I got a book titled'Out Of Nowhere'
In it is a story of some Brits pinned down by a German sniper.
The sniper was behind a very large tree and was shooting from between a fork in the tree.
Two Brits took a 'Boys' rifle and proceeded to shoot THRU the tree and killing the Sniper.
I take it this is an anti-tank weapon of years past?

I want one.

PT, that's a Boyes anti-tank rifle (aka. "Charlie the Bastard").

I've searched coorah.com and found it is spelled both ways.
.55 caliber.I still want one.
A lot of people convert it over to .50 BMG.
I've read some great stories about the use of these against light armor.

This guy spells it "Boys" ..... UK Anti-Tank Rifle...... And Wikopedia says that "Boyes" is incorrect.

SO...... I stand corrected....... I think.

I'll bet it really impresses other shooters nearby with the 'Harmonica' muzzle break.
The bolt and barrel move back around one inch during firing.Helps with recoil, I quess.

Mauser made a similar piece during WWI as I recall and I think the Russkies did like wise. Last time I saw one of the Mausers it had an asking price of $5500! I bought one in pieces from an estate sale several years ago and gave it away! If I had it back I could get a 50 BMG barrel, turn it down to fit and AWAY WE GO...........
Oh, I found the 'Boys' anti-tank rifle was named for a Col. Boys so I guess that would be the correct spelling?

Panzerbüchse Boys


The british Boys AT rifle named after the leader of the development team, Captain Boys, was introduced into british service in November 1937. The germans captured a considerable number of these weapons at Dunkerque in 1940. Because this british tank rifle was of spectacularly poor performance, it had a penetration of only 12mm at 100m and 10mm at 500m (however the weapon's practical usage ended at 300m max.), the germans outright considered it as useless for anti-tank warfare (as did many british soldiers having to use the weapon) but nevertheless incorporated the weapons for use against machine-gun emplacements. Technical data: Ammunition: .55 Boys (13.9mmx100mm G), Vo=760m/s; Total length: 162cm; barrel length 915mm; total weight (empty) 16.3kg; magazine capacity 5 rounds; practical rate of fire 6-8 rpm.

So why would they need an anti tank rifle? Actually can't speak for the 303 but the '06' with AP will shoot thru a 48" thick oak with enough velocity to have taken out this sniper. I would venture a guess that the 303 would come close to that....O'well, to each his own.

quote:

Originally posted by Lost Oki:
So why would they need an anti tank rifle? Actually can't speak for the 303 but the '06' with AP will shoot thru a 48" thick oak with enough velocity to have taken out this sniper. I would venture a guess that the 303 would come close to that....O'well, to each his own.

"the '06' with AP will shoot thru a 48" thick oak with enough velocity to have taken out this sniper." Ok, I'm going to try this next trip down to the farm. I'll use either an '03A3 or an M1 Garand and AP round - have to check and see what date from headstamp. Assuming it will shoot throught the tree - which I doubt - what would be "enough velocity to have taken out this sniper?" I would think if the bullet would penetrate the tree plus 2 thicknesses of 1/2 plywood it would do in the sniper? Get back to me on this and we'll take a whack at it. I'll come back and post up the results for one and all, even show pictures if you want.
FWIW, a 30-06 with an AP round fired from an 03A3 will shoot through the web of a railroad track. Cost me ten bucks plus use of my rifle and my cartridge to 'prove' this to myself. Yep, I lost the bet! Fellow assured me that they used a BAR to knock out the WWII German light armored cars and they had some 18-20mm of armor plate. He stated the AP rounds would zip right on through and "They were about as thick as the web of a railroad rail."
So, let me know how we want to set this up!
Regards,

quote:

but the '06' with AP will shoot thru a 48" thick oak

I don't know about all that.
I guess the Boys was all they had.The fun part of the story is that the two Brits had to pick up the rifle and pack it to an opening. One steadied the rifle on his shoulder and the other squeezed it off.
Both were knocked to the ground.The one up front had his eardrum broke and was really shook up.
They got the sniper though.
Get the book and check it out.

I recall as a child of the fifties and sixties shooting my 7.62R(ussian)X54 through large oak trees. I think the trees weren't 48" in dia, but they were several feet in dia(2-3') and it was lead cored ammo not AP. It impressed me and others too. In the more recent past, I like shooting my K-11. It's cousin the K-31, according to the Swiss's military manual, will shoot their lead cored GP-11 ammo through 50cm of pine(about 20") at 300m(330yds). Back to my 11 carbine. I've hand loaded 163gr US AP's on the Swiss brass to a relatively slow 2300fps(25 to 2600fps should be easily do-able). The rounds were shot into an oak and steel sandwich. The sandwich was 8" oak board, 1/4" plate, 2" board, 1/4" plate, 2........ Some rounds had the core fragment, some got spit out the sides of the sandwich, all penetrated 10"of oak and 1/4" of steel, most penetrated the third plate or got stuck in it. The best penetration went through 14" of wood and stuck halfway through the fourth 1/4" plate. The shots were at 25yds. Best-o-Luck

Before you loose any more money. South Texas along the Nueces River, 1968. Using 1917 Enfield with AP at 20 yards. With One Shot bullet went thru an oak tree approx 2 feet OD, then another oak of approx 18" then an oak of approx 10" and we found part of the casing stuck in the 4th tree about 6" OD, and we found an exit hole. So, we tried it again, same results. Lead core would go thru the first tree but not the all the way thru 2nd.

I wouldn't waste the money on a "Boys" A.T. rifle. They are fetching much more than they are really worth. A collectors item you know.

Any .50 rifle made today will do the same thing. When I did my active duty with the Army in the early '70's, i knew a guy who had one. All he ever said about shooting it was "It hurts."

If you really, really, have to have something "Cool," get a Barret M-82 and be done with it.

Regards,

Eric

Pole, somewhere in the AR archives I suppose there still exists a thread I did about these. I owned one and played with it for about a year. It WOULD be a very simple matter to convert one to .50 cal. Other than the belted case and the bullet diameter, the two rounds are very similar.

And it was a kicking bitch! Trust me on that one.

I've seen an example of both the "Boys" and the Mauser version when I worked at Apex rifle company in Flagstaff AZ in the mid 80's We had a boys action in the shop being converted to .50 BMG and the owner, Sam May, may he rest in peace, had a Mauser that he had re barreled to .50 BMG. This was before the Barret and everyone and their brother was making big 50s. Or at least before the Barret was popular and all the Johnny come latelys got on the band wagon. The Mauser that Sam had was a really impressive piece. As I recall, it was an exact duplicate of a M98 mauser but really BIG!
Occaisonally people would show up at the shop to have their picture taken with it. It was over 6' tall. One time I asked Sam what he used it for and he told me it was his "prarie dog gun". He also said he used it to break rocks at 500 yards. I miss that old fart.

This is a pic of Skip Talbot and his "Prarie Dawg Rifle".
What a guy and what a rifle.
May he rest in Peace.

Did a search on the "Boys Anti-Tank Rifle" and found this thread. I've recently come across a potential deal for one of these that have been converted to 50 BMG and was courious of their value. Currently funds are a problem but a trade or partial trade may be considered. The rifle is only in fair shape and will need a new barrel. Otherwise the rifle is complete and not missing any parts. Any ideas?
Rodney.

I'm not sure of current value, you may want to check sturmgewehr.com, I think they pop up over there once in a while. I've had the opportunity to shoot a 50 cal boyes and I thought it was wonderful rifle. It had an effective muzzle brake and was highly accurate. Good luck with it.

If you search on You Tube you can find an interesting Canadian Training Film from WWII about this weapon...made by...Walt Disney!

It is called "Stop That Tank" and is in three parts. It also calls it the Boys Rifle with no "E" but here in UK we seem to use the "E".

It is a good video though and I hope those interested enjoy it.