Worst weapon in the world. Worst firearm in the world. There are different types of weapons: both good and bad shots

06.03.2020

1. Cochran system revolver

One of the rarest revolvers. Its feature was the presence of a drum for cartridges, which rotated in a horizontal plane. Whenever a shot was fired, the spare round was pointed at the shooter. This was very risky, since in the event of wear of the metal parts of the revolver and the uncontrolled spread of hot gas after the combustion of gunpowder in the spent cartridge case, the cartridge directed at the shooter could “work”.

2. Nambu pistol (94 Shiki Kenju)

Source: radical.ru

Project of a Japanese pistol from World War II. Considered one of the worst automatic pistols. It was distinguished by low firing power, was heavy and inconvenient to use. Often gave misfires. The unfinished design of the pistol made it possible to fire even before the breech of the weapon was locked. An accidental touch of the trigger also led to a spontaneous shot. In general, as they said then, this gun was more dangerous for its owner than for his enemy.

3. Allen & Thurber (multi-barrel revolver)

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com

This type of firearm was popular before the advent of Colt revolvers. It was too heavy due to the large number of trunks. In addition, due to the fact that the shooting was carried out in bursts, all the barrels periodically fired, and all the bullets went to the target at once! As a rule, in such cases, the revolver failed, and the shooter received serious injuries to the wrist. And they sometimes exploded in the hands and were inaccurate when fired.

4. Grossflammenwerfer

Source: wikimedia.org

Heavy German flamethrower from World War II. It was a simple cylindrical tank with a compressed gas cylinder and hand-carrying brackets, connected to a hose with an arcuate outlet pipe. Its great weight required the presence of a calculation of at least two soldiers. Due to the enormous risk that this “liquid bomb” posed for its servants, as a rule, convicted felons or captured Wehrmacht deserters were assigned to the combat crew. In addition, the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, considering flamethrowers to be exclusively barbaric weapons, did not take German flamethrowers prisoner.

Martin Dougherty's The Worst Weapons in the World, a well-known contemporary military writer, chronicles a long history of over-ambitious but unsuccessful weapons.

Starting from a revolver-brass knuckles-dagger to rocket-propelled ammunition. Introducing the TOP 8 most unfortunate weapons in the world.

Submachine gun STEN MK II

Unfortunately, the mechanism of the STEN MK II pistol often did not work. In addition, there have been reports of pistol bullets bouncing off targets.

‘At the time Britain was being invaded and a lot of weapons were needed, STEN was quick and easy to assemble and it was much better than nothing,’ writes Daugherty in the book.

Country: UK
Entered service: 1940
Type: Submachine gun
Firing range: 70 meters
Capacity: 32 rounds

bazooka

One of the striking problems of the bazooka is the massive flash that it created when fired, the flash exposed the position of the shooters and gave them dust, debris and flames. Later versions of the bazooka included a rear armored shield.

‘The best thing about the bazooka was that it became the basis for the best weapons that came later,’ writes Dougherty.

Country: USA
Entered service: 1942
Type: unguided anti-tank weapon
Shooting range: about 150 meters
Capacity: Single rocket launcher / 1.5 kg explosive

Revolver Le Ma

Was another great fight idea but suffered from poor execution. Designed as a cavalry weapon at the end of the American Civil War, the LeMa revolver has a 9-round drum and one round in the lower barrel.

The shooter must switch the movable striker to select the projectile to fire. It was a great idea in theory, but in practice the weapon turned out to be very poorly designed and practically unsuitable for combat.

Country: USA
Commissioned: 1856
Type: Pistol
Shot range: 50 meters
Capacity: 9 rounds

Curved weapon

Curved weapons look like a good idea if physicists, taking it from old American cartoons, could translate it into real life.

This weapon was supposed to fire from cover, with a curved barrel - 30 and 45 degrees, and have a periscope mounted on a fairly standard assault rifle.

After wasting time and money on the design, it was decided that this rifle would be expensive and unfortunate to produce in large numbers.

Country: Nazi Germany
Entered service: 1945
Type: firearm
Firing range: 2 km
Capacity: 30 rounds

Shosha machine gun

In 1915, at the height of the First World War, the French Chauchat light machine gun showed by example what a machine gun should not be.

The weapon was poorly made to the point that it fired very hard. The trigger mechanism often clogged, and even when it worked perfectly, 20 rounds per minute was not enough for a fight.

Country: France
Commissioned: 1915
Type: Support weapon
Firing range: about 1 km
Capacity: 20 rounds

Gyrojet (rocket pistol)

The Gyrojet pistol was one of the most creative ideas in modern firearms history.

Gyrojet pistols used rocket propulsion to fire ammunition. However, the weapon was horribly inaccurate and was therefore discontinued.

Country: USA
Entered service: 1965
Type: Pistol
Firing range: 55 meters
Capacity: 6 rounds

Pistol Mars

In the early 20th century, inventors tried to create a self-loading pistol. Eventually, the Colt M1911 will become the standard, but before that, many mistakes were made, such as the Mars pistol.

The Mars was very difficult to operate and would throw used cartridges directly into the faces of the gunners.

‘About 80 were made, after which Mars was quite rightly discontinued,’ writes Dougherty.

Country: UK
Commissioned: 1900
Type: Pistol
Firing range: 40 m
Capacity: 6 rounds

Revolver-knuckles-dagger Apache

Perhaps not a single weapon on this list will surpass the promises and inefficiency of the Apache revolver. This revolver had to combine effective ingredients - a knife, brass knuckles, and a small-caliber revolver into a neat folding contraption.

The brass knuckles component works well enough, but the knife is thin and flimsy. A revolver, practically without a muzzle, which is why it is weak and inaccurate. In addition, due to a careless hook, the shooter could take unnecessary shots.

Country: USA
Commissioned: 1880
Type: For personal protection

Range: Melee

Stengun MK II

Country: UK
Entered service: 1940
Type: submachine gun
Range: 70 meters
Shop: 32 rounds

The UK needed small arms but lacked the resources and time to produce them. The result was the Sten gun MK II: it was easy to assemble and the manufacturing cost was minimal. The submachine gun often misfired; in addition, due to assembly defects, the bullets could generally lose their destructive power, barely flying out of the barrel.

bazooka

Country: USA
Entered service: 1942
Type: anti-tank weapon
Range: about 152 meters
Shop: 1 rocket

The bazooka was inconvenient to use and created problems both for the shooter himself and for the soldiers around him. However, based on these weapons, more advanced models subsequently appeared.

Revolver

Country: USA
Commissioned: 1856
Type: pistol

Shop: 9 rounds

The revolver could shoot buckshot - which, in principle, was a great idea for a personal weapon. Designed as a cavalry weapon at the end of the Civil War, the LeMat had 9 pistol rounds in the drum and one loaded with buckshot in an additional barrel. The soldier had to switch the movable striker manually to select the type of cartridge. In theory, everything worked well, in practice it turned out that the firing pin sticks in 3 out of 5 cases, leaving the owner of the revolver unarmed.

Krummlauf

Country: Nazi Germany
Entered service: 1945
Type: assault rifle
Range: 15 meters
Shop: 30 rounds

A cannon with a twisted barrel might work in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it's unlikely to work in real life. The Krummlauf was designed for shooting around corners. The shooter chose the target using a special periscope. By the time the weapon was put into production, its incredibly high cost was found out and the project was frozen.

Shosha machine gun

Country: France
Commissioned: 1915
Type: machine gun
Range: 5,000 meters
Shop: 20 rounds

At the height of the First World War, the Chauchet machine gun entered service with the French army - the embodiment of what a functional killing machine should definitely not be. Machine guns were made so carelessly that the shooter was injured due to the incredibly strong recoil. The trigger mechanism constantly jammed, but even if everything went fine, then 20 rounds were clearly not enough to support the advancing soldiers with fire.

Country: USA
Entered service: 1965
Type: pistol
Range: 300 meters
Shop: 6 rounds

The Gyrojet pistol is considered almost the most creative representatives of the species - rocket ammunition is used as cartridges. However, the pistol was inaccurate and often exploded right in the hands of the fighter, causing serious injury.

Mars

Country: UK
Commissioned: 1900
Type: pistol
Range: 300 meters
Capacity: 6 rounds

In the early 20th century, many inventors struggled to create a simple, functional self-loading pistol. In the end, the Colt M1911 was created, which became the standard for personal weapons in Western countries. But before him, the British government made bets on the Mars pistol. Difficult to operate, he, moreover, threw out the shells right in the face of the shooter.

Revolver Apache

Country: USA
Commissioned: 1880
Type: revolver
Range: melee

The designer tried to make a weapon that combines a knife, brass knuckles and a small-caliber revolver - all this was supposed to unfold like a killer transformer. In practice, none of the components worked. The knife is thin and poorly fastened in an unreliable hinge. The revolver fired appallingly inaccurately and was weak. Brass brass knuckles could damage the fighter's hand. As an added bonus, the trigger was so gentle that the owner of the Apache could easily shoot off his own manhood with just a sneeze.

The creators of modern small arms are doing their best to make life easier for a soldier. Excessive "abstruseness" of the design only leads to difficulties in operation, which is unacceptable in real combat operations. But this seemingly simple idea, the designers did not come immediately. For the last hundred years, they have been creating weapons so strange that soldiers often simply refuse to use them. Here, for example, are several real-life models of personal small arms that are considered the worst in the whole world.

Stengun MK II

The country: United Kingdom
Has been put into operation: 1940
Type: submachine gun
Range defeat: 70 meters
Score: 32 rounds

The UK needed small arms but lacked the resources and time to produce them. The result was the Sten gun MK II: it was easy to assemble and the manufacturing cost was minimal. The submachine gun often misfired; in addition, due to assembly defects, the bullets could generally lose their destructive power at the end.

bazooka

The country: USA
Has been put into operation: 1942
Type: anti-tank weapon
Range: about 152 meters
Score: 1 rocket

The bazooka was inconvenient to use and created problems both for the shooter himself and for the soldiers around him. Nevertheless, based on these weapons, more advanced models subsequently appeared.

Le Ma

The country: USA
Was put into operation: 1856
Type: revolver
Range defeat: 300 meters
Score: 9 rounds

The revolver could shoot buckshot - which, in principle, was a great idea for a personal weapon. Developed as a cavalry weapon at the end of the civil war, Le Ma had 9 pistol cartridges in the drum and another loaded with buckshot in an additional barrel. The soldier had to switch the movable striker manually to select the type of cartridge. In theory, everything worked well, in practice it turned out that the firing pin sticks in 3 out of 5 cases, leaving the owner of the revolver unarmed.

Krummlauf

State: Nazi Germany
Has been put into operation: 1945
Type: assault rifle
Damage range: 15 meters
Score: 30 rounds

A cannon with a twisted barrel might work in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it's unlikely to work in real life. The Krummlauf was designed for shooting around corners. The operator chose the target using a special periscope. By the time the weapon was put into production, its incredibly high cost was revealed and the project was frozen.

Shosha machine gun

The country: France
Has been put into operation: 1915
Type: machine gun
Range: up to 800 meters
Score: 20 rounds

At the height of the First World War, the Chauchet machine gun entered service with the French army - the embodiment of what a functional killing machine should definitely not be. The machine guns were made so carelessly that the operator was injured due to the incredibly strong recoil. The trigger mechanism constantly jammed, but even if everything went fine, then 20 rounds were clearly not enough to support the advancing soldiers with fire.

Gyrojet

The country: USA
Has been put into operation: 1965
Type: gun
Range: 300 meters
Score: 6 rounds

The Gyrojet pistol is considered almost the most creative representative of the species. Rocket ammunition was used as projectiles: the pistol was inaccurate and often exploded right in the hands of a soldier.

Mars

The country: United Kingdom
Has been put into operation: 1900
Type: gun
Range: 300 meters
Capacity: 6 rounds

Revolver Apache

The country: USA
Has been put into operation: 1880
Type: revolver
Range: melee

The designer tried to make a weapon that combines a knife, brass knuckles and a small-caliber revolver - all this was supposed to unfold like a killer transformer. In practice, none of the components worked. The knife is thin and poorly fastened in an unreliable hinge. The revolver fired appallingly inaccurately and was weak. Brass brass knuckles could damage the fighter's hand. As an added bonus, the trigger guard was so gentle that the owner of the Apache could easily shoot off his own manhood with just a sneeze.

Dream up and imagine the wars of the future: there are no tanks and machine guns, and the opponents fire at each other from electromagnetic guns with projectiles that can reach the opposite side of the Earth in a few minutes. Some of these plans have already been implemented, so future generations will not be bored. But the most dangerous weapon in the world probably has not even been invented yet.

1. Tsar bomb

The Soviet Union blew up the most powerful thermonuclear charge at a test site located on Novaya Zemlya, and only a year and a half later, N. Khrushchev “pleased” the world with the news that the USSR had a hydrogen bomb with a capacity of 100 megatons.
The political purpose of the tests was to show America its military power, since it was able to create a hydrogen bomb 4 times smaller than the power. The test was aerial - the "tsar bomb" (then it was called "Kuzkin's mother" in Khrushchev's language) exploded at an altitude of 4.2 km.
The explosion mushroom rose into the stratosphere (67 kilometers), having a diameter of 9.2 kilometers. Three times the shock wave of the explosion circled the globe, another 40 minutes after it the ionized atmosphere spoiled the quality of radio communications for hundreds of kilometers around. The heat from the explosion directly below the epicenter was so strong that it turned even stones into ashes. Fortunately, this gigantic explosion was quite "clean", since 97% of the energy was released due to thermonuclear fusion, and, unlike nuclear decay, it almost does not pollute the territory with radiation.

2. Castle Bravo

It was the American answer to the “kuzkin mother”, but much more “thin” - some miserable 15 megatons. But if you think about it, this figure should impress. With the help of such a bomb, it would be quite possible to destroy a large metropolis. Structurally, it was a two-stage ammunition consisting of a thermonuclear charge (solid lithium deuteride) and a uranium shell.
The explosion was carried out on Bikini Atoll, and a total of 10,000 people watched it: from a special bunker 32 km from the explosion site, from ships and aircraft. The strength of the explosion exceeded the calculated one by 2.5 times due to the underestimation of the fact that one of the lithium isotopes, which were considered ballast, also participated in the reaction. The explosion was ground-based (the charge was in a special bunker) and left behind a giant funnel, but the main thing is that it was incredibly “dirty” - it contaminated a large space with radiation. Many local residents, Japanese sailors and even the American military themselves suffered from it.

The German Union for Technical Inspection annually issues reports on the defectiveness of various brands of machines. Any brand that enters the technical inspection is checked at least ...

3. Atomic bomb

This type of weapon started a new chapter in military affairs. As you know, the Americans were the first to create an atomic bomb, who on July 16, 1945 conducted its first test in the desert in New Mexico. It was a single-stage plutonium device called the Gadget. Not satisfied with the first successful test, the US military hastened almost immediately to test it in a real war.
We can say that the tests in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were successful - both cities were destroyed, thousands of people died. But the world was horrified by the power of the new weapon and the one who owned it. That use of nuclear weapons on real targets, fortunately, turned out to be the only one. In 1950, the USSR got its own atomic bomb, as a result of which an equilibrium was created in the world based on inevitable retribution and mutual nuclear destruction in the event of a “hot war” unleashing.
Having acquired such a powerful weapon, the two countries had to resolve the issues of its prompt delivery to the target. As a result, strategic bombers, ballistic missiles and submarines were developed. Since the air defense system began to outperform aviation, preference was given to missiles, which are now the main delivery vehicle for nuclear charges.

4. Topol-M

This modern missile system is the best delivery vehicle in the Russian army. Its 3-stage missiles are invulnerable to any modern type of air defense. A missile designed to carry nuclear charges is ready to hit a target 11,000 km away. The Russian army has about 100 such complexes. The development of Topol-M began back in the USSR, and its first tests took place in 1994, with only one of 16 launches ending in failure. Although the system is already on alert, it continues to be improved, in particular, the head of the rocket.

5. Chemical weapons

The first mass use of chemical weapons in combat conditions occurred near the Belgian city of Ypres in April 1915. Then the Germans launched clouds of chlorine at the enemy from cylinders previously installed on the front line. Then 5,000 died and 15,000 Frenchmen, who were not ready for such a turn, were seriously poisoned. Then the armies of all countries indulged in the use of mustard gas, phosgene and bromine, far from always getting the expected result.
The Japanese in the next world war repeatedly used chemical weapons in the fighting in China. For example, when they bombed the city of Woqu, they dropped a thousand chemical shells on it, and another 2,500 bombs were thrown on Dingxiang. The Japanese used chemical weapons until the end of the war. According to rough estimates, about 50,000 soldiers and civilians died from the use of chemical weapons.
The next large-scale use of chemical weapons was distinguished by the Americans in Vietnam, who in the 60s sprayed 72 million liters of defoliants over its jungles, with the help of which they sought to destroy the vegetation in the thick of which the Vietnamese guerrillas, who so annoyed the Yankees, hid. These mixtures contained dioxin, which had a cumulative effect, as a result, people developed diseases of the blood and internal organs, and genetic mutations occurred. Almost 5 million Vietnamese suffered from chemical attacks by the Americans, and the number of victims continued to grow after the end of the war.
The last time chemical weapons were used in Syria was in 2013, with the conflicting parties blaming each other for this. As you can see, the ban on chemical weapons by the Hague and Geneva conventions does not stop the military much. Although Russia destroyed 80% of the stocks of chemical weapons it inherited from the USSR.

6. Laser weapons

This is more of a hypothetical weapon under development. So, in 2010, the Americans reported a successful test of a laser gun off the coast of California - a 32 MW device was able to shoot down 4 drones at a distance of over 3 km. If successful, such a weapon will be able to destroy targets hundreds of kilometers apart from space in a matter of seconds.

7. Bioweapon

By antiquity, biological weapons are ready to compete with cold ones. So, one and a half thousand years BC. e. The Hittites struck the enemies with a plague. Understanding the power of biological weapons, many armies, leaving the fortresses, left infected corpses there. The Japanese during World War II, in addition to chemical weapons, did not disdain biological weapons.
The causative agent of anthrax is one of the most dangerous for humans. This bacterium lives for a long time in the ground. In 2001, letters with white powder began to arrive in the American Parliament, and immediately there was a fuss that these were anthrax spores. 22 people were infected, 5 of whom died. Most often, infection can occur through skin lesions, but it is also possible to become infected by swallowing or inhaling bacillus spores.
Now both genetic and entomological weapons have been equated with biological weapons. The second is associated with the use of insects that suck blood or otherwise attack a person, and the first is able to selectively act on groups of people with a certain genetic feature. In modern biological munitions, strains of various pathogens are usually used - in this way, an increase in mortality among people exposed to it can be achieved. Preference is given to strains that are not transmitted between people, so that an attack on a specific target does not turn into a large-scale epidemic.

8. MLRS "Smerch"

The ancestor of this formidable weapon was the famous Katyusha, which was used with great success against the German army. After the atomic bomb, this, according to experts, is the most terrible weapon. It takes only 3 minutes to prepare a 12-barreled Smerch for battle, and a volley is fired in 38 seconds. This system effectively destroys modern tanks and other armored vehicles. Rocket projectiles can be launched from a remote control or directly from the cab of a car. "Smerch" can be successfully used in extreme heat and in severe cold, at any time of the day.
This weapon is not selective - it destroys armored vehicles and personnel over a large area. Russia exports this type of weapons to 13 states, including the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, India, Peru, and Kuwait. The machine with the installation is not too expensive for its efficiency - about 12.5 million dollars. But the work of one such installation is capable of stopping the advance of an enemy division.

9. Neutron bomb

American Samuel Cohen invented the neutron bomb as a variant of a nuclear weapon with minimal destructive power, but a maximum of radiation that kills all life. The shock wave here accounts for only 10-20% of the energy released during the explosion (in an atomic explosion, half of the explosion energy is spent on destruction).
After the development of the neutron bomb, the Americans put it into service with their army, but after a while they abandoned this option. The action of the neutron bomb turned out to be ineffective, since the released neutrons are actively absorbed by the atmosphere, and the effect of their action is local. Moreover, neutron charges had a minimum power - only 5-6 kilotons. But much more useful were neutron charges in missile defense systems. A neutron anti-missile that explodes near an enemy aircraft or missile creates a powerful neutron flux that disables all electronics and control of the target.
Another direction of development of this idea was neutron guns, which are a generator capable of creating a directed neutron flux (actually an accelerator). The more powerful the generator, the more powerful neutron flux it can provide. The armies of the United States, Russia and France now have similar weapons.

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10. Intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20 "Voevoda"

This is also a Soviet model of strategic weapons. NATO representatives nicknamed this missile "Satan" for its exceptional destructive power. For the same reason, she got into the ubiquitous Guinness Book of Records. This ballistic missile can hit objects at a distance of 11,000 kilometers. Its multiple reentry vehicles are capable of bypassing a missile defense system, which makes the RS-20 even scarier.

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