Tanks obsolete WW1

No technical reason why the .50 anti-tank rifles could not have been around in 1914 instead of 1917/1918. For the tanks of WWI this works pretty well. Really can't have tanks much earlier than OTL due to the inadequate engines, however with a bit earlier engine development might see armored cars in Russo-Japanese War, maybe Balkan Wars and this would prompt earlier production of .50 cal anti-tank rifles. This will not make tanks "obsolete" however.
 
No technical reason why the .50 anti-tank rifles could not have been around in 1914 instead of 1917/1918. For the tanks of WWI this works pretty well. Really can't have tanks much earlier than OTL due to the inadequate engines, however with a bit earlier engine development might see armored cars in Russo-Japanese War, maybe Balkan Wars and this would prompt earlier production of .50 cal anti-tank rifles. This will not make tanks "obsolete" however.



The bullets existed for years prior to 1914. Buffalo or elephant guns were in the .50 range and could have been adapted. And ww1 armored car or tank armor wasn't totally proof against normal armor piercing rounds. And having to open a window to see out got a lot of tankers blinded, wounded, or killed outright.
 
The 1.1" Maxim 'Pom Pom'

640px-QF1pounderGunIWMApril2008.jpg


From the Imperial War Museum.

Some were used in the Boer War on field carriages rather than the high angle AAA mount here

The German one was build under a Maxim license



This is excellent, bolt it on a truck (as was done with field guns) and there's a mobile anti-tank gun that'll absolutely slaughter ww1 tanks.
 
There were not anti-tank guns in 1914 because there were no tanks to destroy then, there was no pressure to find measures against them.

To have AT guns in that time, you need to introduce the use of tanks well before 1914 and, really, I cannot find a single reason why any European power would need to have tanks in their armies. You had armored cars in the Italio-Turk war, but that was all.
 
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