In 1941, the loss of huge amounts of anti-tank artillery created a need for a stop-gap anti-tank weapon, so famous USSR weapons designers such as Vasily Degtyaryov and Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov designed two anti-tank rifles. Rukavishnikov developed anti-tank rifle designated M1939 to use this cartridge, but it was not successful because of some manufacturing issues, a sufficient number of more effective anti-tank guns in the Red Army, and high expectations about new German tank armour. Finding the 12.7×108mm insufficient, they began development of what became the 14.5×114mm armour-piercing round. In the years between the World Wars, the Soviet Union began experimenting with different types of armour-piercing anti-tank cartridges. The PTRS-41 was produced and used by the Soviet Union during World War II.
14.5mm anti-tank rifles PTRD-41 and PTRS-41
