K bullet
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The K bullet is a 7.92×57mm Mauser armor-piercing bullet with a tool steel core designed to be fired from a standard Mauser rifle.
History
The German troops first experimented the "reversed bullet" as an early anti-tank method against the British heavy tanks of World War I. This technique was crude, but proved effective against Mark I tank models, although it was not safe to use for the infantry and soon became obsolete.[1][2][3]
As a replacement, the Germans conceived the "K bullet", which was purposely developed as an armor-piercing ammunition. The K bullet was in use by the battle of Messines Ridge in June 1917 and had one out of three chance to penetrate 12–13 mm thick armor at a range of up to 100 meters.[4]
With the British deployment of the Mark IV tank, which had more armor thickness, the K bullet soon proved ineffective, leading the Germans to design highly specialized anti-tank solutions, with the creation of the powerful 13.2mm TuF cartridge and the first anti-tank rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr.[5]
Variants
The Germans made several versions of the K bullet during World War I and World War II, including:
| Designation | Full Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S.m.K. | Spitzgeschoss mit Kern | Standard steel core armour piercing bullet. It had a red rim around the primer, on case base.[6] |
| S.m.K.H.[7] | Spitzgeschoss mit Kern, Hart | Replaced the tool steel core with a tungsten carbide core. It had a red case base including primer, from 1939: red primer only.[6] |
| S.m.K. L'spur [7] | Spitzgeschoss mit Kern, Leuchtspur | Has a shorter steel core, and includes a tracer composition. May include color designation such as gelb, German for "yellow". It had a red rim around primer and black bullet tip.[6] |
| S.m.K. Ub.m.Zerl.[7] | Spitzgeschoss mit Kern Übungsmunition mit Zerleger | A very rare practice bullet which self-destructs after a certain distance. |
During the interwar period, Poland produced a copy of S.m.K. bullet designated as P bullet (przeciwpancerny) and own armour piercing bullet with a tracer, designated PS (przeciwpancerny smugowy).[6]
References
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. pp. 204–205.
- ^ "A New Dumdum Charge". New York Times. 1915.
- ^ Paschall, Rod (1994). Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918. Da Capo Press. p. 113.
- ^ Fletcher, D. British Mark IV tank. Osprey Publishing. p. 14.
- ^ "Your Tank Is Dead: Meet the World's First Anti-Tank Rifle". The National Interest. June 15, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Dąbrowski, Jarosław. Amunicja małokalibrowa kampanii wrześniowej in: "Strzał" 10/2010, pp. 18-24 (in Polish)
- ^ a b c "K98k Mauser Page". Archived from the original on 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2007-11-11.