Solothurn S-18/100

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Solothurn S-18/100 20 mm Anti-Tank Cannon
Type	Large caliber rifle
Place of origin	Switzerland
Service history
Used by	Finland
Wars	World War II
Production history
Variants	Solothurn S-18/1000, Solothurn S-18/1100
Specifications
Weight	45 kg without magazine
Length	176 cm (85 inches)
Barrel length	92.5 cm (57 inches)
Cartridge	20 × 105 mm B
Caliber	20 mm
Action	semi-automatic
Muzzle velocity	735 m/s with a Hungarian APHE-T round
Feed system	10 rounds box magazine

The Solothurn S-18/100 20 mm Anti-Tank Cannon was a Swiss anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It had a semi-automatic action in a bullpup configuration. As a result of its large, powerful ammunition the gun had a tremendous recoil, and its size made portability difficult. The feed was either from five or (more usually) ten round magazine that was attached horizontally to the left side of the gun. The gun used 20 × 105 mm belted case ammunition which it shared with the S 18-350 aircraft cannon that was developed from the rifle. A Finnish source gives armour penetration of the gun (probably achieved with the Hungarian APHE-T round since it was the only type used in Finland) as 20 mm in 60 degrees angle at 100 m distance, decreasing to 16 mm at 500 metres.

In March 1940, with funds collected in Switzerland to help Finnish war effort in Winter War, Finland bought twelwe S 18-154 anti-tank rifles from Solothurn, though nominally purchaser was the Swiss army. The weapons arrived into Finland during the spring after the war had ended, but they were later used in the Continuation War. However, the guns were soon found to be obsolete in their intended role. Various models of the S-18 series, including the Solothurn S-18/1000 and the Solothurn S-18/1100 were also used by Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

The Solothurn firearms company was owned by the German firm Rheinmetall, and used the Swiss company to manufacture arms which were prohibited for manufacture by any German firm, to get around arms limitations imposed upon them at the end of the First World War.

[edit] References

• Pitkänen, Mika & Simpanen, Timo. 20 mm Suomessa - Aseet ja ampumatarvikkeet ennen vuotta 1945
  20 mm in Finland - Weapons and Ammunition prior to 1945. Apali, 2007. ISBN 978 952 5026 59 7