Boys Mk.I, Mk.I* and Mk.II anti-tank rifle

Boys Mk.I anti-tank rifle, with circular muzzle brake and "inverted T" shaped bipod, as made by BSA in england.

 

Boys Mk.I* anti-tank rifle, with flat muzzle brake and "inverted V" shaped bipod, as made by Inglis in Canada.

Data for Boys Mk.I anti-tank rifle

Type / action	manually operated bolt action
Caliber	.55 Boys (13.9x99B)
Weight unloaded	16.3 kg
Length	1626 mm
Barrel length	910 mm
Magazine capacity	5 rounds
Armor penetration (Range / Angle / Penetration)	W Mk.1 bullet: 100 m / 90o / 16 mm W Mk.2 bullet: 100 m / 70o / 20 mm

 The Boys anti-tank rifle was named after its designer, captain H Boys at RSAF Enfield, who died shortly before the adoption of this weapon late in 1937. This weapon was in service with British forces until about 1943, although its effectiveness against German tanks became insufficient on much earlier stages of war. This rifle was produced by BSA Ltd in three basic versions, Mk.I, Mk.I* and Mk.II, with total production reaching 62 thousands of rifles. The Boys Mk.I was original British-made version, with round muzzle brake and T-shaped bipod. The Boys Mk.I* rifles were produced in Canada by John Inglis co, and were distinguished primary by flat muzzle brake and V-shaped bipod. The Boys Mk.II version was rarest of the three, as it was designed especially for airborne troops and had shortened barrel. Boys rifles were normally used from its own bipods, and also were fitted to "Universal carrier" armored tracked vehicles. The ammunition used in the Boys antitank rifle was peculiar to this weapon, using belted case 99mm long, loaded with AP bullets with steel core (W Mk.1, 60 g, 747 m/s) or tungsten core (W Mk.2, 47.6 g, 884 m/s). Boys anti-tank rifles saw some action against Soviet tanks during the Winter war in Finland (1940), and later against German armor in Europe and Japanese armor in Pacific theater. Generally, this weapon appeared to be less than popular due to complex design of certain parts, heavy weight and recoil, and insufficient armor penetration.

The Boys anti-tank rifle is a manually operated bolt cation rifle. It uses rotary bolt with frontal locking lugs. Feed is from top-mounted detachable box magazine with 5-round capacity. To mitigate the heavy recoil, the barreled action is allowed to recoil against the buffer in the stock, and the barrel is equipped with muzzle brake. Shoulder stock is fitted with additional cushioned pad. Rifle was normally fired from folding bipod, and it was equipped with open sights, which were offset to the left to clear top-mounted magazine. The rear sight was of aperture type, either fixed one (set for 300 yards / 271 meters range), or with two range settings (up to 300 yards and 300-500 yards).

Posted in: Anti-tank Rifles,Great Britain