First delivered in August 1943.
First deliveries in August of 1943 were of the Faustpatrone (Panzerfaust Klein 30) and the Panzerfaust 30. I have the impression that initially the Faustpatrone was the more common, but I don't have any solid statistics to verify that impression.
Full scale production of the Panzerfaust 60 did not begin until September of 1944, more than a year later. I have not seen any data on first deliveries, but it would have been very quick on the tails of production, I'm sure.
The figure is clearly not carrying a Faustpatrone. In fact he appears to be carrying a Panzerfaust 60. The visual recognition feature of the 60 vs. the 30 is the trigger mechanism (and associated pop-up rear sight). The 60 introduced the pop-up rear site, which served as a "safety" for the trigger mechanism -- ie: when you pivoted the site up to it's proper firing position, it pushed the trigger up from the "safe" to the "ready to fire" position. The first pic shows this clearly enough for me to be confident that it is a 60.
That said, the overall visual distinction is minor. It's only that small assembly on the side of the tube just before the cone at the front. On a 30, it would have been further back, away from the cone and without the front portion of the assembly.
Wouldn't anticipate anyone at a game calling out such a minor visual distinction (well … I don't know who YOU game with). So my purpose in calling it out is not to discourage using the figure for late 9/43 – 10/44 gaming, but just because I like to explore the details of the history …
-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)
