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Title:	RIFLE, ANTITANK -  POLISH ANTITANK RIFLE MODEL 1935 7.92MM SN# 4692
Maker/Manufacturer:	MAZEROCK
Date of Manufacture:
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 3419
Measurements:	OL:176.5CM 69 1/2" BL: 47" 20 lbs.

Object Description:

POLISH ANTITANK RIFLE MODEL 1935 7.92MM SN# 4692
Manufactured by - Polish bolt-action antitank rifle with magazine capacity of five rounds. Weapon chambered for the 13mm cartridge case necked down to 7.92mm. Muzzle velocity 4200 fps. Penetration of the tungsten-cored round was 20mm at 300 yards. Weapon weighs approximately 20 lbs. Complete with bipod and detachable box magazine.

Markings:
Receiver: G/2 in oval. 7.8 G/2 in oval 4692.

Weapon found in one of "29 Boxes of Miscellaneous Foreign Weapons as received from New York Port of Embarkation on 6 March 1946, per SA OOO.4/17 and 28. Note: Itemized list showing quantities and descriptions of indiviudal weapons to be attached and made part of this voucher promptly upon completion of checking in of weapons in Experimental-Laboratory, Building No. 28. Weapon to retained in Experimental-Laboratory for an indefinite period for examination and study per Mr. P.W. Oliver, 11 March 1946, after which they will be regreased and boxed suitable for storage and place with other Museum Material in Building #19 pending reopening of the Armory Museum."

Notes: "The Italian army had neither indigenous antitank rifles nor recoilless antitank weapons during World War II. They did, however, receive stock of the Polish Wz 35 Marosczek 7.92mm antitank rifle which the Germans had captured in 1939. This weapon had itself been inspired by the original German Mauser T Gewehr of 1918 and was of sound design....The Marosczek was a good weapon and commendably light." - THE WORLD ALMANAC OF WORLD WAR II

"Secrecy and confusion
Since the weapon was initially one of the top secrets of the Polish Army, it was also known under many different code-names. Until the mobilisation of 1939 the combat-ready rifles were held in closed crates marked with the enigmatic inscription "Do not open; surveillance equipment". Among the cover names was Urugwaj (hence Ur) being the Polish name of Uruguay, the country to which the surveillance equipment was supposedly exported). After the fall of Poland the German army captured large quantities of the kb ppanc wz.35 and used it as Panzerbuchse 35 (polnisch) (PzB 35(p)). The Italian army also benefitted from the booty and used it under its own designation of fucile controcarro 35(P). In both cases the new name translating more or less as Anti-tank Rifle Number 35 Polish.
Description
In appearance it resembles a rifle with a longer than normal barrel supported by a bipod at the front of the wooden stock. It is a bolt action rifle, fed from a 4-round box magazine. The barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake for greater accuracy and to limit the recoil. The brake absorbs approximately 65% of the shot energy and the recoil was comparable to the standard Mauser rifle, even though the cartridge carried more than twice the amount of propellant. It has fitted iron sights fixed for 300 metres range.
History
Ammunition
Main article: 7.92 DS
In the late 1920s the Polish General Staff started the development of a light anti-tank weapon for the Polish infantry. In 1931 Lt. Colonel Tadeusz Felsztyn from the Institute of Armament Technology in Warsaw started the first tests of various low-calibre cartridges. After the tests of German-made Hagler bullets proved the possibilities of that type ammunition in perforating steel plate, the National Ammunition Factory in Skarzysko-Kamienna was ordered to develop its own 7.92 mm bullet with a muzzle velocity of over 1000 metres per second. After a series of tests, the new DS bullet was proposed. Visit [1] for a picture of the ammunition.
The DS ammunition was based on a standard 7.92 mm bullet as used by both the Mauser rifle Model 1898 (wz.98) and its Polish variant the karabinek wz.29. The length of the cartridge was extended to 131.2 mm and the overall weight was 64.25 g. After an additional series of tests the copper cartridge case was replaced with a case made of brass (67% copper/ 23% zinc).
DS 7.92 anti-tank cartridge and 12 pieces boxUniquely, compared to other armour-piercing designs, the DS round instead of using tungsRifle
Simultaneously to the development of the ammunition, a young graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, Józef Maroszek was ordered to prepare an anti-tank rifle. On August 1, 1935, the Committee of Equipment and Armament officially ordered the rifle and in October the first tests of the new weapon started.
The rifle was based on the successful construction of the Mauser rifle, a standard pre-World War I infantry weapon. The gun-lock was modified to sustain higher pressure of the new cartridge and the barrel was extended significantly. The first tests carried out in Brzesc and Pionki showed that the new weapon was capable of perforating a 15 mm steel plate from the distance of 300 metres. Similar results were reached after firing at a deflected steel plate. Initially the new muzzle could only sustain up to 30 shots, after which it had to be replaced with a new one. However, this drawback was soon corrected and the final prototype could fire approximately 300 shots. The committee accepted the new design on November 25, 1935, and in December the Ministry of Military Affairs ordered the delivery of 5 rifles, 5000 bullets and a set of spare muzzles for further tests.
After the tests carried out by the Centre of Infantry Training in Rembertów proved high effectiveness and reliability of kbk ppanc wz.35, the Ministry ordered 7610 rifles to be delivered to the Polish Army by the end of 1939. It is uncertain how many rifles were actually produced, but it is often estimated that there were more than 6500 pieces delivered by September 1939.
Usage
The rifle was the main anti-tank weapon of an infantry platoon. Each infantry company and cavalry squadron was to be equipped with three rifles, each operated by a team of two soldiers. Additional anti-tank teams were to be created at a later stage. Although the weapon was successively introduced to the units, it remained a top secret. The rifles were kept in closed wooden crates, each marked with a number and a notice do not open; surveillance equipment. The teams were trained in secret military facilities just before the war, starting from July 1939, and then had to give an oath that they will preserve the secret.
The rifle was carried by the leader of the two-man rifle team on a carrying strap. The other member of the squad was his aid and provided him with cover while he was reloading. The weapon was usually fired from prone supported position with the bipod attached to the barrel. However, it could be also used in other positions, like prone unsupported and crouch. The effective range was 300 metres and the weapon was effective against all German tanks of the epoch (those being Panzer I, II and III, as well as Czech-made LT-35 and LT-38) at 100 metres. At up to 400 metres it could destroy all lightly-armoured vehicles. It could penetrate 15 mm of armour, sloped at 30° at 300 m distance, or 33 mm of armour at 100 m. What is interesting, an Italian manual stated maximum penetration as 40 mm.
Panzerbüchse 35(p)
Despite well-established opinion, the Karabin przeciwpancerny wz.35 was extensively used during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 by most Polish units. After Poland was overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union, large quantities of this weapon were captured. The Germans pressed it into service as Panzerbüchse 35 (polnisch) (PzB 35(p)), and sped up works upon their own simplified, one-shot anti-tank rifle Panzerbüchse 39 (PzB 39). According to some sources, the Germans however replaced DS bullets in a captured ammunition with their own 7.92 mm bullets with a hardened steel core from the In 1940 Germany sold approximately 800 Polish rifles to the armed forces of Italy, who used it in combat until the end of World War II." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kb_ppanc_wz.35#Description



References:
Young, Brigadier Peter, Ed. THE WORLD ALMANAC OF WORLD WAR II. An Imprint of Pharos Books. N.Y., N.Y. 1986.