Rocket Propelled Grenade 7 (RPG-7) Polish and German Manual Translation Needed

[Bunker Dog]

Hello. I am looking for someone who knows Polish and someone who knows German who can translate sections of the DDR RPG-7 manual and the Polish RPG-7 manual about markings on the rockets and their transport boxes. (These are sections that do not exist in the Russian RPG-7 Manual but contain useful information.)

Please contact me if you can do such a translation.

Included is a scanned image of the manual covers:

 

[Bunker Dog]

Here is a color-corrected scan of the manual covers that may be easier to read:

 

[tomc769]

You might try finding a collage or university near by . See if they have a lang. dept. maybe you might be able to get a student to translate. Plan B , check and see if they have any Polish or German students who would be willing to translate for a few bucks. Hope this helps.

 

[HAZORD]

Since you are looking for translations related to ammo, which is very specific, you might have better luck with some of the other ammo related forums on the internet. I hate to send you somewhere else, but the WKIIammo forum has a lot of members that speak other languages. If no one there can translate, they still might be able to point you to someone who can.

 

[botcheg]

You might try this online translator, http://www.microsofttranslator.com/, I typed the bottom line (sposoby i zasady strzelania)in the box, selected "Polish to English" and got "ways and principles of shooting". Translating a whole page would be tedious especially if, like me, you can't type but it's a start.
Bill

 

[Bunker Dog]

I want to show the covers of the English versions of the RPG-7 manual. These are based on the Russian manual, presumably:
These are two English ones I have. The first is free online (PDF file) and the second is often $80-$90:

The "Tradoc" PDF File is available here:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/rpg-7.pdf
...the orange one is available here:
http://www.paladin-press.com/category/s?keyword=gebhardt (may be out of stock)
...or here:
http://www.amazon.com/Official-Soviet-RPG-Manual/dp/1581605676 (looks like some are available cheap)

The one was made by a company that sells RPG-7 stuff:

...it is available here (for about $40):
http://www.bhigear.com/practicalgui...oftherpg-7rocketpropelledgrenadelauncher.aspx

This is the original Russian manual, this version below is from 1986. It is surprisingly tiny in size.
The orange English manual above is a translation of the Russian 1967 manual.

These are regularly available on eBay now:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=RPG-7+%28Russian%2CSoviet%29+Manual&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Manuals from other countries appear to have identical information to the Russian 1960's-1990's manuals except that the Polish and East German manuals go more in-depth about Rocket type identification and about the construction of some components in the rockets.

 

[Songun 4.25]

Here ya go:



Pic 77: Markings on the warhead

1 – Designation of the warhead
2 - Designation of the explosive filler
3 - Factory, lot and year of filling the explosive
4 - Factory, lot, year and quality check sign for the manufacuring of the balllistic cap and grenade body

Pic 78: Markings on the sustainer motor

5 - Designation of the sustainer motor
6 - Factory, lot and year of filling the sustainer motor
7 - Designation of the propellant
8 - Factory, lot and year of manufacturing the propellant
9 – Designation of the ignition charge
10 - Factory, lot and year of manufacturing the ignition charge
11 – Designation of the delay element
12 - Factory, quality check sign, lot and year of manufacturing the delay element
13 - Lot, year and factory of filling the grenade

Pic 79: Markings on the sustainer motor (reverse)

14 - Lot of manufacturing the sustainer motor, lot of casting the nozzle block
15 - Factory, lot and year of manufacturing the sustainer motor
16 - Quality check sign and lot of casting the shaft

Pic 80: Markings on the propelling charge

17 - Designation of the propelling charge
18 - Designation of the propellant and also it’s lot, year and factory of manufacturing
19 - Lot, year and factory of filling the propelling charge


Hope this might help. I will also translate the other pages you need later.

 

[Songun 4.25]

Here's the rest:



Pic 81: Markings on the broad side of the crate

1 - Designation of the grenade
2 - Lot, year and factory of filling the grenade
3 – Quantity of grenades
4 – Gross weight of the crate with grenades
5 – Designation of the fuze
6 - Factory, lot and year of manufacturing the fuze
7 - Designation of the sustainer motor
8 - Factory, lot and year of filling the sustainer motor


Pic 82: Markings on the right narrow side of the crate

1 - Designation of the warhead
2 - Factory, lot and year of filling the explosive
3 - Designation of the explosive filler


Pic 83: Markings on the left narrow side of the crate

1 - Designation of the propelling charge
2 - Lot, year and factory of filling the propelling charge




@ Bunker Dog: Could you upload the pages from the Polish manual, please? I'd like to give it a shot and translate it too (though this might take a bit more time).


Regards Michael

 

[Bunker Dog]

Thank you, Songun 4.25... is your version of the East German manual also from 1978? The pages appear to be the same as mine. I just scanned the 6 pages in the Polish manual concerning RPG-7 rocket identification and left pointers to the uploaded files for you in a private message. Funny, this section exists in the Russian RPG-2 1954 manual, but not the Russian RPG-7 1967 or 1986 manual. After this we can focus on the translation of the pages of the East German and Polish manuals concerning the VP-7 fuze, about which the two manuals have much more in-depth information and much better diagrams than the Russian manual.

I just got a new book, with some interesting information... it's published by Osprey Publishing (who admittedly do not always have accurate information, especially their paintings and some types of bias)... the books are generally for people who do modeling and wargames with figurines. The book is called "The Rocket Propelled Grenade" and was published in 2010, cover price is 12.99 pounds sterling/$17.95 USD:
http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Propelled-Grenade-Weapon/dp/1849081530

Here are a couple pages concerning rockets, reproduced here for educational purposes:


Also, I have recently done research about the RPG-7 Rocket Carrying Bags:

I have noticed the main differences in RPG-7 bags seem to be divided along the design of the Russian bag vs. the East German bag. You can see the differences in the attached scans I made from Russian and East German manuals... The Russian 3 rocket pouch for the assistant gunner has 2 horizontal buckle (half-ring/d-ring) components on the front, and two buckle components on the side flaps. The Russian 2-rocket pouch for the gunner has 2 horizontal buckle components on the front and 2 buckle components on the side flaps, as well as the pocket for the cleaning rod is in the center behind the 2 rocket pockets. In contrast, the East German assistant gunner (3 rocket) pouch has no buckle components on the front and 3 buckle components on each of the side flaps, while the 2 rocket gunner pouch has no buckle components on the front, 3 buckle components on each of the side flaps, and the pocket for the cleaning rod is in front on the right hand side of the booster charge pockets. There is a 3rd (newer?) style... it has two vertical buckle components on the front and main flap (which is triangular instead of a rectangle) of both bags. It seems that different countries have different variations of the bags. I have also heard of a "transport bag"... it appears to carry 3 rockets in a photo I have seen but I'm not sure what it's about since I have not seen it mentioned in manuals. In addition there is the Chinese Type 69 RPG bag which appears to hold plastic transport tubes that contain the rockets.

One other thing... people, remember to make sure your inbox for private messages isn't full!

 

[Songun 4.25]

Yes, my manual is from 1978, too. I got it on ebay.

These pouches are indeed interesting. I have also two in my collection.:


The first one ist similar to the one in your posting. It is made in GDR and from the late 1980s. It can accommodate three grenades including propelling charges.



The other pouch is for just two grenades. There is also a pocket for the cleaning kit (witch i do not have yet) right above the propelling charges. The small tools and spare parts pocket is also present. The pouch is made of heavy canvas and presumably soviet. But i can't tell for sure, since there are no markings.




Here's the part on the VP-7 Fuze. I am hoping that the translation is matching. Some terms are quite hard to translate properly. Any suggestions are welcome.



Pic 73: Head part of the fuze, cut – view

11 – Contact
12 – Insulator
13 – Rubber seal
14 – Fuze Body
15 – Piezoelectric element
16 – Safety cap
17 – Fixing nut
18 – Diaphragm
19 – Contact
20 – Plug
21 – Pull flag


Pic 74: Base part of the fuze, cut – view

1 – Support disc
2 - Locking spring
3 – Steel ball to the safety bolt
4 – Retaining ball to the slide
5 – Fuze body
6 - Safety bolt
7 – Insulator housing
8 – Booster charge
9 – Detonator
10 – Detonator cap with contact
22 – Steel disc
23 - Spring support
24 – Slide
25 – Squib ignition device
26 – Spring to the slide
27 – Contact section
28 – Insulator section
29 – Central contact cap



Pic 75: Position of the parts of the base fuze in unengaged state (cut – view)

30 – Socket for the propellant safety
31 - Propellant safety
32 - Safety bolt
33 - Delay element
34 - Ignition charge cap
35 – Ignition cap
36 - Locking spring
37 - Firing pin


Pic 76: Squib ignition device ЗЖ-1 of the fuze, cut – view

38 – Cover cap
39 – Sleeve
40 - Ignition charge
41 – Outer electrode
42 – Insulator
43 – Celtral electrode
44 – Spring to the contact sleeve
45 – Contact sleeve
46 – Electrode spacer


Regards Michael

 

[Fragman]

Hi Bunker Dog. Here's the photo's you requested of the Chinese RPG7's. They turned up a couple of years ago on the local market. They werent in the best condition, but were quite complete. They had been repainted, which I removed from two of the ones I had; carefully trying to preserve the stenciling underneath. I understand they were made by Norinco in the 1980s. Cheers

 

[Bunker Dog]

Nice. Apparently its easy to spot a Chinese Norinco HEAT rocket because the Body section overlaps the Casing/Aerodynamic Cover, while with Russian Bazalt HEAT rockets it's the other way around.

 

[Fragman]

Hi. Great info, Thanks, I'd never noticed. Cheers

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

You might try this online translator, http://www.microsofttranslator.com/, I typed the bottom line (sposoby i zasady strzelania)in the box, selected "Polish to English" and got "ways and principles of shooting". Translating a whole page would be tedious especially if, like me, you can't type but it's a start.
Bill

I've used internet translators before with great success translating a 76 page book written in the 1900's style of German into English. I first up scanned all of the pages and then put them through OCR software to convert to Microsoft Word text. It was then easy to paste sections into 3 different internet translators. I would use three at a time to compare translations and thus ensuring higher accuracy. I also used an online German / English dictionary which gave closest matches in order to check up on where the translators failed due to specialist terms or changes in language.

The result was so good that a when it was viewed by a person specialising in translating of German anthropological material into English, he commented that my German was better than his and refused to believe that it was done using the internet.

You also need a good knowledge of the subject being translated which is in this case not a problem. Also get a hold of a translation of ordnance terms, there should be something on the internet. I have seen similar with English equivalents of French ordnance terms.

If you put your mind to it, it can be done.

Good luck,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[Bunker Dog]

Actually, I just looked at my own Russian PG-7 rockets, and they have the overlapping body section. So I think it's like this: the original Russian PG-7 (with no letters after the 7) have the body (lower part of the "grenade") overlapping, and the Chinese HEAT rockets have this too (and maybe the PG-7V does but I'm not sure - in the manual diagram it isn't but a photo says otherwise) .. but the Chinese rocket body seems to have a bit more of a gap between the top of the body where the isolator ring is, and where the aerodynamic cover starts. I guess I'll have to directly compare pictures of both tho, to see for sure.

 

[Songun 4.25]

At request of Bunker Dog, heres the rest of my translation. Again, any suggestions are welcome.



Page 122:

Packaging and inscription of the grenades and inscription on the crates

1. Packaging of the grenades:

The grenades are packed into a crate to six pieces including propellant charges and are secured with insertions.


2. Inscription on the grenades


By the inscription it is possible to determine production and loading data of the explosive, the propellant, etc. (Examples for the inscription pic 77 to 80).

The warhead of the shaped charge - grenade and it’s sustainer motor are painted green and have black stenciling. The warhead of the shaped charge – grenade bears the explosive – designation A – IX – I.

The warhead of the practice – grenade (it’s loaded with a filler mass and it’s designated just for training purposes) is painted black and has white stenciling. The warhead of the practice – grenade bears the inscription “Инертная”

The sustainer motor of the practice – grenade is painted green and has black stenciling.

The drill – grenade is painted black entirely. On the warhead of the drill – grenade is the designation “Ex” with white paint stencilled.


Page 125:

To notice:

1. Before handling any grenades all personnel is to insistently instruct about their inscription, so to prevent mixing-up and touching of duds.

2. The character height on the grenades is 8 mm.


3 . Inscription on the crates:

By the inscription it is possible to determine the type of munition, it’s quantity, gross weight, etc. (Examples for the inscription pic 81 to 83).
The crates are painted green and have black stenciling.


Regards Michael