Shpitalny anti-tank rifle
Shpitalny anti-tank rifle
In 1939, the Scientific Test Site for Small Arms (NIPSVO) tested anti-tank rifles developed for the use of the new 14.5x114 mm cartridge (even before the official approval of this ammunition). Among other developments of Soviet designers, such as Rukavishnikov and Vladimirov, an experimental anti-tank missile system of the Shpitalny system was presented.
The Shpitalny anti-tank rifle was a single-shot shotgun with manual loading and automatic bolt opening to increase the practical rate of fire and facilitate extraction.
The gun’s automation worked on the principle of using recoil (short barrel stroke). The barrel bore was locked by tilting the hinged bolt, supported in the locked position by a special liner. The upper part of the bolt is made in the form of a tray, through which the gun was loaded and the spent case was extracted.
The hammer-type percussion mechanism was cocked when the bolt was unlocked. The features of the Shpitalny anti-tank rifle included the trigger mechanism, which did not have a safety.
The spent cartridge case was reflected by a movable extractor fixed in the receiver.
An open sector-type sight on a high base, designed for a firing range of up to 1500 m.
An elongated flash hider is mounted on the muzzle of the barrel.
The gun was equipped with a folding bipod and a wooden butt.
The Shpitalny anti-tank rifle did not pass the tests of 1939, was not accepted into service and did not enter mass production, remaining a prototype.