Enfield - BSA "Boys" Anti-Tank Rifle

very interesting, and detailed information..
The Boys anti-tank rifles were the invention of Captain H. C. Boys of the British Small Arms Committee, who was also a designer at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, London, England, United Kingdom. The original name was Stanchion, but the design was renamed to honor the designer as he passed away only a few days before the design's approval in Nov 1937. The bolt action anti-tank rifles were heavy but were very effective against tanks the Germans fielded earlier in the war. Later in the war, however, the British (and other Commonwealth personnel) found that the Boys anti-tank rifles lack ample power to punch through thicker armor on newer tanks, therefore many of these anti-tank rifles became weapons against bunkers, machine gun nests, and armored vehicles. In Asia and the Pacific, however, Boys anti-tank rifles remained effective through the end of the war, as Japanese tanks did not improve in terms of armor since 1941. At times, they were also mounted on British Universal Carrier tracked vehicles as an alternative to typical Bren light machine guns.
Enfield - BSA "Boys" Anti-Tank Rifle

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Enfield_Boys_Anti-Tank_Rifle_Illustrated_Identification_List.htm Illustrated parts list..

 

Good find, Ray! It is an interesting part in weapon development and i am interested in those rifles. Sad that i couldn´t own one for our laws, except it were deactivated. In my opinions they are the Grandfathers of todays Barret and AI .50cal rifles.

Regards

Ulrich

 

One might also note that US Army Ranger battalions were officially issued 5 Boys ATRs in their equipment.

 

From the article: "It is known that the Boys ATR was used against German midget submarines near the Belgian coast during WWII, where one, returning to base part-surfaced along a canal, was fired on from adjacent cover. The vessel submerged, but the pilot/skipper was found further upstream floating in his lifejacket having abandoned the sinking craft, which had been holed low down in its diminutive "conning tower"."

Being able to claim a sub sunk would be pretty cool for a rifleman.

 

Being able to claim a sub sunk would be pretty cool for a rifleman.

cool indeed, great to pull it off.. sentinel...

 

I have a fired, tracer A/P Boys round in my collection and here it is on the right ; a .50 Browning round is on the left for comparison....




I've spoken to a few veterans who have fired the weapon ( in training ) and a loathing of the memory was unanimous......

 

2ND Raiders took at least one Boys on the Makin Raid.

 

Not sure if it's totally relevant, but even after the PIAT was issued, the Boys stayed on the strength of most British Infantry units even in Europe until well after the war, and apparently was carried and supplied with ammo, although i find few instances of it having been used in the ETO.

What I find interesting is that right through the war the Russians used their equivalent PTRD very effectively against the same German armour, against exhausts, vision devices and idler wheels especially with enough success that they were never issued a larger infantry anti tank weapon during the war.

My own experience is that a large calibre single shot weapon is very useful for long range EOD, sniping and 'positive reconnaissance', but it seems on the western front in ww2 the Boys never really got that usage.

Against the Italians in early North African operations and the Japanese in the pacific it was often used as the main weapon of even several large armoured vehicles.

The fact that the Boys (I've seen them close but not fired them) didn't really carry on in any sort of production after the war and wasn't greatly exported must mean it had some serious flaws.