Burney Recoilless Rifle

Burney Recoilless Rifle. . , Burney 3.7 inch Mk I Recoilless Rifle , Calibre 94mm (3.7 inch) , Range approx 1km (1090 yards) , Rate of Fire Unknown , Shell weight Unknown , , The requirement for light, highly mobile anti tank weapons led to experiments with recoilless rifles during the Second World War. , , This carriage is an unusual and rare prototype for a 3.7 inch rifle which was one of three designs on trial with the Ordnance Select Committee in 1944. The barrel is simply a mock-up based on a cut down Bofors gun barrel. , It was developed by the aero engineer, inventor and millionaire Sir Dennis Burney and his Broadway Trust, work started in 1942. , , Other countries, particularly Germany were also developing recoilless weapons at the time but Burney was unaware of this work. He contrived a unique and highly effective design based around a locking breech and venturi tubes to allow gasses from the blast to escape in a controlled fashion. This effectively reduced the recoil to nil. Although this particular weapon was not adopted, its development led directly to the BAT (Battalion Anti Tank gun) of the 1950s which was subsequently modified into the WOMBAT and MOBAT anti tank guns of the 1960s and 1970s.