was basically the same as that of the PzB 38. To increase the practical rate of fire, two cases each containing 10 rounds could be attached to the sides of the weapon near the breech - these were not magazines feeding the weapon, but merely put the cartridges closer to hand for the gunner. 568 PzB 39 were used by the German army in the invasion of Poland; two years later, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, 25,298 PzB 39 were in use by German troops. Total production from March 1940 to November 1941, when production ceased, was 39,232 rifles. The PzB 39 remained in use until 1944, by which time it had become hopelessly inadequate against all but the lightest armored vehicles. Variants Starting in 1942, remaining PzB 39 rifles were rebuilt with a shortened barrel (590 mm) and an affixed Schiessbecher ("firing cup") attachment threaded to the barrel and used to launch standard rifle grenades. The cup was the standard type used with the ubiquitous Kar 98k infantry rifle and the ammunition was also interchangeable; there were three types of grenades: an anti-personnel grenade, a light anti-tank grenade and a large-diameter anti-tank grenade. The grenades were propelled by a special cartridge with a wood bullet. The rifle was also outfitted with a special sighting arrangement for firing up to 150 m and the wooden forend was removed. These converted rifles received the designation Granatbüchse Modell'' 39 (GrB 39) and remained in use until the end of the war. See also Anti-tank rifle Boys anti-tank rifle Lahti L-39 Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr PTRD-41 ― Mass produced competing design to the PTRS PTRS-41 ― Mass produced competing design to the PTRD Solothurn S-18/100 Type 97 automatic cannon Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle References External links Small Arms Review Anti-Tank Rifle History and Collecting An Introduction to Anti-Tank Rifle Cartridges Forgotten Weapons - Panzerbüchse 39 German Anti-Tank Rifle Anti-tank rifles of Germany World War II infantry weapons of Germany 8 mm firearms Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1939