Throughout history, humans have been inventing tools and weapons, from ancient stone tools to modern nuclear weapons. The invention of firearms marked a significant chapter in this history, leading to many iconic designs. However, not all firearms were successful. Some were so flawed that they earned a reputation as some of the worst guns ever made. Let’s explore five of these infamous firearms.
The Colt Model 1855 Revolving Carbine is a classic example of a promising design gone wrong. In the mid-1800s, the Colt Company was known for its revolvers. They attempted to adapt this design into a rifle to boost the firepower of U.S. Cavalry units. The result was a carbine with a revolving cylinder, available in various barrel lengths and calibers.
Unfortunately, the design was flawed. The hot gases from firing could ignite the remaining rounds in the cylinder, causing dangerous “cook-offs.” This led to injuries among soldiers, and the rifle quickly fell out of favor. Only about 4,400 were made, marking it as one of Colt’s worst designs.
As the 20th century began, pistols started to replace revolvers. The Mars Pistol, designed by Hugh Gabott Fairfax and manufactured by Webley, was an ambitious but flawed attempt at a self-loading pistol. It had a complex mechanism and was notoriously difficult to handle.
The Mars Pistol was powerful but had severe recoil, making it unpleasant to shoot. Its complex design led to frequent malfunctions, and it was rejected by both the War Office and the Royal Navy. Only about 70 were made before the designer went bankrupt.
The Italian Glisenti Model 1910 was intended to replace outdated revolvers in the Italian Army. However, it was too weak to handle the powerful 9mm Parabellum cartridge it was designed for, leading to dangerous malfunctions.
To solve this, a special weaker cartridge was developed, but it reduced the pistol’s effectiveness. Despite its flaws, the Glisenti was used throughout World War II, though many officers preferred older models.
The Gyrojet Pistol was a unique concept that used rocket-propelled bullets instead of traditional ammunition. This design allowed for a lighter construction and minimal recoil, but it had significant drawbacks.
The ammunition was expensive, and the pistol was inaccurate with poor velocity once the rocket burned out. Although innovative, the Gyrojet was impractical and never adopted by the military.
The Nambu Type 94 was a Japanese pistol used during World War II. It was poorly designed and manufactured, leading to numerous reliability issues. The pistol was known for accidental discharges, making it dangerous for users.
Despite its flaws, the Nambu 94 was widely used by the Japanese Army due to the urgent need for sidearms. It was nicknamed the “suicide special” due to its unreliability, and around 70,000 were produced by the end of the war.
During World War II, the Italian Army was known for its poor-quality weapons, except for those made by Beretta. Financial crises and bureaucracy led to outdated and ineffective armaments.
Italian soldiers used three models of hand grenades, all with impact fuses. They were nicknamed “Red Devils” by British soldiers due to their immediate detonation on impact.
The FP-45 Liberator was a simple, single-shot pistol designed for resistance fighters during World War II. It was intended for close-range use but was never widely distributed or used as planned.
The Shosha Model 1915 was a French light machine gun used in World War I. It was unreliable in muddy conditions and is considered one of the worst machine guns ever made.
Choose one of the firearms mentioned in the article and conduct further research on its historical context, design, and impact. Prepare a short presentation to share your findings with the class, focusing on why it was considered a “cursed” gun and what lessons were learned from its design flaws.
Create a safety poster that highlights the dangers associated with one of the flawed firearms discussed in the article. Use historical facts and illustrations to emphasize the importance of safe weapon design and handling. Display your poster in the classroom to educate your peers.
Participate in a class debate on the topic: “Is it better to innovate with new weapon designs or to improve existing ones?” Use examples from the article to support your arguments, considering both the potential benefits and risks of innovation in firearms.
Develop a timeline that traces the evolution of firearms from the Colt Model 1855 Revolving Carbine to the Nambu Type 94. Include key developments, technological advancements, and the reasons why certain designs failed. Present your timeline to the class and discuss the progression of firearm technology.
Write a short historical fiction story set during a time when one of the cursed guns was in use. Incorporate historical facts from the article and imagine how soldiers or civilians might have reacted to using such a weapon. Share your story with the class and discuss the historical accuracy and creative elements.
**Cursed Guns in History**
Since the beginning of civilization, humans have been inventing tools and weapons, from flint axes and spearheads in the Stone Age to nuclear weapons in modern times. Mankind has continually tried to improve and build new weapons that will give them an advantage over their enemies on the battlefield. The introduction of firearms marked the beginning of an exciting chapter in the history of weapons. During this period, many guns became iconic, but there were also numerous firearms that earned the title of the worst contraptions in history. This is the story of five of the worst guns.
**Colt Model 1855 Revolving Carbine**
The Colt Model 1855 Revolving Carbine is an example of how a brilliant design can go horribly wrong. In the mid-19th century, the American Colt Company established itself as a leader in manufacturing revolvers. Following the success of these handguns, Colt engineers tried to adapt the revolving chamber into a rifle design to increase the firepower of U.S. Cavalry units, which still used single-shot rifles. The result was a percussion cap revolving carbine that had a round barrel fitted to a metal frame, with the cylinder set within a closed frame design. It was manufactured in four different barrel lengths (15, 18, 21, and 24 inches) and three different calibers (36, 44, and 56). Depending on the type, the cylinders could hold five or six rounds.
Despite the engineers’ belief that their design would be a success, it proved to be a complete failure. Firing the percussion cap ammunition generated a lot of hot gases, which often found their way into the remaining chambered rounds due to the cylinder’s design. This led to “cooking off,” effectively setting off live rounds that could fire straight out of the cylinder and hit any part of the gun’s mechanism in front of them. Even though the U.S. Army adopted the Model 1855, it had a short service life. The rifle was unpopular among soldiers due to numerous cook-off incidents, resulting in burns and injuries. Only around 4,400 copies were made, making this weapon one of the worst Colt designs ever.
**Mars Pistol**
At the turn of the 20th century, revolvers began to make way for a new type of firearm: the pistol. This era was marked by some iconic designs, such as the Colt 1911, but also by unsatisfactory attempts. One such attempt was the Mars Pistol, manufactured by the renowned British Webley Company. The Mars was not a Webley product but a design by Mr. Hugh Gabott Fairfax, who made a deal with Webley to manufacture this pistol. Fairfax’s idea for a self-loading pistol resulted in a heavy and complex construction that resembled a small cannon.
Everything about the Mars Pistol was unorthodox. The top of the magazine had a steel finger that covered the topmost cartridge, meaning the only way to remove the cartridge was by pulling it backward and up into the breech block. The total capacity of the magazine was only six rounds, no more than a standard revolver. The breech block comprised an overcomplicated rotating mechanism and an external hammer. Upon firing, it recoiled along with the barrel and was held at the back of the frame. Once the barrel returned, the extractor would eject the empty case upwards, often straight into the shooter’s face.
The pistol was made in three different calibers: 8.5mm, 9mm, and .45. The .45 version was the most powerful pistol in the world at the time, but this turned out to be another problem, as the pistol jumped wildly with each shot, making it very unpleasant to use. A record from one trial noted that “nobody who fired this pistol wished to fire it a second time.” Consequently, both the War Office and the Royal Navy refused to accept it for service. Ultimately, no more than 70 Mars pistols were made before its designer went bankrupt.
**Glisenti Model 1910**
Even though unwieldy, the Mars Pistol was designed to withstand the power of the .45 cartridge, unlike the Italian Glisenti Model 1910, which was too feeble to handle the 9mm round it was designed for. The Model 1910 was made to meet the requirements of the Italian Army to replace the obsolete Bodeo service revolver. The new pistol was an improved version of the Model 1906, which was chambered for the weaker 7.65mm cartridge. However, the Glisenti’s construction was not sturdy enough to withstand the power of the standard 9mm Parabellum cartridge. Firing such a powerful round caused the pistol’s receiver to explode.
The Italians found a solution by introducing a special cartridge for the pistol, the 9mm Glisenti, which had the same dimensions as the 9mm Parabellum but with a weaker propellant charge and significantly reduced stopping power compared to other 9mm pistols. The Glisenti Model 1910 was known for another unusual feature: on its left side, it had a plate that could be removed to clean the mechanism. While convenient, this feature contributed to the overall weakness of the pistol’s frame, and the plate often opened on its own during firing.
Despite its drawbacks, the Glisenti Model 1910 was accepted for service in the Italian Army. However, with low stopping power and a magazine containing only seven rounds, it had no real advantage over the Bodeo revolvers. Many Italian officers decided not to replace their old sidearms with the Glisenti. Although the pistol remained in service throughout World War II, it was only as a second-rate weapon.
**Gyrojet Rocket-Propelled Pistol**
The history of guns has seen some peculiar examples due to the constant tendency to improve existing designs and create new concepts. One such example is the Gyrojet Pistol, one of the most unconventional guns ever made. Although it had a slightly futuristic look, the Gyrojet appeared to be just like any other pistol. However, it was anything but ordinary. The MBA Associates from California made the Gyrojet as an alternative to conventional pistols. Instead of using inert projectiles propelled by gas explosions, the Gyrojet fired rocket-propelled bullets.
To cater to the type of rounds it used, the Gyrojet had a unique firing mechanism. Six micro jet rounds were fed into the chamber from the magazine inside the grip. A hammer would strike the rocket on the nose upon pulling the trigger, driving it back against the firing pin. Once ignited, the rocket would blast through the barrel with angled vents, which released the blast pressure and spun the rocket. Because there was no gas pressure within the barrel and chamber, the system allowed for a lighter construction and produced almost no recoil.
However, the Gyrojet had several features that made it a poor gun. Firstly, the rounds were too expensive to produce. If the U.S. Army had adopted the Gyrojet, the government would have been forced to spend a fortune on ammunition if soldiers were engaged in long-term conflicts. Moreover, apart from the high maintenance cost, the pistol showed poor accuracy and significant velocity falloff once the rocket burned out. All in all, the Gyrojet was an interesting concept but completely impractical. It appeared on the market in 1965, but the American armed forces never accepted it for service.
**Nambu Type 94**
To be accepted into service in the armed forces, a gun usually has to meet certain quality and performance requirements. Occasionally, batches of poor-quality firearms find their way to frontline combat units. However, there haven’t been many cases where an entire army was equipped with a faulty gun. That was the case with the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and the infamous Nambu Type 94 pistol. It first appeared in 1934 as a replacement for the older Nambu Type 14 pistol. At the time, Japan had already begun its expansion into Asia, and the army required large quantities of sidearms quickly. The result was probably the worst pistol ever made in the history of firearms.
From the outset, the Nambu 94 was a poorly designed pistol of extremely low quality. Once the Japanese war industry became overstretched, its quality reduced to a handicraft level. Additionally, the pistol had awful ballistic performance due to a lack of balance between the short barrel and the power of the round. The Nambu 94 was only effective at close range. However, the real problem was that the pistol was extremely unreliable and posed a threat to its user. The Nambu 94 mechanism was designed in such a way that it allowed for accidental misfires before the round was fed into the chamber. Another threat was the lever mounted on the outer left side of the pistol, which connected the trigger with the firing pin. If pressed against something hard while the mechanism was cocked, the pistol would fire, posing more of a threat to the user than to the target.
There were stories of the gun being nicknamed the “suicide special” or “surrender pistol,” as it was believed that if a Japanese soldier was surrendering and handed the gun over on its side, he could press the sear and fire off one last round. This was likely a myth, as if a Japanese soldier was actually going through the pretext of surrendering, he would have something more worthwhile on his person, like a hand grenade. Despite all the drawbacks and poor quality, the Imperial Japanese Army continued using the pistol until the end of the war. Around 70,000 copies were made by 1945, with manufacturing quality decreasing each year.
**Italian Infantry Weapons in World War II**
The distinctive feature of the Italian Army in World War II was its poor and insufficient armament. While weapons produced at the famous Italian arms factory Beretta were of high quality, the rest were known for their low quality and obsolescence. The Italian industry of the 1930s was undermined by financial crises and government bureaucracy, leading to a production of weapons that did not meet Mussolini’s imperial aspirations.
**Pistols**
– **Glisenti M1910**: The Glisenti M1910 was a standard pistol of the Italian Army in World War I but remained in service until the end of World War II. It fired a unique 9x19mm Glisenti round and was unpopular in the Army, considered a second-rate pistol. However, due to the Army’s desperate need for pistols, the Glisenti was issued to Army reserves and carabinieri units.
– **Beretta M1934**: The Beretta M1934 was the most commonly used pistol in the Italian Army during World War II. It was made in two versions: the most common type was chambered for 9x17mm Corto short rounds, while the less common version was the M1935, which fired 7.65x17mm rounds for the Air Force and Navy. The Beretta M1934 was a blowback action, relatively small and light, but had less power than most service pistols of the war. Due to its good quality, the Germans continued production of the M1934 when they took over the Beretta factories in 1943.
**Rifles**
– **Carcano M1891**: The Italians used outdated single-shot rifles to arm infantry units, with the Carcano M1891 being one of the most obsolete service rifles. Introduced in 1891, not much changed about the rifle until World War II. Its main features included a modified Mauser design bolt and a magazine holding six rounds. The Carcano fired old 6.5x52mm rounds, which were already obsolete during World War I. During the Ethiopian campaign of 1935-37, Italian commanders recognized the weaknesses of the round and decided to introduce a new 7.35x51mm round. However, in 1940, it was realized that the Italian industry could not produce large quantities of the new rounds, leading to a switch back to the old 6.5mm rounds.
**Submachine Guns**
– **Beretta M1938**: Thanks to the engineers at the Beretta factory, the Italians had one of the best submachine guns of World War II. The Beretta M1938 resembled many contemporary submachine guns, but its quality of materials and finishing made it special. The weapon consisted of a long polished wooden stock with a steel tubular body and a long barrel protected by a perforated jacket. The M1938 fired a standard 9x19mm Parabellum round and was known for rarely jamming, making it popular among soldiers.
**Machine Guns**
– **Breda M1930**: The weakest category of the Italian arsenal of small infantry weapons was its machine guns. The Breda company was the leader in machine gun production in Italy. The Breda M1930 light machine gun was of poor quality and had numerous flaws, including violent recoil and jamming issues. It was the most unpopular weapon among Italian soldiers and was withdrawn from service after the war.
– **Fiat Revelli M1914/35**: This machine gun was a modified version of the Revelli M1914. Despite its bad reputation during World War I, the Italians had limited choices in machine guns in the 1930s. The M1914/35 had a low rate of fire and was prone to malfunctions, yet it was still produced in great numbers and used until the end of the war.
– **Breda M1937**: The Breda M1937 was the best Italian machine gun of World War II, but it still fell short compared to other machine guns of the time. It was gas-operated and reliable in action, although it had issues with case extraction. The M1937 was fed by 10 tray cassettes or strips, which could slow down the gunner’s assistant in battle.
**Hand Grenades**
During World War II, Italian soldiers used three hand grenade models, all designated Modelo 35. Despite having the same principle of operation, they differed in design and complexity. The simplest was the Oto Modelo 35, loaded with 36 grams of TNT and shrapnel. The Breda Modelo 35 was larger and loaded with 63 grams of TNT, while the RCM Modelo 35 had a more complicated mechanism. All three models had an impact fuse, designed to explode immediately on impact, which led British soldiers in North Africa to nickname them “Red Devils.”
**FP-45 Liberator**
During World War II, the Allies made efforts to support resistance fighters in occupied countries by delivering various weapons. One of the most curious weapons created for this purpose was the FP-45 Liberator pistol. The idea was to arm potential insurgents in occupied Europe with stealth pistols that could be used against enemy soldiers. The Liberator was designed to be easily concealed and was intended for close-range assassinations.
The U.S. government planned to produce one million of these pistols, which were made cheaply and quickly. However, despite the initial plans, the Liberators were never used on the scale intended, and most were either discarded or melted down after the war.
**Shosha Model 1915**
The Shosha or Fuse Model 1915 CSRG was the standard light machine gun of the French army during World War I. Designed in 1907, it was unreliable in muddy trenches, with dirt easily clogging the mechanism. It was regarded as one of the worst machine guns of the First World War and, according to some experts, the worst machine gun ever fielded in the history of warfare.
Guns – Firearms that are designed to discharge projectiles at high speed, often used in military contexts. – During the American Civil War, advancements in guns significantly changed battlefield tactics.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs, often focusing on significant developments and changes over time. – The history of military technology reveals how innovations have shaped the outcomes of wars.
Military – Relating to the armed forces or to soldiers, arms, or war. – The military strategies employed during World War II were heavily influenced by technological advancements.
Technology – The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry and warfare. – The development of radar technology during World War II was a pivotal factor in the Allied victory.
Design – The process of planning and creating something with a specific function or intention, often involving technical specifications. – The design of the tank was revolutionary, providing both mobility and protection on the battlefield.
Weapon – An instrument or device used for attack or defense in combat. – The introduction of nuclear weapons during the 20th century marked a significant shift in global military power dynamics.
Pistol – A small firearm designed to be held and operated with one hand. – The invention of the semi-automatic pistol provided soldiers with a more efficient means of self-defense.
Army – A large organized body of armed personnel trained for war, especially on land. – The Roman army was renowned for its discipline and innovative tactics, which contributed to the expansion of the Roman Empire.
World – The earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features, often considered in a global context. – World War I was a global conflict that involved many of the world’s great powers and led to significant geopolitical changes.
Flaws – Imperfections or weaknesses, particularly in a system, design, or plan. – The flaws in the early models of the machine gun were addressed through continuous technological improvements.
