TheBoys anti-tank rifle (officiallyRifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes") is a Britishanti-tank rifle used during theSecond World War. It was often nicknamed the "elephant gun" by its users due to its size and large 0.55 in (14 mm) bore.^[7]

Boys anti-tank rifle
Boys anti-tank rifle Mk I
Type	Anti-tank rifle
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1937–1998
Used by	SeeUsers
Wars	Second Sino-Japanese War[1] Winter War World War II Greco–Italian War Continuation War Hukbalahap Rebellion[1] Greek Civil War 1948 Arab–Israeli War[2] Malayan Emergency[3] Korean War[1] The Troubles[4]
Production history
Designed	1937
Manufacturer	Royal Small Arms Factory
Produced	1937–1940
No. built	~62,000
Variants	Mk I, Mk I*, Mk II
Specifications
Mass	35 lb (16 kg) unloaded
Length	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Barrel length	36 in (910 mm); Airborne: 30 in (762 mm)
Cartridge	.55 Boys (Kynoch &RG)
Calibre	0.55 in (14 mm)[5]
Action	Bolt-action rifle
Rate of fire	~10 round/min
Muzzle velocity	Mk I: 747 m/s (2,450 ft/s) Mk II: 884 m/s (2,900 ft/s)
Effective firing range	100 yards (91 m): 23.2mm penetration at 90°[6] 500 yards (460 m): 18.8mm penetration at 90°[6]
Feed system	5-round detachablebox magazine

There were three main versions of the Boys: an early model (Mark I) which had a circularmuzzle brake and T-shapedmonopod, built primarily atBSA in England; a later model (Mk I*) built primarily at theJohn Inglis and Company inToronto, Canada, that had a rectangular muzzle brake and a V-shapedbipod; and a third model made for airborne forces with a 30-inch (762 mm) barrel and no muzzle brake. There were also different cartridges, with a later version offering better penetration.^{[citation needed]}

Although adequate againstlight tanks andtankettes in the early part of the war, the Boys was ineffective against heavier armour and was phased out in favour of thePIAThollow charge weapon mid-war.

The firearm was developed byCaptainHenry C. Boys, assistant superintendent of design—1885-1937, who was a member of the British Small Arms Committee and a designer at theRoyal Small Arms Factory,Enfield. It was initially called "Stanchion" but was renamed after "Boys" when he died a few days before the rifle was approved for service in November 1937.^[8]

Abolt action rifle fed from a five-shotmagazine, the weapon was large and heavy with a bipod at the front and a separate grip below the paddedbutt.^[9] In order to combat the recoil caused by the large 0.55 inches (14 mm) round, amuzzle brake was fitted on the barrel while the receiver was allowed to slide along the frame with a shock absorber attached to the rear of the rifle. The Boys had been designed with numerous small narrow-slotted screws of soft steel set very tight into the body of the weapon and its repair and maintenance proved difficult.^[10]

The.55 Boys cartridge was an adaptation of the.50 BMG^[11] with abelt added firing a 47.6 g (735 gr) bullet. At its introduction, the weapon was effective on light armour 23.2 mm (0.91 in) thick at 100 yards (91 m).^[6]

Two main service loads were used during the Second World War: The W Mark 1 a 60 g (930 gr) AP projectile fired at 747 m/s (2,450 ft/s), and the W Mark 2 ammunition, 47.6 g (735 gr) AP at 884 m/s (2,900 ft/s). The W Mark 1 could penetrate 0.91 in (23.2 mm) of armour at 100 yards (91 m),^[12] about the thickness used on the frontal armour of a half-track or armoured car, or the side or rear armour of a light tank. Later in the conflict, a more effective round was developed, the W Mark 2, which fired atungsten-cored projectile at 945 m/s (3,100 ft/s). The Boys' effective range against unarmoured targets (for example, infantry), was much greater.

Despite its recoil slide and rubber-cushioned buttpad, the recoil of the weapon (along with noise and muzzle blast) was said to be painful, frequently causing neck strains and bruised shoulders. Consequently, the Boys was almost never fired as a free weapon (that is, not affixed to a support) except in emergencies.^[10]

The Boys rifle was used in the early stages of the Second World War against lightlyarmoured German tanks and combat vehicles. Britain also supplied a large number of Boys anti-tank rifles to Finland in 1939 and 1940 during theWinter War with theSoviet Union. The weapon was popular with the Finns because it could deal with SovietT-26 tanks, which the Finnish Army encountered in many engagements.^[1]

Although useful against early German and Italian tanks inFrance andNorth Africa, as well as in the Norwegian campaign, such as thePanzer I,Panzer II and early models ofPanzer III, improvements invehicle armour during the Second World War left the Boys largely ineffectual as an anti-tank weapon. A shortened version was deployed in 1942 for issue to airborne forces and saw use in Tunisia, where it proved completely ineffective because of the reduced velocity caused by the shortened barrel.^[13] A further limitation was that the Boys rifle was relatively heavy and unwieldy to carry.

The Boys' reputation after the Battle of France was such that theCanadian government, through the Directorate of Military Training,the Department of National Defence andNational Film Board of Canada (NFB) commissioned atraining film,Stop That Tank! (1942), fromWalt Disney Studios to counter the rifle's "jinx" reputation.^[14][a]

Nonetheless, in the European theatre, it was soon replaced by thePIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) in 1943, which first saw service during theAllied invasion of Sicily. In other roles, the Boys saw some use against bunkers, machine gun nests and light-skinned vehicles but was rapidly replaced in British and Commonwealth service, as quantities of the latter weapon became available, by the U.S. .50 BMG calibreM2 Browning machine gun.^{[citation needed]}

Using armour-piercing (AP), armour-piercing incendiary (API), and armour-piercing incendiary tracer (APIT) ammunition, the .50 Browning was just as capable in armour penetration^[b] and more devastating when igniting thin-skinned vehicles using incendiary rounds than the Boys, and could also serve as an effective anti-aircraft weapon. The heavier Browning, however, was not "man-portable" at 38 kg (84 lb) without tripod and 58 kg (128 lb) with tripod. Even the BritishSpecial Air Service, which made much use of captured or cast-off weapons for their jeeps and reconnaissance vehicles, quickly got rid of their Boys rifles in favour of M2 Brownings or the Italian20mm Breda cannon.^{[citation needed]}

The weapon was standard issue to British and Commonwealth forces which attempted to stem the Japanese onslaught through thePacific theatre. AtMilne Bay, the weapon proved completely ineffective.^{[citation needed]} It also failed to stopJapanese tanks inMalaya^{[citation needed]}. Some accounts claim that the1/14th Punjabi Regiment knocked out two light Japanese tanks at a roadblock.^[13] During theBattle of Singapore, the1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regiment claims the Boys was very useful in knocking holes through walls during street fighting.^{[citation needed]} After the war in the Pacific, the gun was used by theRoyal Malay Regiment to fight against communist insurgents during theMalayan Emergency.^[3]

The U.S. Marine Corps purchased Canadian Boys rifles prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. They saw limited use by theMarine Raider battalions against enemy bunkers and aided in the destruction of two seaplanes off Makin Island.^[16] The U.S. Army's 1st Ranger Battalion was also equipped with Boys, but they were not used in combat. The other five Ranger battalions were authorized Boys, but were not equipped with them.^{[citation needed]}

The Boys rifles used by theKingdom of Greece during theGreco-Italian War andGreek Civil War. 1,786 Boys 14 mm British anti-tank rifles were ordered from Greece for the direct anti-tank protection of the infantry. However, from the beginning and during the war, only 122 of them reached Greece.

The Boys rifles were also used by theChinese Nationalist Army during the lateSecond Sino-Japanese War in both China and Burma.^[17]

The Boys rifle was also equipped and used by thePhilippine guerrilla and resistance forces as well as theUnited States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL) during theSecond World War against theJapanese occupation and to aid theAllied liberation. In the post-Second World War era, it was operated by theArmed Forces of the Philippines includingPhilippine Army andPhilippine Constabulary during theHukbalahap Rebellion against the Hukbalahap Communist fighters inCentral Luzon^[1] and by thePhilippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) against the North Korean and Chinese communist forces.^[1]

In September 1965, members of theIRA hit the British fast-attack patrol boat HMSBrave Borderer with a Boys rifle, crippling one of her turbines while she was paying a visit toWaterford, Ireland.^[4]

The contemporary training manuals for the Boys directed that it was for protecting the platoon against light armoured fighting vehicles: penetrating "their armour up to about 500 yards range" and "inflict casualties on their crew, although it may not seriously damage the vehicle itself."^[18]

A manual on the Boys published for the Home Guard in 1944 gave the expected performance against armour ranging from 0.91 in (22.3 mm) at 100 yards square on to 0.35 in (8.8 mm) at 500 yards hitting at a 40-degree angle. The manual also noted that maximum penetration against other materials was 14 in (360 mm) of brick walls and 10 in (250 mm) of sandbags.^[19]

•   Australia^[20]
•   British India^[21]
•   Canada: 771 Boys Rifles produced in Canada, sold to the United States.^[1]
•   China^[17]
•   Finland – as14 mm pst kiv/37, during theWinter War and theContinuation War.^[1]
•   France – received a large shipment in exchange for25 mm anti-tank guns.^[8]
•   Ireland^[4]
• Provisional IRA used it duringThe Troubles
•   Israel^[22]
•   Kingdom of Italy – captured in theNorth African campaign.^[23]
•   Kingdom of Greece – 1,786 British 14 mm Boys anti-tank rifles were ordered from Greece for the immediate protection of the infantry. used in theGreco-Italian War andGreek Civil War.
•   Malaya^[3]
•   Nazi Germany – rifles captured after the evacuation of theBritish Expeditionary Forces in Norway and France were designated13,9 mm Panzerabwehrbüchse 782 (englisch), abbreviated PzB 782(e), inGerman service.^[24]
•   New Zealand^[25]
•   Philippines^[1]
•   Poland:Polish Armed Forces in the West^[26]
•   Portugal^[1]
•   Soviet Union – received 3,200 Boys rifles via Lend-Lease.^[27]
•   South Africa^[28]
•   United Kingdom
•   United States – used byMarine Raiders.^[24] Authorized for US Army Rangers in 1943, but not used. During the Korean War, the Marine Corps borrowed some Boys rifles from Canadian troops, strengthened the action and mounted them with scopes. They were used as long-range sniper rifles on an experimental basis, firing double charged .50 BMG ammunition. These rifles had a range of over 2,000 yards.^[29]
•  Yugoslav Partisans^[30]

The Boys rifle was sometimes mounted on vehicles such as theUniversal Carrier ("Bren Gun Carrier"),Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and theMorris CS9,Standard Beaverette andRolls-Royce armoured cars.^[8]

• Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr
• PTRD-41
• PTRS-41
• Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle

• The short filmStop That Tank! is available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive.