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Concept
Anti-tank rifle
Summary
An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried and used by one person, but is sometimes used for larger weapons. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armor became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other "soft" targets, though recoilless rifles and rocket-propelled grenades such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-layer defense against tanks.
The tug of war between armour and projectiles had been developing for a long while among naval vessels, since the advent of the ironclad. It wasn't until soldiers met armoured vehicles that the conflict of infantry firearms and armour began. The introduction of armoured cars and tanks resulted in the development of the first anti-tank weapons, among the first of which were high-powered rifles. These had appeared in the 19th century for big-game hunting. The anti-tank rifle followed the same route: a large bullet with a high velocity and the ability to penetrate armour.
The first tanks, beginning with the British Mark I launched against the German trenches in World War I, were nearly impregnable to ordinary rifle fire. Most armoured cars were similarly protected, but troops rarely faced armoured cars, as they could not navigate the landscape of trench warfare very well. Though tanks and armoured cars were vulnerable to artillery, mortars, and grenades, infantry was at a significant disadvantage when facing armoured fighting vehicles since they had no effective direct fire weapon, with the exception of the ubiquitous trench mortar, improvised on the spot. In the direct fire mode, this weapon was manhandled by German infantry over the front of a trench wall and fired at low angles by eye at approaching enemy vehicles.
Official source
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