8.8cm Raketenwerfer 43 Puppchen? Anyone has stats and info on performance in war? here´s pics http://www.kithobbyist.com/IPMSNewZealand/Nats01/images/pupchen.jpg
8.8cm Racketenwerfer 43 (Puppchen) Caliber: 8.8cm Length of Barrel: 63in Weight: 315lb Barrel: Smoothbore Feed System: Single Shot System Of Operation: Closed Breech Rocket Launcher Elevation: -14 to +23 degrees Maximum Range: 750m Muzzle Velocity: 460ft/sec Penetration: 100mm/0 degrees Manufacturer: Westfalische Anhaltische Sprengstoff AG, Reinsdorf In 1944 the German Army requested designs of a light AT gun for infantry use. One of teh designs put forward was the Puppchen, developed by Dr. Erich Von Holt of the WASAG of Reinsdorf. In effect, the weapon is the 8.8cm 'Panzerschreck' Rocket Launcher mounted on the carriage of the schweres 2.8cm Panzerbusche 41 taper-bore gun (by this time now obsolete), and with the rear end of the launcher closed by a breech mechanism of sliding block pattern. This did away with the back blast, and by confinign the rocket, increased velocity and range. The projectile was the same rocket propelled hollow-charge bomb as used with the Panzerschreck, but with the addition of a sealing unit on the end of the tail drum which resembled a short cartridge fuse. This prevented gas leaks. The exact number of RW43 which saw use is in some doubt; some reports speak of 'several', others refer to it as a prototype. Obviously it did not meet the requirements of the Army in one respect in that it still used a rocket, and the demand was for a weapon using less propellant than a rocket solution. But it seems likely that upwards of a hundred were actually in teh hands of troops when the war ended, and those few accounts that there are seem to indicate that the weapon was successful.
Panzerknacker, just out of interest did you get that from an Ian Hogg book? If so what do you think of it? I think it is an excellent volume on the subject of WW2 weapons. It also has an excellent photograph of the weapon in question.
The only way this little almost non mobile and hard to fire weapon could have success was if it was dug in behind a hill. As noted the back blast gave it's postion away every time and it was said that the little gun had a few faults and the simpler and a shortened barrel Panzerschreck seemed to fullfill the Panzerjäger's needs much more sufficiently
Yeah Stefan-Hogg's book 'Infantry Weapons Of WW2' is great, and It really is a great reference source, as well as a well-written documentation of all WW2 ordanance.
