September 10-12, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/11/2024
World War II British PIAT with original sights, cheek and shoulder pads, and monopod. Essentially a giant (and very strong) spring within a housing which is capable of launching a 2.5 pound explosive projectile 350 feet in a direct fire role and about triple that in an indirect fire role. The propelling charge is housed in the projectile and the release of the spring in the PIAT caused the shaft to release forward under heavy tension and detonate the propelling charge in the projectile. The PIAT has been called a “shoulder fired spigot mortar”, and this is not inaccurate. This device was largely unknown to Americans (except for veterans) until the airing of the 1977 film “A Bridge Too Far”, where it was featured prominently in several scenes. There has been confusion regarding whether or not the PIAT falls under the provisions of the National Firearms Act. We have verified with the BATF that it is NOT subject to the provisions of the NFA, and it will transfer as a Curio and Relic eligible rifle. Rather than go into the history and reasons surrounding this, we will leave it at that. CONDITION: Overall appearance and finish is extremely fine to near excellent original brown painted finish with some loss in places revealing primer and brown patina with a wear pattern indicating genuine military field use (one cannot fake this to an experienced soldier). The mechanism (mechanics) is crisp and positive. This cataloger has seen a number of these over the years, but none have been superior to this specimen. An absolutely fabulous piece for the British WWII collector. Pretty much impossible to upgrade the way this specimen presents itself. Museum level quality. JWK 2024-09-059.