Firing the Lahti 20mm Anti-Tank Gun

Aimo Lahti’s 109-pound semi-automatic rifle on skis made to assassinate tanks.

Using the Swiss 20×138mmB Solothurn Long cartridge, the L39 was readily capable of piercing 20mm of armor at 100-meters and 16mm out to 500m with enough pop to put most of the Soviet tanks of the pre-WWII era on the menu. With an 1800-grain armor piercing high explosive bullet moving at 3000fps, it generated 35,543ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle.  When you keep in mind that the .50 caliber BMG round popular in the Barrett rifle and M2 “Ma Deuce” brings 13,910 ft. /lbs of energy with a 660-grain bullet, you can see just how brutal this round was.

Brutal? Watch the video:



That looks like fun. :)