2.8 Cm S Pz B 41 - Development and Production History

Development and Production History

The cone-bore principle was first patented in 1903 by a German designer Karl Puff. In the 1920s and 1930s another German engineer, Gerlich, conducted experiments with coned-bore barrels which resulted in an experimental 7 mm anti-tank rifle with muzzle velocity of 1,800 m/s.

Based on these works, in 1939–1940 Mauser-Werke AG developed a 28/20 mm anti-tank weapon initially designated Gerät 231 or MK.8202. In June–July 1940 an experimental batch of 94 (other sources say 30) pieces was given to the army for trials. The trials resulted in some modifications and in 1941 mass production of what became 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 started. One piece cost 4,520 Reichsmarks (for the sake of comparison, one 5 cm Pak 38 gun cost 10,600 Reichsmarks). The last gun was built in 1943; the main reason for the discontinuance was lack of tungsten for projectiles.

Production of sPzB 41, pcs.
1940 1941 1942 1943 Total
94 349 1030 1324 2797
Production of ammunition for sPzB 41, thousands.
Shell type 1940 1941 1942 1943 Total
Fragmentation - 9.2 373.3 130.1 512.6
Armour-piercing 156.2 889.5 270.0 278.1 1602.8

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