Disney Boys Rifle Training (Part 2)

[50zcarsman]

In Tobruk, you had to be desperate to shoot at a tank with this thing -- b/c it meant that, provided it had no better target, the tank could also shoot at YOU. Unless you were well dug-in, you were quickly toast. I used the Boys mostly against prime movers and any command car that was stupid enough to blunder into (the rifle's pretty short) effective range. Usually, German off-board batteries would lay smoke on my Brits, tho, until the panzers broke out of it 3 hexes (225m) from my pos.

[50zcarsman]

Puts me in mind of the old Avalon Hill boardgame, Tobruk. The Boys ATR was a prominent part of most scenarios' British order-of-battle in the early days of the '41-'42 campaign (Gazala battles). BTW, in the game it can break a track or mess up up the target's optics given a very lucky hit, but IIRC bounces off any armor (even side armor) thicker than that of an Italian M-13/40. TONS of dice...

[kyleemelio2]

@WarGamerHistorian The bazooka was not the recoiless rifle they were two very different things.

[phantom12321]

I'm a WWII reenactor who depicts the British Army, specifically in the BEF. I would love to get my hands on one of these. Most have been sleeved for .50 cal as .55 is both unavailable and illegal (deemed a destructive device). They go for 8-10K though and my hobby dollars are nowhere near that.

[beardo52]

@phantom12321 The Boys rifle can be gotten for sums closer to the $4,500. range, less if its been dewatted. The .55 ammo isnt illegal, but there probably isnt alot of it left. .50 cal brass can be used it reworked to hold the .55 bullet, and would certainly work for blanks. Conversion to .50 cal is a popular mod, if for nothing more than taking the gun out of NFA rules. (lots of paperwork, and red tape)

[thatsrougue55]

poor cow :(

[MatrixTails]

lol,7:34

[3oMethylmorphine]

do you really have to lead that far on a tank only 300 yards away ?

[kevjkx]

This weapon was referred as "Charlie the bastard" by our Australian cousins, due to the heavy kick! from the recoil

[nastybeasts]

the marines corps used it too.

I think it is a marine that shoots the gun, canadian uniform of 40's are greener than this one.

[ctaylor252]

I like how the guy shooting the gun dosn't have ear muffs.

[KINGD1991]

heh yea i noticed that too,, poor guy.

[termanedieter11]

meby he's a deaf actor, lol. (jk)

[NukeSocks]

Video was apparently made for Canadian armed forces.

[WarGamerHistorian]

Probably, because the Americans used the M1 recoiless rifle the Bazooka

[chunkymonkey0724]

finally disney makes something worth watching

[Neocon2008]

You mean Disney quit making stuff worth watching.

[hcig]

you speak the truth, good sir.

[masterDevis]

You mean "Why don't you watch where you're shooting?!"

[xxjabboxx]

thats wird it ca go in a tank but it cant kill a cow let should ride cows in to war then ahy?

[psurichie]

look at the size of those bullets!! I heard that they gave them to the biggest Marines in in the Pacific.

[oreo4president]

pistol grip seems like it would be uncomfortable to hold.

[Gahu1]

That's what most people think when they see that angle. However, imagine how you hold a rifle. Look at how cocked your wrist is. With the angled grip like that, there is no cocking of the wrist.

The angle you see on handguns is to compensate for recoil. However, for a rifle like this, most, if not all of the recoil of the energy is delivered to the shoulder.

[yowatsaywat7]

Were any of these rifles actually used a long-range sniper rifles during the war?

[Nobody45700]

2 I belive, but nobody really like using it.

[hans2406]

I have shot this rifle a few years ago in Holland. It is indeed very impressive, and the range was 500+ meter, guess it might go further.

The ammo is very scarce, and bloody expensive. No reloading kits available, yet. When having shot the rifle, silence on all the other ranges. Recoil: fabulous! Three tracks in the sand after shooting on the place where I had positioned myself behind the rifle, two feet and something else in between. Ever get the chance to shoot, do it!!!

[Nobody45700]

When ever I get the chance to shoot any weapon from the past and present I do. I would love to actually shoot one of these monster guns.

[chopperhead2011]

I didn't know that Disney did this kind of stuff, I learned a lot

[creationode]

simply educational film. very beautiful too. they did a great job.

[elli782]

What about the russian PTRS 41 ANTI- tank rifle?

[holyguacamoly290]

if this is educational tv then i wouldnt mind watching this

[ESX90]

aah...old propaganda and training films...

[jives11]

My father was a Royal marine in WWII and trained on the Boys. Most European countries had Anti tank rifles in service at the outset but were mostly outclassed early on by heavier armour. My father said that the recoil was pretty painful (it was a .55 AP round - look at the cartridge size in the video) and was largely ineffective on German tanks after 1940, but was a forerunner of the long range sniper rifles (Barret) of today

[dalzilla]

Was it .50 cal? was it a unpopular rifle? you never see much of it in WWII pics & such.

[daltonagre]

With the AP projectile available today, Boys rifle is a museum's piece.Today, a .50 AP that can perfurate more than 40 mm of steel at 300 yeards away.

[daltonagre]

Boys antitank rifle was too weak against german tanks after 1942.Today, with Barrett rifle, anti-tank rifles are back.

[GotIt123]

Not excatly(lol), .55 Boys is more powerful then .50 BMG. And the barrett line of rifles are used against light armor (such as light APCs and tansport trucks). .50 BMG wil takeout a Brinks truck but not any true tank.

[Wally1967]

Great training video for world war 2 online players(google - battleground europe WW2OL)

[MacHamish]

Cool info vids thanx for posting these.

Lots of good info.

[ZOGMACHINE88]

hahaha that cow got owned. thats was a cool vid its was like a guns for dummys video

[PsychoSnowMan]

You're welcome, it's from a DVD "Walt Disney On the Front Lines". Worth checking out if you're interested in this stuff.

If you haven't yet you should look for Der Fuhrer's Face on youtube, it's another great video like this one.

[baman12]

BRILLIANT!! thanks for submitting this i really like these kind of info films the convey a great sense of what attitudes where back then!