesome!

[@phoenixoutoftheash]

+usaid alfatih you activated my Alucard xD

[@Shilobotomized]

*obscure reference from the parody instead of the original*

[@PinkThorn242]

+usaid alfatih Well if anime has taught us anything it's that a teenage girl can carry and fire this weapon unsupported.

[@Nukesdoom]

To be fair she is a Vampire

[@kaylt.7864]

Imagine cracking open a cold one with the Boys

[@kxd2591]

I have read that the troops referred to the Boys ATR as "Charlie the Bastard".

[@richardgoodall6888]

My father was a Greniadier Guard in WW2, and he told me he only ever fired a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle in training on the ranges, but they used a sand bag somehow to absorb some of the kick.

[@taids]

I still haven't got over that dang 1918 Mauser you showed a few days ago. Hoy.

[@daniel.holbrook]

10:40 "i only watch forgotten weapons for the plot"

[@georgewashington92]

by far one of the best youtube channels !

[@davidlogansr8007]

I had of course heard of it and was curious since hearing of it. Great Video! Very Informative! Thank You!

[@captiannemo1587]

Canada did test a Littlejohn device for the Boys. It didn't quite work out well. That being said the British did look into Squeeze-bore anti-tank guns (several) between WW1 and the mid 1930s in several calibers from something like 11mm and up.

[@yungeyebrows5862]

Great video as usual. And I enjoy your "yammering about history," I hope it stays in future videos.

[@GHACKSTER]

For those interested in a bit more history surrounding this rifle, here's a short animated film all about the Boys rifle made by Disney for the Canadian armed forces in WWII. It shows the operation and mechanics of the rifle in great detail, and of course has that quirky war-time humor popular in instructional videos of the time. Well worth the watch! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZ_LnXdmfb90o5Y

[@chaswalker2038]

During the battle of Britain the Spitfires were finding it difficult to knock down the German bombers with their 303 machine guns so Rolls Royce designed and built an aircraft gun that fired the Boys cartridge (as large supplies were available). When they demonstrated it to the MOD they were criticised for diverting effort away from their aero engine work so it was never proceeded with further.

[@GuntherRommel]

I wish you would publish the unedited videos at some point; I feel there's a lot of minutiae missing that would actually be informative and interesting to people such as myself. You seem about to get into a really interesting tangent, and cut, on to something less detailed but important. I would like to see those tangents!

[@galenbywater2936]

my friend had one of these he bought in 1968 with 20 rounds of ammo, the case for the bullet is longer ,wider, and has an addition belt at the bottom of the case, like a belted magnum compared to the .50 BMG.

[@ReneChiquete]

"Incapacitating everybody who shoots it" - Lol what?

[@larryreed4488]

I remember seeing mail order ads in the 1950's for these and the Lahtis in the $100 range.

[@trentxiiib8756]

Yes!. I also remember seeing ads for them in the National Rifleman in the 60's

[@saxoncroucher3278]

I like that the grip on the end of the stock looks like a handguard for a sword.

[@barry7608]

Always enjoy your videos, thanks

[@Posthumorous1]

That mono-/bi-pod is like the great-grandfather of those weird looking grip/bipod combos you see on modern assault rifles.

[@geoffcrowhurst2625]

I fired one a couple of years ago. The recoil is astounding. I briefly thought that I had punctured a lung.

[@louievelayo4100]

The Boys AT Rifle... When you have to positively take out a Neuroi but it's still all the way yonder...

[@antipodeanbushie2440]

I can claim to have fired one of these rifles, TWICE. Back in the 1980's, we gained access to one that was being transferred through to a Movie Armourer and four live rounds of the Tungsten Cored ammunition were going with it. We had permission to fire one round for the experience and because of my height and bulk, was selected to soak up the alleged recoil. We had a still photographer record the efforts. A slight mistiming on the first shot saw the round only nick the intended target of a cylinder block. A whip around amongst the spectators raised the funds for the second round which penetrated four walls of the cylinder block (4 x 1/4" = 1" total), a 4 inch block of limestone and both sides of a heavy gauge 44 gallon drum before entering the range backstop. The rifle was rested on a high platform so it could be fired with me standing up and the recoil felt similar to a stout 12gauge shotshell load; manageable. Something I will not forget. If a means is available, I can scan the photos for uploading.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

You learn something everyday I always thought it was Boyes.

[@fastmongrel]

My Great Uncle carried a Boys when he was in the Home Guard for a year in 1943 before he was called up to the Army. As he was the youngest he got to carry the Boys he hated it said it was designed to give you bruises, there was no way of comfortably carrying it on a march.

[@paulbeesley8283]

01:30 A heavier bullet was probably preferred because it was expected to do damage AFTER it had penetrated the armour. 03:00 I have seen a photo of a Finnish, soldier with a Boys, slung from one shoulder. He was on skis at the time. 05:00 I understand that U.S. commandos used these when raiding Japanese, territory. They were probably used as anti-material weapons (radar, generators, radios etc.) They were referred to as "elephant guns." 07:30 A bit optimistic? 10:40 Beechwood, surely? Finally (I promise,) can you do a video on the okd Soviet Model 41? I believe they are still in use in breakaway regions of Ukraine. I would get out more but I am enjoying these videos too much.

[@Rob-lv3fc]

From what I've heard, te Boys was unpopular because if handled incorrectly, the recoil could actually dislocate your shoulder. Same goes for the Tankgewehr.

[@brucelee3388]

The original name for the project was 'Stanchion', Capt. Boys was a member of the design team and died before the rifle entered service - it was re-named after him. The correct firing posture, according to a retired RAN Gunnery instructor I knew, was to lift your body off the ground, only the elbows and toes of your boots should touch the ground, so that when you fired the rifle your whole body was free to recoil with it. Failure to do this resulted in severe bruising and occasional broken bones, at least in the classes he had taught during WW2.'Charlie the Bastard', at least in the Australian Army, was the 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle. But there again, the Australian Army renamed the PIAT (Platoon, Infantry, Anti Tank) to PITA (pronounced 'Peter', Platoon Infantry Tank Attack) because 'Anti Tank' wasn't aggressive enough.

[@davefloyd9443]

Projectile Infantry Anti Tank

[@kevinoliver3083]

​​@@davefloyd9443 Projector Infantry Anti Tank.

[@Akhi11eus]

For whatever reason, shoulder fired anti-tank weapons of the WWI and WWII era are extremely interesting to me. It is a strange, short-lived, and highly experimental time of firearms development. And who doesn't love big bore, high velocity weapons?

[@malkaaz5199]

I don't know if KZbin does it automatically or if people submit the translation for the title of the video but it showed up as "rifle antitanque de los chicos ingleses" and I laughed more than I should have

[@teaandmedals7677]

You have to look at a PIAT! Such interesting weapons with the self cocking spring mechanism

[@Davros-vi4qg]

Tea and Medals already has, look up the vid, very good

[@ChrisSmith-lo2kp]

local agency security guard from the gulf war talked about how french forces in the western desert had something similar but recoilless with an effective scoped range of 2km

[@maxhammick948]

Necking out a cartridge does have some sense to it - you get greater swept volume from the barrel, meaning more of the energy in the propellant gases gets turned into KE of the projectile. Of course, you then need to make a bigger hole in the target, so it make the most sense when you're firing APCR or a sub-calibre projectile with a sabot

[@ToastyMozart]

What was with Britain's habit of putting the magazine on top of the weapon?

[@FredDude27]

ToastyMozart Not necessarily THEIR habit. The British Bren gun was of Czech origin.

[@millitron3666]

ToastyMozart Its better for firing from prone. Imagine if the magazine was below the gun, it would hit the ground and be really unwieldy.

[@Bixkat]

ToastyMozart The idea is that if the magazine is vertical, like the Bren, or horizontal, like the Sten, the soldier using the weapon on top of a trench, laying, or in tight spaces, will not have to rotate the weapon (as much) when reloading compared to weapons that have a magazine below the weapon.

[@JessicaKStark]

+ToastyMozart Easy to reload when firing prone, and you can have a gravity assist feed, which helps in case your follower spring gets stuck

[@brickct123]

ToastyMozart Permits lower ground clearance and prevents some dirt fouling. Keeps it from jabbing you when you're walking with it.

[@TheLimalicious]

A "Say 'ello to my little friend"-intro would've been very appropriate for this video :o)

[@556deltawolf]

Yeah Ian you left this out but one common user of the Boys AT rifle was actually the US Marine Corps. The marines didn't have access to Bazookas or the stronger 57mm field guns so many Marine Anti tank units were given Boys rifles. But as you said that was good as Japanese tanks have very inferior armor compared to the tank developed by Germany and Russia.

[@sol2544]

Didn't need a bazooka or 57mm for those things. Surprise that M2 Brownings weren't good 'nough

[@Tendies7645]

I've learned so much from your videos thank you so much Ian!

[@martyb999]

As Ian says the Boys was obsolete almost before WW2 started but the LRDG/SAS carried on using them as a truck mounted anti-material rifle in North Africa (crippling parked aircraft from a distance, disabling German and Italian light armoured vehicles etc.).

[@kevinoliver3083]

The Boys was part of the armament of Humber and Morris Armoured Reconaissance Cars until the end of the War. It could still kill German armoured cars and Japanese light tanks in 1945.

[@TheMentalblockrock]

"LOOKS LIKE PANZER"S BACK ON THE MENU AGAIN BOYS"

[@georgewu4051]

"temporarily incapacitate the person who shoots it, eternally incapacitate the tanks who are shot by it".

[@paulsteele6120]

My Father in Law who spent nearly 38 years in the British Army, initially with the Gordon Highlander ending up (just like a fox being put in charge of the chicken coup)in the Military Police! He told me the story of the retreat to St. Valery-On-Couxe after defending the approaches to Dunkirk during the evacuation of troops. Moral was pretty low as they trudged west and being a highland regiment looting was part and parcel of warfare at that stage. After getting stuck into some very nice liqueurs in a local estaminet, "someone" suggested a look at the local bank, this they did and found a rather large bank safe, after a few more drinks "someone" thought the Boys A.T.R. might be useful in opening the safes door, "just to see whats in there"!! With this the rifle was set up at a range of approx 15 feet away from the door and fired! Whacko, the solid steel bullet did not penetrate the safe door and ricocheted around the bank chamber. After checking no one was hurt as a corporal he ordered everyone back to the bar for a wee dram before they moved off. He was later captured at St. Valery and spent five years in Poland trying to wreck farm tools , a sugar beet factory and get his end away with as many Polish girls as possible. A foot note to this is that just before he was captured his squad was guarding a bridge and along came a vehicle and stopped at the other side of the bridge, some German Officers got out and where contemplating what weight the bridge could carry , my father in law still in charge of the Boys lined up on one tallish officer and was about to send him a goodbye present when the order came trough to stop fighting and surrender all arms. My Father in Law always claimed that it was Rommel who he was lining up for a shroud, if true I wonder what difference that would have made to the duration of the war??

[@johnhardin4358]

Hitler put paid to him for not squealing on a guy who proposed assassination. The coup attempt failed and torture worked wonders on memory. Rommel could have contested in the courts, but the Nazis had a nasty habit of punishing families, so he refrained and took poison. His family was let off the hook. The allied spooks cooked up a variety of plots, but called them all off. Hitler was the biggest Sabateur of Germany on Earth. His Dr. Feelgood had him on a drug roller coaster and he gave away a 100,000 man army to the Russians with his no retreat policy. The Wehrmacht had a plan for cracking Russia everyone agreed on. The generals were well qualified for strategic warfare. Once they got in, Hitler made himself Mr. Big Shot of the whole shebang and divided the forces when they reached the suburbs of Moscow. He wanted oil. Get the capital and hang Stalin and you can have all the oil you want. He didn't see it that way and the rest is history. Political influence is no substitute for military qualification.

[@committhistomemory]

That's a former Canadian rifle. It has a broad arrow stamp. Up here in Canada people re barrelled them to .50bmg due to lack of .55 ammo.

[@jeremysiegel10]

I saw one of these in person today at a local store, so cool!

[@lukebailey3662]

Me and the boys taking out tanks

[@brandontanis388]

I had a former employer with one re-barreled to .50 BMG with the original muzzle-brake reinstalled. He said that after 5 rds from the prone position he had a headache and blurry vision.

[@Clint0083]

I saw the training video on this rifle, it was so interesting how they used cartoons to explain how it worked and how to maintain it.

[@schizoidboy]

One time on KZbin I came across a film from Disney that was a training film on how to use this gun. It was animated in parts but it was detailed enough that if you saw it you could learn how to operate it. I think it might have been produced for the Canadians.

[@pnkfld7892]

OH yeah Penetration Data XD. Sorry Ian I just had to. I love your videos, they are appease my inner war history buff. Keep up the good work and cool stuff!