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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

20. A Good Idea That Failed When Put to the Test

20 an american general with a captured krummlauf. sandboxx

The Krummlauf’s curved barrel wore out quickly and grew distorted from the pressure of the rounds fired. In a best case scenario, the 30 degree curved version had a lifespan of only 300 rounds. There was no way to predict whether the 90 degree one would last a few dozen rounds, or explode with the first shot fired. After the war, the US military tested the Krummlauf at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, and discovered that the bullets usually failed to even exit the barrel. Instead, they broke in half or fragmented into smaller pieces when they hit the curve, and the result was an unintended shotgun effect that made the device useless for any but very close distances.

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.