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Atrocious Historic Weapon Designs That Left a Lot to be Desired

Khalid Elhassan February 6, 2025 16 min

Weapon - An American general with a captured Krummlauf — An American general with a captured Krummlauf. Sandboxx

21. A Good Concept – in Theory

An StG 44 with a Krummlauf attachment. Imgur

Known as the Krummlauf, German for “curved barrel”, the device intended to fire StG 44 bullets over obstacles and around corners was a good concept. However, it failed when it was employed in the real world. Various versions of the Krummlauf were produced, with 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree bends. The 30 degree version was intended for general infantry use. The severe 90 degree one was intended to be mounted in tanks and other armored vehicles, and stick out of a port in the armor from which it could be swiveled around. The idea was to cover the dead area not already covered by the vehicles’ machine guns, and sweep infantry who got close enough to try and attach explosives to their hulls or set them ablaze with incendiaries.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.