Editing PIAT (section)

==Ammunition and effect==
The PIATs' ammunition used the shaped charge principle, which, if the often unreliable early round design delivered it correctly to the target, allowed the warhead to penetrate almost all enemy armour types at close range.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=Christopher |title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaweap00bish_882 |url-access=limited |date=2002 |publisher=MetroBooks |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58663-762-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaweap00bish_882/page/n210 211] |edition=First}}</ref>

The following ammunition types were available in 1943.<ref name="War Office Manual"/>
* Service bomb - "Bomb, HE/AT"
** Manual says green, but museum examples seem to be brown.
** AT shaped charge warhead design. Supplied with the propellant cartridge fitted and the fuse separate. 
** Versions:
*** Mark I, 1942, Nobels 808 plastic explosive filling, green band
*** Mark IA, reinforced central tube
*** Mark II, revised nose fuse
*** Mark III, revised nose fuse, TNT filling, blue band
*** Mark IV, July 1944, revised construction to reduce rearward fragmentation and "back blast" of warhead explosion.
** Also useful as a general-purpose HE blast type round
* Drill -"Bomb, drill/AT"
** Black, marked "drill"
** Same shape as a live round, for dry loading practice. Cannot be fired or dry fired.
* Practice bomb - "Shot, practice/AT"
** White
** Cylindrical thick steel construction, effectively a sub-calibre practice round. The PIAT requires a trough-like adapter to use it. Economical as it may be fired many times with new propellant cartridges. Trajectory slightly different to service bomb.
* Inert - "Bomb, practice inert/AT"
** Black, yellow ring, marked "inert"
** Same size and weight as a live round, no warhead, but has a live propellant cartridge. It can be fired once from a standard PIAT, it is not re-usable.

Rounds were supplied in three-round ammunition cases with the propellant cartridge fitted and the fuses separate.

Getting the bomb to detonate reliably against angled targets was troublesome and was addressed with revised fusing. See also the [[bazooka]], which had similar early problems.

The 1943 manual simply describes the service bomb as "H.E." or "HE/AT" and does not mention shaped charge as such. It notes that the bomb has "Excellent penetration. The bomb can penetrate the armour of the latest known types of enemy A.F.Vs. and a considerable thickness of reinforced concrete". It also notes that it may be used "as a house-breaker".