PTRD-41

The PTRD-41 was the Soviet Union’s standard anti-tank rifle of the Second World War, a simple, single-shot weapon chambered for the powerful 14.5 mm cartridge and designed to be used by a single soldier. Developed by Vasily Degtyaryov in 1941, after the German invasion showed that the Red Army needed a portable anti-tank weapon that could be produced quickly and in large numbers, the PTRD-41 was adopted in August 1941 and mass-produced in the hundreds of thousands. The weapon was long, heavy and crude, with a massive recoil, but it was cheap, reliable and effective against the light German tanks and armoured vehicles of 1941–1942, and it remained in service throughout the war, even after German tanks had become too heavily armoured for it to penetrate. The PTRD-41 was used by Soviet infantry, by partisans and by the armies of several other countries, and it served in the Korean War and in other conflicts after 1945. Its simplicity and its mass production made it one of the most important Soviet infantry weapons of the war, and a symbol of the Red Army’s ability to produce effective weapons in desperate circumstances.

1. Key Facts

Type	Anti-tank rifle, single-shot
Origin	Soviet Union
In service	1941–1945 (and later in other conflicts)
Number built	Well over 100,000; estimates vary, with large-scale mass production from 1941
Crew	1 (normally operated by a two-man team in combat)
Weight	About 17.3 kg
Armour	Not applicable
Main armament	14.5 x 114 mm cartridge, single-shot bolt action
Engine	Not applicable
Top speed	Not applicable; muzzle velocity about 1,012 m/s; penetration about 40 mm at 100 m
Operators	Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and others

2. Development

The Need for an Anti-Tank Rifle

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Red Army had almost no effective portable anti-tank weapons. Its anti-tank guns were few in number, and its infantry had no weapon that could stop a German tank at close range. The Soviet high command, the Stavka, ordered the development of an anti-tank rifle that could be produced quickly and in large numbers, and two designers, Vasily Degtyaryov and Sergei Simonov, were given the task. Degtyaryov’s design, the PTRD-41, was a simple single-shot bolt-action weapon, while Simonov’s design, the PTRS-41, was a semi-automatic weapon with a five-round magazine. Both were adopted in August 1941, and both were put into mass production.

Degtyaryov and the PTRD-41

Vasily Degtyaryov was one of the Soviet Union’s most prolific weapons designers, known for the DP light machine gun and the DShK heavy machine gun. His anti-tank rifle was designed for simplicity: it had a long barrel, a bolt action operated by a handle on the right side, and a muzzle brake to reduce the recoil of the powerful 14.5 mm cartridge. The weapon was made from machined steel and wood, and it could be produced in factories that had previously made rifles and machine guns. The PTRD-41 was adopted on 29 August 1941, and production began immediately at the Kovrov Arms Factory and at other plants. The weapon’s simplicity was its main advantage: it could be produced quickly, it was reliable, and it could be used by a soldier with minimal training.

Mass Production

Production of the PTRD-41 was a major achievement of Soviet wartime industry. The weapon was produced in the hundreds of thousands, with output reaching tens of thousands per month at its peak, and it was distributed to infantry units across the Eastern Front. The PTRD-41 and the PTRS-41 together were produced in very large numbers — well over 400,000 anti-tank rifles of both types were built during the war — and the PTRD-41 accounted for a large share of that total. The weapon’s production was a priority for the Soviet war economy, because the Red Army needed every anti-tank weapon it could get in 1941–1942, when German tanks were advancing deep into Soviet territory.

3. Design

The 14.5 mm Cartridge

The PTRD-41 fired the 14.5 x 114 mm cartridge, a powerful round originally developed for an anti-tank gun in the 1930s. The cartridge fired a 64 gram armour-piercing bullet at a muzzle velocity of about 1,012 m/s, giving it a muzzle energy of about 32,000 joules, which was more than ten times the energy of a rifle cartridge. The bullet could penetrate about 40 mm of armour at 100 metres and about 30 mm at 300 metres, which was enough to penetrate the side and rear armour of the German Panzer III and Panzer IV of 1941, and the armour of light tanks, armoured cars and half-tracks. The cartridge’s power was also its drawback: its recoil was enormous, and the weapon needed a large muzzle brake and a padded butt to make it bearable to fire.

Bolt Action and Operation

The PTRD-41 was a single-shot bolt-action weapon, with a bolt that was operated by a handle on the right side of the receiver. To load the weapon, the shooter opened the bolt, inserted a single 14.5 mm cartridge, closed the bolt and fired. The weapon had no magazine, and its rate of fire was slow — about 8 to 10 rounds per minute for a trained shooter — because each round had to be loaded by hand. The weapon’s simplicity was, however, an advantage: it had few moving parts, it was reliable in the mud and snow of the Eastern Front, and it could be maintained by a soldier with minimal tools. The PTRD-41’s bolt action was also more accurate than the PTRS-41’s semi-automatic action, and the weapon was preferred by some Soviet soldiers for that reason.

Sights, Bipod and Carrying

The PTRD-41 had a simple iron sight, with a front post and a rear sight adjustable for range up to 1,000 metres, though its effective range against tanks was about 300 metres. The weapon had a bipod at the front, which supported its weight and helped the shooter to aim, and a carrying handle and a shoulder strap for transport. The weapon’s overall length was about 2 metres, and it weighed about 17.3 kg, which made it heavy and awkward to carry, especially on long marches. The weapon was normally carried by a two-man team, with one man carrying the weapon and the other carrying the ammunition, though it was designed to be fired by a single soldier.

4. Technical Specifications

Dimensions and Weight

The PTRD-41 measured about 2.02 metres long, with a barrel length of about 1.35 metres, and it weighed about 17.3 kg unloaded. The weapon was long and heavy, and its size made it difficult to use in confined spaces, such as in buildings or in trenches. The weapon’s weight was, however, necessary to absorb the recoil of the 14.5 mm cartridge, and a lighter weapon would have been unbearable to fire. The PTRD-41’s dimensions were a compromise between portability and firepower, and the weapon was, in the end, a heavy weapon for a single soldier to carry and to fire.

Ballistics and Penetration

The PTRD-41’s 14.5 mm cartridge fired a 64 gram armour-piercing bullet at about 1,012 m/s, and it could penetrate about 40 mm of armour at 100 metres, about 35 mm at 300 metres and about 25 mm at 500 metres, when fired at 90 degrees. Against sloped armour the penetration was less, and the weapon was most effective against the side and rear armour of German tanks, which was thinner than the frontal armour. The weapon’s effective range was about 300 metres against tanks and about 500 metres against soft targets, and its accuracy was good at those ranges, though the weapon’s heavy recoil made it difficult to fire rapidly.

Rate of Fire and Ammunition

The PTRD-41’s rate of fire was about 8 to 10 rounds per minute, because each round had to be loaded by hand, and the weapon had no magazine. The weapon’s ammunition was the 14.5 x 114 mm cartridge, with an armour-piercing bullet (BS-41) with a tungsten carbide core, and a standard armour-piercing bullet (B-32). The BS-41 round was more effective against armour, but it was in short supply, and most PTRD-41s fired the B-32 round. The weapon’s ammunition was heavy — each round weighed about 200 grams — and a two-man team could carry only a limited number of rounds, which was a limitation in prolonged combat.

5. Armament

The 14.5 mm Anti-Tank Cartridge

The 14.5 mm cartridge was the PTRD-41’s defining feature, and it was one of the most powerful anti-tank rifle cartridges of the war. The cartridge was developed in the 1930s for an anti-tank gun, and it was adopted for the PTRD-41 and the PTRS-41 in 1941. The cartridge’s bullet was large and heavy, and its muzzle velocity was high, giving it good penetration against the armour of 1941. The cartridge’s power was, however, also its limitation: its recoil was enormous, and the weapon needed a large muzzle brake, and the cartridge’s size meant that the weapon was long and heavy. The 14.5 mm cartridge remained in Soviet service after the war, in the KPV heavy machine gun, which is still in use today.

Effectiveness Against German Tanks

In 1941–1942 the PTRD-41 was effective against the German tanks it faced: the Panzer I, Panzer II, Panzer III and Panzer IV, and the light armoured vehicles of the German Army. The weapon could penetrate the side and rear armour of these tanks at ranges up to 300 metres, and it could disable a tank by penetrating its engine, its fuel tank or its crew compartment. The weapon was less effective against the frontal armour of the Panzer III and Panzer IV, which was thicker, and it was ineffective against the Tiger and the Panther, which had much thicker armour. By 1943 the PTRD-41 was no longer effective as an anti-tank weapon against German tanks, but it remained useful against light armoured vehicles, half-tracks and soft targets.

Use Against Soft Targets and Sniping

After 1943, when German tanks became too heavily armoured for the PTRD-41 to penetrate, the weapon was used against soft targets: trucks, half-tracks, armoured cars, machine-gun nests and snipers. The weapon’s long range and its powerful cartridge made it effective as a long-range sniping weapon, and Soviet soldiers used it to engage German machine-gun positions and observation posts at ranges up to 1,000 metres. The PTRD-41 was also used by partisans, who valued its ability to disable German vehicles and to engage targets at long range. The weapon’s versatility after 1943 showed that it was more than just an anti-tank rifle: it was a heavy, long-range weapon that could be used against a variety of targets.

6. Variants

The Standard PTRD-41

The standard PTRD-41 was the only version produced in significant numbers. It had a single-shot bolt action, a 14.5 mm barrel, a muzzle brake and a bipod, and it was made of machined steel and wood. The weapon’s design did not change significantly during its production life, though there were minor variations in the sights and in the finish. The standard PTRD-41 was the weapon issued to Soviet infantry units from 1941 to 1945, and it was the version used in the Korean War and in other conflicts after the war.

The PTRS-41

The PTRS-41, designed by Sergei Simonov, was a semi-automatic anti-tank rifle with a five-round magazine, chambered for the same 14.5 mm cartridge as the PTRD-41. The PTRS-41 was more complex and more expensive to produce than the PTRD-41, but it had a higher rate of fire — about 15 rounds per minute — and it was preferred by some Soviet soldiers. The PTRS-41 was produced in smaller numbers than the PTRD-41, with about 190,000 built, compared with well over 100,000 PTRD-41s, though the exact production figures for both weapons vary between sources. The two weapons served side by side throughout the war, and the Soviet infantry used whichever was available.

Post-War and Foreign Versions

After the war, the PTRD-41 was used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, by the North Korean Army in the Korean War and by the Vietnamese forces in the Vietnam War. The Chinese produced a copy of the PTRD-41, and the weapon was also used by the armies of several other countries, including Cuba and various African states. The PTRD-41’s post-war service was long, and the weapon remained in use into the 1960s and 1970s, though it was by then obsolete as an anti-tank weapon and was used mainly as a long-range sniping weapon and for training.

7. Combat Record

The Defence of Moscow, 1941

The PTRD-41 first saw combat in the autumn of 1941, in the defence of Moscow, where Soviet infantry used it against the German Panzer divisions advancing on the capital. The weapon’s effectiveness against the German tanks of 1941 was demonstrated in the fighting around Moscow, where Soviet anti-tank rifle teams destroyed a number of German tanks and armoured vehicles. The PTRD-41’s service in the defence of Moscow was a morale boost for the Soviet infantry, who had previously had no weapon that could stop a tank, and the weapon became a symbol of the Red Army’s resistance.

Stalingrad and Kursk

The PTRD-41 served at Stalingrad in 1942–1943, where it was used in the street fighting against German tanks and armoured vehicles, and at Kursk in July 1943, where it was used against the German Panzer divisions in the largest tank battle of the war. At Kursk the PTRD-41 was less effective than it had been in 1941, because the German tanks were better armoured, but it was still useful against light armoured vehicles and against the sides and rears of German tanks. The weapon’s service at Stalingrad and Kursk showed that it was a versatile weapon, even after it had become obsolete as a front-line anti-tank weapon.

The Advance to Berlin and Partisan Use

In the offensives of 1944–1945, the PTRD-41 was used in the advance to Berlin, where it was used against German half-tracks, trucks and soft targets, and by Soviet partisans, who used it to ambush German convoys and to attack German garrisons. The weapon’s long range and its powerful cartridge made it effective for partisan warfare, and the partisans valued its simplicity and its reliability. The PTRD-41’s service in the last years of the war was as a support weapon, not as a primary anti-tank weapon, but it remained in use because it was available in large numbers and because it was effective against the targets it was used against.

8. Operators

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was the PTRD-41’s main operator, using the weapon from 1941 to 1945 and in the post-war period. The weapon equipped the infantry of the Red Army, with one anti-tank rifle per infantry platoon in 1941–1942, and it was used on all fronts, from Moscow to Berlin. The Soviet Union’s mass production of the PTRD-41 was a major achievement, and the weapon’s service in the Red Army was a key part of the Soviet Union’s defence in 1941–1942.

China, North Korea and Vietnam

After the war, the PTRD-41 was supplied to China, North Korea and Vietnam, where it served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In the Korean War, the PTRD-41 was used by the North Korean and Chinese armies against American and United Nations tanks, though it was ineffective against the Sherman and the Pershing, which had thicker armour. In the Vietnam War, the PTRD-41 was used by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army as a long-range sniping weapon and against American helicopters and light vehicles. The weapon’s post-war service showed its versatility and its durability.

Other Users

The PTRD-41 was also used by the armies of several other countries, including Cuba, various African states and the forces of the Warsaw Pact, though in smaller numbers. The weapon’s simplicity and its low cost made it attractive to armies that could not afford more modern anti-tank weapons, and it remained in service in some countries into the 1970s. The PTRD-41’s wide distribution reflects its importance as a Soviet Lend-Lease weapon and its reputation for reliability.

9. Legacy

Mass Production and Simplicity

The PTRD-41’s main legacy is as an example of mass production and simplicity in wartime weapons design. The weapon was designed to be produced quickly and in large numbers, using simple materials and manufacturing techniques, and it was effective in the desperate circumstances of 1941–1942, when the Soviet Union needed every anti-tank weapon it could get. The PTRD-41’s design — a single-shot bolt-action weapon with a powerful cartridge — was a logical solution to the problem of producing an anti-tank weapon in a hurry, and it showed that a simple weapon could be effective if it was produced in large numbers and used correctly.

Survivors and Memory

Surviving PTRD-41s are displayed in museums around the world, including the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow, the Imperial War Museum in London and the United States Army Ordnance Museum. The weapon is a popular subject for collectors, and its large size and its distinctive muzzle brake make it instantly recognisable. The PTRD-41 is remembered as one of the most important Soviet infantry weapons of the Second World War, and as a symbol of the Red Army’s ability to produce effective weapons under the most difficult conditions.

Assessment

Historians generally judge the PTRD-41 as a good weapon for its time and purpose: it was simple, reliable, cheap and effective against the German tanks of 1941–1942, and it remained useful as a support weapon after it had become obsolete as an anti-tank weapon. Its main weaknesses were its slow rate of fire, its heavy recoil and its ineffectiveness against the heavier German tanks of 1943–1945, but these were limitations of the anti-tank rifle concept itself, not of the PTRD-41’s design. The PTRD-41’s service in the Second World War, and its long post-war career, show that it was a well-designed weapon that fulfilled its purpose.

10. FAQ

How many PTRD-41s were built?

Well over 100,000 PTRD-41s were built during the Second World War, with production reaching tens of thousands per month at its peak. The exact total is not known, because Soviet production records are incomplete, but the PTRD-41 and the PTRS-41 together were produced in well over 400,000 examples. The PTRD-41 was one of the most mass-produced anti-tank rifles of the war, and it was adopted in August 1941, after the German invasion of 1941. It was designed to be produced quickly and in large numbers, and its simplicity and mass production made it one of the most important Soviet infantry weapons of the war.

What cartridge did the PTRD-41 use?

The PTRD-41 used the 14.5 x 114 mm cartridge, a powerful round firing a 64 gram armour-piercing bullet at about 1,012 m/s. The cartridge could penetrate about 40 mm of armour at 100 metres, which was enough to penetrate the side and rear armour of the German tanks of 1941. The cartridge remained in Soviet service after the war in the KPV heavy machine gun, and the weapon was long, heavy and crude, with a massive recoil. The PTRD-41 was cheap, reliable and effective against the light German tanks and armoured vehicles of 1941-1942, and it weighed about 17.3 kg.

Could the PTRD-41 destroy a German tank?

In 1941-1942 the PTRD-41 could penetrate the side and rear armour of the German Panzer III and Panzer IV at ranges up to 300 metres. It could disable a tank by hitting its engine, fuel tank or crew, but it could not penetrate the frontal armour of the Panzer III and Panzer IV at long range. It was ineffective against the Tiger and the Panther, which had much thicker armour, and by 1943 the PTRD-41 was no longer effective against German tanks. It remained useful against light vehicles, and it remained in service throughout the war, even after German tanks had become too heavily armoured for it to penetrate.

Why was the PTRD-41 single-shot?

The PTRD-41 was single-shot because it was designed for simplicity and for rapid mass production, after the German invasion of 1941. A single-shot bolt-action weapon had few moving parts, was reliable and could be produced quickly in factories that had previously made rifles. The semi-automatic PTRS-41, which had a five-round magazine, was more complex and more expensive, and it was produced in smaller numbers. The PTRD-41 was developed by Vasily Degtyaryov in 1941, and it was used by Soviet infantry, by partisans and by the armies of several other countries.

What was the PTRD-41’s crew?

The PTRD-41 was designed to be fired by a single soldier, but in combat it was normally operated by a two-man team. One man fired the weapon and the other carried the ammunition and acted as a spotter, because the weapon weighed about 17.3 kg and its ammunition was heavy. A two-man team was more effective than a single soldier, and the weapon was long, heavy and crude, with a massive recoil. The PTRD-41 was the Soviet Union’s standard anti-tank rifle, chambered for the powerful 14.5 mm cartridge, and it served in the Korean War and in other conflicts after 1945.

Where can I see a PTRD-41 today?

Surviving PTRD-41s are displayed at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow, the Imperial War Museum in London and the United States Army Ordnance Museum, among others. The weapon is also found in private collections, and it is a popular subject for collectors of Soviet weapons. Well over 100,000 PTRD-41s were built during the Second World War, and the PTRD-41 and the PTRS-41 together were produced in well over 400,000 examples. The PTRD-41 was developed by Vasily Degtyaryov in 1941, adopted in August 1941, and it remained in service throughout the war.

11. Sources

• Gudgin, Peter. Military Anti-Tank Rifles. Osprey.
• Milsom, John. Russian Tanks 1900–1970. Arms and Armour Press, 1970.
• Zaloga, Steven. Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. Arms and Armour Press, 1984.
• Weeks, John. Small Arms of the World. Various editions.