A reversed bullet was a German

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

method for penetrating the armor of the British heavy tanks of World War I.

History

At their inception in 1916, the British

Mark I tank British heavy tanks were a series of related armoured fighting vehicles developed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, UK during the First World War. The Mark I was the world's first tank, a tracked, armed, and armoured vehicle, ...

proved nearly impenetrable to standard rifle fire. The first attempt at boosting the power of German infantry rifles was the "reversed bullet". This used the same case and bullet as a normal round, except with the bullet seated backwards and additional propellant added to the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge. When fired, the blunt end of the bullet hit the target first. The bullet did not as readily deflect or break apart against armor plating like a normal bullet would, but transferred most of its kinetic energy to the steel plate on impact. Used against World War I tanks, the reversed bullet sometimes penetrated into the tank compartment, but more often it severely indented the plate armor of the tank. This caused a spray of metal fragments (

spall Spall are fragments of a material that are broken off a larger solid body. It can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ba ...

) that injured or killed the crew of the tank, as effective as a full penetration into the tank compartment. At short range, armor required a minimum thickness of one-half inch/12.7 mm in order to stop a reversed bullet. The allies spread stories that reversed bullets were illegal, improvised, expanding bullets used by Germans against French infantry at short ranges. German reversed bullets were however factory loaded and offered no advantage over non-reversed bullets if used against infantry. The reversed bullet sometimes damaged German rifles, often injuring its users. This made it unpopular with German infantry. Later in World War I, the Germans developed the armor-piercing

K bullet The K bullet (from German 'Kern', core) was 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 Army first employed a " reversed bullet" with a heavier powd ...

for use against heavier British tanks.

References

External links

Backwards bullets at The Box O' Truth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reversed Bullet Ammunition Military tactics Anti-tank rounds World War I

History

See also

References

External links