Panzerfaust

Caution was to be paid to the backblast of the weapon, it created an explosion blast of two to three meters ( 6.5 - 10 ft.) behind the tube.Therefore on many Panzerfausts, especially the early panzerfaust 30 m, a warning in large red letters printed on the upper rear part of the tube advised to stay clear:
Achtung! Feuerstrahl! ("Beware ! Fire Jet !"; see pic. below of four Panzerfaust 30 in delivery crate).
Sometimes other variations of this warning were stenciled on the upper rear. But the backblast wasn't only dangerous to bystanders: the rear of the firing soldier had to be free of obstacles for at least 3 m (10 ft.), otherwise heavy burns on the back of the firing soldier would result. Officially the rear of the gunner had to be free for 10m for safety reasons and the backblast was reported as lethal to a range of 3m behind the tube.
Mostly the fiery backblast, but also the atmospheric pressure and the relative hazardousness of the blast's smoke put heavy restrictions on indoor use; this holds true even more for the Panzerschreck.Despite the seemingly easy usage and the fact that simple usage instructions were printed onto each weapon, many accidents happened because of wrong handling of often ill-trained personnel, sometimes also because of material defects of the weapons themselves.Although officially a single-use throw-away weapon, the used tubes of the all the Panzerfaust weapons were usually collected and returned for rearmament at the factory.

Faustpatrone
Development of the so-called Faustpatrone ("Fist-Cartridge") started in the summer of 1942 at the german company HASAG with the development of the smaller forerunner-prototype called "Gretchen" ("little Gretel") by a team headed by Dr. Langweiler in Leipzig. The basic concepts of a recoilless cannon and a rocket were combined into a weapon for the first time.

The following first weapon model of the Panzerfaust-family, the so-called Faustpatrone klein, 30m ("Fist-Cartridge small") had a total weight of 3.2 kg (7.05lb) and a total length of 98.5 cm (38.78 in.); it's projectile had a length of 36cm (14.17 in.) and a warhead diameter of 10cm (3.94 in.); it carried a shaped charge of 400g (14.11oz.) of a 50:50 mix of TNT and Tri-Hexogene. The propellant consisted of 54g (1.9 oz.) of black powder, the metal launch tube had a length of 80cm (31.5 in.) and a diameter of 3.3cm (1.3 in.) (early models reportedly 2.8cm(1.1in.)). Fitted to the warhead was a wooden shaft with folded stabilizing fins (made of 0.25mm (0.01 in.) thick spring metal). These bent blades straightened into position by themselves as soon as they left the launch tube. The warhead was accelerated to a speed of 28 m/s (92 fps), had a range of about 30m (100 ft.) and an armor penetration of up to 140mm (5.5 in.) of plain steel. Soon a crude aiming device similar to the one used by the Panzerfaust was added to the design; it was fixed at a range of 30m (100 ft.).
Other designations of this weapon were Faustpatrone 1 or Panzerfaust 30 klein; however, it was common to refer to this weapon simply as the Faustpatrone. 20,000 were ordered and the first 500 Faustpatronen were delivered by the manufacturer, HASAG Hugo Schneider AG, Werk Schlieben, in August 1943. Two main problems had already surfaced much earlier in the weapon's trials: First, the original model did not have a sighting device. Second, due to the odd shape of the warhead (see pictures) it tended to ricochet off or explode with less effect on sloped armor, especially on the russian T-34. Since these problems surfaced already early in testing, the development and production of it's successor, the Panzerfaust 30, had already begun by the time of the first deliveries. Still, the small and simple Faustpatrone klein was kept in production well into 1945.

Panzerfaust 30
Initially designated Faustpatrone gross or Faustpatrone 2, this larger weapon quickly adopted the suggestive name Panzerfaust ("Tank-Fist") and the weapons with the larger warheads were henceforth commonly referred to under that name. The first direct successor model to the Fautpatrone klein was the Panzerfaust 30 m, developed to iron out the problems encountered during early trials with the Faustpatrone klein, providing for sights - fixed at 30m (100 ft. ) range - and a change in the warhead's shape. The Panzerfaust 30 too was developed by Dr. Langweiler's team.
As the next step in development it therefore increased the warhead diameter to 14cm (5.5 in.) which increased the contact area to a 5cm-diameter (1.97 in.). The charge's amount of explosives was doubled (800g - 28.2oz.) which in turn increased penetration to 200mm (7.87 in.).
Because of the greatly increased overall size of the warhead the stabilizing fins accordingly were considerably enlarged
( left: Faustpatrone klein - projectile, right: Panzerfaust - projectile ), too.

The new tube had a diameter of 4.4cm (1.73 in.), the propellant now weighed 95g (3.35 oz.); the projectile now measured 49.5cm (19.49 in.) and weighed 2.9kg (6.39 lb). The resulting projectile velocity was 30m/s (100 fps) which again made for a range of roughly 30m (100 ft.). The complete weapon now weighed 5,1 kg (11.23 lb) and had a length of 104.5cm (41.14 in.) (other sources: 103cm). Panzerfausts were supplied and transported in wooden crates that contained four complete weapons.

Deliveries on the first order of 50,000 began in August 1943 with 6,800 pieces. Production ran until August 1944, then it was switched over to successor, the Panzerfaust 60. The first large quantity of this weapon made available to the Wehrmacht, the german armed forces, was the delivery of 8700 pieces in September 1943.

Panzerfaust 60
Since the small distance of 30m to the target tank necessary for the use of the Panzerfaust 30 m was considered too dangerous, the propellant of the successor model Panzerfaust 60 m was increased to 134g (4.73 oz) in the next development. This increased projectile velocity to 45 m/s (150 fps) which made for a practical range of now 60m (200 ft.). The sight reflected this with crevices for ranges of 30, 60 and 80 meters (100, 200 and 260 ft. resp.). Tube diameter increased to 5cm (1.97in.). Again, these developments were made by Dr. Langweiler for the company HASAG. Other changes included the new arming / firing system with the new lever that also served as the rear sight. This new model, the Panzerfaust 60 m, was to become the most popular and widely - used Panzerfaust type. The weapon had the same length as its forerunner but now weighed 6.1 kg (13.4 lb.). It replaced the Panzerfaust 30 m, production started in September 1944. Early production plans for the Panzerfaust called for 400,000 pieces per month. This figure was not met until October 1944. By then the request had been increased in September to 1.5 million per month, this was almost achieved in December 1944 with close to 1.3 million produced. A large number of different companies produced the Panzerfaust, the major contributor was the HASAG Hugo Schneider AG Lampenfabrik in Leipzig.

Panzerfaust 100
Further development lead to a new firing tube with a two-stage propellant of now 190g (6.7 oz), resulting in a projectile speed of 60m/s (200 fps) and a range of 100m (330 ft.). Consequently the model was termed Panzerfaust 100 m and deliveries started in November 1944. The weapon's outward appearance remained largely unchanged by this modification, not even the tube was lengthened (other sources: increased to 115cm), only the weapon now weighed 6.8 kg (15 lb.), had a tube diameter of 6cm (2.36in.) and the sight was now creviced for ranges of 30, 60, 80 and 150m (100, 200, 260 and 490 ft. resp.). The crevices now also featured glow paint chips for firing at night.

Panzerfaust 150
The Panzerfaust 150 was a major redesign (see picture). Development began in January 1945, again at the company HASAG. The reinforced firing tube now was reusable for up to 10 shots. The completely newly designed warhead now was more pointed, resulting in a new projectile length of 56cm (22 in.). The pointed warhead increased detonation distance from the target surface, which together with a new explosive material made for an increased armor penetration performance of over 200mm (7.87 in.) although less explosive was used. Propellant amount was increased as well, which with a projectile speed of 85 m/s (280 fps) accounted for the range of 150m (490 ft.). In March 1945 orders for a first production run of 100,000 were made and production started, but only a very small number was actually delivered to the army before the war's end.

Panzerfaust 250
The last development of the Panzerfaust-series was the Panzerfaust 250. It used a reloadable tube and now featured a pistol grip. With propellants in both the firing tube and on the projectile itself it was projected to reach a projectile speed of 150 m/s (490 fps). Serial production was scheduled to begin in September 1945. However, the development of this weapon never got completed and not a single one was produced.

Early 1945 rumors, mostly from prisoner interrogations, had it that the russians were about to introduce a new heavily armored superheavy tank, called the "Schtschuka" (russian; "Pike"), into service at the eastern front soon. Immediately work on a corresponding anti-tank weapon began.
The submission from the company HASAG envisioned a so-called Grosse Panzerfaust ("Large Tank-Fist") based on the tube of the Panzerfaust 250 and a warhead capable of penetrating 400mm (15.75 in.) of steel.
Dynamit Nobel, another company, suggested the Hecht 10,5cm ("Pike", obviously because of its intended target) , a combination of the old Pionierhohlladung H 15 ("Engineer Shape Charge"), of which over 6000 were still in the armories, with the rocket propellant stage of the old RZ 65, an aircraft smoke rocket the Luftwaffe had never used in action. Diameter of the warhead would have been 26.5 cm (10.43 in.), the projectile itself would have been almost 90cm (35.43 in.) long. The firing tube had a caliber of 10.5cm (4.13 in.). Besides the fact that rarely any of the RZ 65s were left (most had been scrapped), trials showed that at least two propellants would have been necessary to shoot the warhead, which weighed over 15 kg (33 lb), to a distance of 100m (330 ft.).
Finally it was agreed upon a projected compromise of a new 7kg (15.4 pounds) shaped charge that was to have a range of 100m (330 ft.). Both the russian tank with the reported armor of 300 - 400mm (11.8 - 15.75 inch) and the AT weapon intended to counter it never materialized

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