There have been a number of nominations for firearms in the Deadlies, our poll to find the worst gadgets ever devised. Anyone who has ever heard gun buffs arguing the merits of different weapons will know what a fertile ground this is for prejudice, questionable anecdote and reams of competing statistics without any agreement ever being reached. So if you disagree with any of what follows, you’re probably right.
Some have nominated the Chauchat, long hated as the worst weapon ever issued to US forces. It was French WWI light machine-gun which was notorious for jamming. The US tried a version chambered for 30–06 which was produced with the wrong sized chamber due to a manufacturing error. Only short bursts could be fired before it over-heated, leading to claims that you could get a better rate of fire with a bolt-action rifle.
Early models of the M-16 used in Vietnam have also been nominated on the basis of the weapon’s tendency to jam at every opportunity. The bore and chamber were prone to corrode, and the low-quality ammunition worsened problems.
But for weapons which were likely to be the death of their user, I would have to nominate the FP-45 Liberator pistol. This was mass produced in large numbers in WWII and intended to be dropped into occupied Europe for Resistance fighters. It fired a single .45 round from an unrifled barrel, giving very short effective range (10 feet or so). Reloading involved poking out the used cartridge with a stick.
Any use of the Liberator would be near-suicidal: you leap out, shouting “Eat lead, Nazi scum!” and pull the trigger, and unless you manage to kill your target with a single shot, you are now unarmed and facing an armed enemy at close range. ((Maybe it was US revenge for the Chauchat?))
The Liberator was not dropped in Europe as planned, but small numbers were apparently distibuted in China and the Phillipines.
Got a nomination for the ‘Deadlies? Send us your idea by E-mail or post it here.
– David Hambling
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The “Deadlies”: Fatal Firearms
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Good Morning David,
I don’t think the FP-45 qualifies for your dicussion here since it was never issued to American troops. But a stable mate from the same period of the “How cheap can we make school of arms design, the M-3 “Grease Gun” has and I’m told still much loved and in service with American forces.
The M-3 might be the crudist made and ugluyist weapon ever issued to Americansoldiers, mostly tank crews into the early days of Vietnam and it had it major flaw which was the magazine sometime not wanting to feed (this was usually solved buy turning the weapon up-side-down and firing)it was/is the most strainght forward weapon the U.S. has ever produces. As a Submachine Gun it out performed many of its era including the Model(s) 1927/1945 Thompson SMG that is the star of hundreds of War Movies.
Sometimes looks are deceiving.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
Skinner.. who said anything about a requirement that it had to have been issued to American troops?
You can’t list the early M16 in this list, it would be redundant. McNamara has already been listed and he was responsible for many of the early models faults. I mean honestly, who thnks chrome-lining the barrel and chamber on a military arm is too expensive or unnecessary?
I don’t think the “liberator” was deserving the rap you just gave it. It was never intended as a primary weapon. It was a cheap mass producable gun that was dropped to peasants as a “get a gun weapon”.
Very simply a single .45 is a site better than a knife. The point was not to go toe to toe it was to catch some poor Jap slippin and shootem point blank range. A knife strike (not to mention ARMS Lenght literally) unless well skilled is unlikley to immediate incompasitate so you can grab his weapon but a .45 in the chest and you got a weapon.
The idea was it was a single shot “get a gun weapon”. It fully met its intended use goals adequitley. cheap $2.10, KISS simple, and worthless if captured by the enemy but “get a gun” valuable to a poor peasant wanting to get some getback (last thing we would want to do is spend millions dropping 1911 .45 auto’s in indian country to just start finding on enemy soldgiers).
Now that emergency space rentry vehicle HOLLY SH*T hands down that is by far the most dangerous insane idea I have ever seen. I mean a Blow Up Tub with I would at least some heat tiles glued on you are on top tied in (well hopefully you stay on top) NO canopy Praying to god the thing doesn’t flip over and go parachute. Thats after you go from orbit into atmosphere rentry in itself the expectation worry alone must be worth at least 20yrs of heart life. The Heat, radiant heat exist it is not a joke or myth, so hot seat is a understatment plus being inside a fireball incoming NO canopy. Can anyone imagine a freefall were you may actually run out of air before pulling the chute. Damm Insane Sick
Steve,
Yes, I know exactly what the Liberator was intended for, and that’s why it’s so dangerous — the makers want the user to face an armed opponent at extremely close range. Just what sort of chance do you think the weapon has of a) firing correctly after being dropped from a plane and left in a field for a while and b) actually hitting the target?
Even in the unlikely case that it actually worked, it alerts every enemy in the area. If you can get within 10 feet, you’re close enough to use a knife, which doesn’t misfire and gives you all the attacks you need. And it’s silent.
The Liberator was designed by people who wanted the Germans to be harassed; their priority was not looking after the people who used it. That’s a dangerous recipe for a gun.
Now, if they had dropped single shot rifles, even trashy ones with a range of fifty yards, those would have a lot of use in guerilla warfare.
I’m glad to see that the M-16 rifle, which I “nominated”, made the list. My only gripe, as a man who used one for three years, would be the phrase “early models”. The A1/A2 were not entirely free of the deadly problems of the early “plain” models and they had several other endearing features as well…
The FP-45 was actaully intended for use as an “assasins” gun, hence the very short range, as it wasnt designed for use in firefights. The US designed it with hopes that local resistance forces would use it while in close proximity to opfor leaders and kill them with a shot to the head, hence the .45 round.
There were two Chauchats, the Model 1915 in French 8MM, the good one–as used by the French and the first eight US divisions of US troops as well as the African-American units that fought with the French.
Then there was the bad Chauchat, the CSRG 1918 which had been hastily designed and built under US pressure in .30–06 and issued to new divisions late in the war.…these were horrible and were ustly hated. However, the Model 1915 was a successful gun and represented far and away the majority of guns actually used in combat by the French and US forces.
However, US troops that had only been issued the 1918 model voiced their hatred over the chauchat
for so long that the distinction between the two have been lost. However, most photos of US troops using Chauchats are using the 1915 (good Chauchat) model. I have yet to run across a photo of any troops carrying the 1918 model (bad Chauchat). The two can be distinguished very easily. The good Chauchat (1915) has a radically curved magazine while the bad Chauchat (1918) has a straight magazine. It was the SUCCESS of the 1915 Chauchat with US forces that lead to the US’ unwise desire to have the gun hastily converted to .30–06 that caused the problem.
Later experiments proved that with just a little extra work (an error had been made in machining the chamber) the 1918 Chauchat could have been a good weapon but the US’s failure to properly test these weapons before issue is inexcusable.
But this also can not stand the feeling of virtual test, because we have feelings, and equipment can be wear by everyone, number is also. And the issue was coming, the number was stolen, the equipment and the RS gold were stolen. Perhaps the feelings of the game were greater than the reality of the feelings of the problems.
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Sometimes looks are deceiving.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
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