This is a fine example of the classic World War II British PIAT launcher manufactured by the Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd in 1943. Originally designed in 1942, this was the British equivalent to the U.S. Bazooka, and it was used from 1943 through the end of World War II and into the early 1950s, eventually being replaced by the U.S. M20 Super Bazooka. These weapons can be seen in any technically correct/authentic World War II movie. The acronym "PIAT" stands for Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank gun, and although it is termed as a gun/rifle it actually is really a spring loaded, spigot or plunger fired grenade launcher. The weapon works by cocking the extremely heavy internal spring (located inside the body of the tube) which pulls back the heavy steel plunger mounted in the front end, then inserting a 2.5 pound shaped charge bomb. Inside the tail of the bomb was a small firing cartridge that was ignited by the steel plunger and which propelled the bomb. It had an effective range of approximately 115 yards as a direct fire anti-tank gun and 350 yards as an indirect fire mortar. The PIAT had several advantages over other infantry anti-tank weapons including the absence of back-blast, minimal muzzle smoke/signal to reveal the position of the firer, and an inexpensive barrel/mechanism. It also had its disadvantages, including soldiers having difficulty cocking the weapon, its heavy weight of approximately 33 pounds "unloaded", fragility of the barrel, very heavy/powerful recoil, and some issues with ammunition reliability were encountered early on. However, it was the only truly effective man portable British anti-tank weapon available throughout the war, intended as a replacement for the prior Boys anti-tank rifle which had limited armor penetrating capabilities due to the rapid advancements in tank armor. It features a set of very rudimentary flip up front and rear sights with the back sight having three sighting hole (apertures) marked "50", "80" and "111" yards for direct fire, with a sliding aiming sight on the left side for indirect fire. The indirect fire sliding sight has a built in bubble level and is marked "HA (high angle) 1 2 3 370 (meters)" followed by "3 2 1 LA (low angle)" at the end. It has a single pistol grip/firing mechanism. Includes its monopod.