The 6 Most Ill-Conceived Weapons Ever Built

[MikeBravo]

I was a little disappointed that the gun shield was ranked #1.

Brings to mind the ridiculous shield devices tried by the French on the Western Front in WWI, well documented on period films.

During WWI the German snipers used a shield to fire from the trenches. One had to be an excellent shot to hit the sniper behind the shield. What the Australian troops did to overcome it was to reverse the bullet in the cartridge so that when fired the blunt end hit the shield rather than the pointy end. It didn't pierce the shield of course, but it did cause pieces of sharp metal to fly off the other side of the metal shield and hit the shooter. Not sure if it killed anyone but it made it damned uncomfortable for them.

 

[Baggers]

During WWI the German snipers used a shield to fire from the trenches. One had to be an excellent shot to hit the sniper behind the shield. What the Australian troops did to overcome it was to reverse the bullet in the cartridge so that when fired the blunt end hit the shield rather than the pointy end. It didn't pierce the shield of course, but it did cause pieces of sharp metal to fly off the other side of the metal shield and hit the shooter. Not sure if it killed anyone but it made it damned uncomfortable for them.

Spalling! I wonder if that's the inspiration for the squash head anti tank round?

 

[dr greg]

To the best of my knowledge the German infantry in WW1 used reverse rounds to the same effect against the first tanks, and could penetrate the armour with them....

 

[1961MJS]

Spalling! I wonder if that's the inspiration for the squash head anti tank round?

Hi Baggers

What you're looking for is the Munroe Effect. It's how hollow or shaped charges were invented.

Later

 

[RHY]

I prefer to roll with Yamamoto's caution against invading the United States: "there will be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

Actually, the quote is from a Japanese general made after the war. The general was asked why there was no follow up invasion of the mainland United States after the sinking of the US Pacific Fleet. He stated that the American populace had access to too many firearms and the Japanese army was not prepared to fight such a guerrilla war over a large area. They preferred an unarmed populace to enslave.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

This article was certainly good for a laugh, but little else lol

Sounds like where I live.

The reason Russia would never invade the United States was that the T72 tank with mechinized infantry could not contend with an American populace that is armed with 30-30 Winchsters and driving pickup trucks around and round making shots at them. I believe it is a sound concept.

One of our favorite movies.

Ala the movie "Red Dawn"??

Matt

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

While that list was amusing in some ways, it was only because the ideas behind the weaponry only seemed lacking in retrospect. To me, an ill-conceived weapon has to have been designed with a bad premise that was known at the time, built poorly by the technological standards of its day, and didn't meet the purpose it was designed for.

The first guy who tried to fly by flapping his wings in a home-made bird suit, while jumping off a cliff wasn't using an ill-conceived contraption. The tenth guy to try the same plan- ill-conceived.

The Mark 14 torpedo during its early use- that's an ill-conceived weapon!

 

[Chas]

Actually, it wasn't the Mk 14 so much as it was the magnetic fuses that the USN adopted without extensive testing. The USN very quickly discovered the problem - that is, the USN sub drivers who were shooting at the IJN discovered the problem. The magnetic fuses caused the torpedoes to either run too deep, not explode or to explode prematurely. The real problem was the USN Bureau of Ordnance that refused to believe that there was a problem, and they chalked up the torpedo failures to misuse by the crews themselves. They kept stonewalling until RAdm Lockwood conducted some tests and proved beyond a doubt that there was a problem with the fuses. They were finally sorted out by Sept. 1943. After that, they worked as expected and in 1944 the USN pretty much destroyed the Japanese merchant marine.

The MK 14 sank some 4,000,000 tons of shipping, so I couldn't agree that it was ill-conceived. The KM had the same problem with their torpedoes- which explains the dismal record of the KM U-Boats during the invasion of Norway. HMS Nelson was a lucky ship; she got hit with at least three KM torpedoes, all of which failed to explode.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Properly tested, both before being deployed in actual combat, and then if BuOrd has listened to the commanders using the weapon, I would've considered it a great weapon. But the totality of problems, plus the lack of useful response (blaming the subs marksmanship doesn't count as a useful response ), to my mind make the program itself ill-conceived. Different problems were masking other problems.

The problem with the depth settings were that the dummy torpedoes used in testing weren't weighted properly- the live torpedoes ran about 10 feet deeper than the setting. Once that problem was corrected, I believe by the sub captains, the exploder still didn't work properly. I don't know if it was known at the time, but the Earth's magnetic field varies. What worked off the East Coast of the U.S. didn't work in the Pacific. So they deactivated the contact exploder (as long as Admiral Christie didn't interfere)

AND there was that firing pin. Which didn't work too good either. It did fine once it was replaced.

The totality of the weapon, as it was originally deployed, was a total cussafussup. Taking almost two years to correct the problem? That was one heck of a bunch of frustrated/endangered sub crews. Which might have been understandable if it hadn't been hubris and stubbornness that SNAFU'd everything. I blame Christie.

 

[Chas]

re: Christie: No argument there.

 

[John Warr]

Rer: Ross rifle

I have always coveted a Ross. A very fine sporting rifle in a sporting caliber. BUT. The .303 adaption of the Ross was a serious mistake, never worked properly in the field & has blighted a great design. My grandfather was NOT impressed.

 

[Edward]

I found the article entertaining. I should expect to take it with a pinch of salt. The entry on the "racist" machine gun I read with horrified fascination. If made up, I would find it hilarious satire, particularly in our modern world. Knowing it was genuine is rather disturbing, and depressing.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair was surprised to find during a trip to India that the Ross rifle was esteemed as a big game weapon. In Canada it had a bad reputation from WW1 but if kept clean, it was an excellent rifle.

 

[yankeecrazy9]

Hello everyone, my name is Ben Adelman. I'm 19 years old (only since last October though, before that, I was actually 18, if you can believe that) and last year, I wrote this article. I would like to start off by thanking all of you, both for reading my article and for your insightful and very helpful critiques. I'm sorry if you were dissatisfied with the content, I can only apologize. I went with what was listed in my sources, and the editorial staff at Cracked changed some of the wording. In addition, some of the examples I wanted to use (such as the infamous Russian Tank Dogs) had already been used in previous articles, and so couldn't be used again. All in all, I suppose the 40 hours I personally put into the article wasn't enough. Since you all seem like you would be interested in guns and history, I encourage you to read and critique another article I co authored with a friend of mine a few months ago:
http://www.cracked.com/article_19702_7-awesomely-insane-guns-people-actually-used.html
The profile of me which you so kindly linked earlier in this thread is the same one I use now, as is the email address. I look forward to hearing your comments, but you'll have to hurry, since next month I'm shipping out to Texas to spend 6 months training for the Air Force. Once again, I thank you all for your commentary and your viewership, and I hope you all have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Ben Adelman

 

[RHY]

The problem with young people who like to write is that they have no effective system of learning how to write article like a real journalist. They blog, tweet or facebook and think they are "journalists". I strongly suggest you enter a good college with a strong journalism program and english department if you wish to pursue writing as career.

I was lucky to have had real journalists teach me in college who had significant experience as war correspondents in WWII and Korea, served as editors on major daily news papers and worked in the TV and radio new organizations. I was too young to understand all that they said at times, but as the years pass by I realize the valuable lessons and insight they gave to me.

Good Luck!

 

[MattieA65]

Actually, that 2nd article was funnier than the first. Back in the day, I wanted a Lemat.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Actually, that 2nd article was funnier than the first. Back in the day, I wanted a Lemat.

[video=youtube;GgnRE1vOzIg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgnRE1vOzIg[/video]

 

[Stearmen]

[video=youtube;GgnRE1vOzIg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgnRE1vOzIg[/video]

I love the looks of the LeMat, but watching the video reminds me why I have never bought one! Incidentally, I do not like the greased felt wads, I had a chain fire with them, top and bottom chamber, bent the ramrod, and ruined the pistol!