Strangest Gun of WWII?

[Matt Weber]

What do you think is the strangest gun design of WWII?
This should get some interesting results!

Matt

[Perry Floyd]

I would have to say the Sturmgewehr with the curved barrel.....

[Kriegrelic]

I think it has to be the American made .45 cal (?) pistol dropped via parachute to resistance groups in Occupied Europe specifically made for assassination of Germans. This weapon was made mostly of metal stampings and was to be used once and thrown away.

[Marc verstraete]

Hello,
Kriegrelic is talking about the .45 single bullet “LIBERATOR” gun.
This pistol was dropped in containers to the resistance in Europe and was to be used to kill one German and to take his weapon. We used to find them relatively easily over here but now they are become very scarce.
Marc V

[Marc verstraete]

This one is quite strange to, although I think it is of the WWI or Weimar period, this flare pistol has the WWII waffenambt on it.
Marc V.

[Ken Jasper]

That pistol could be used more than once; extra rounds could be stored in the grip along with a small wooden dowel used to push the spent cases from the chamber. I know of only one here in the US, bit I am sure that more exist in private collections.

[Marc verstraete]

You are right Ken,
this pistol can be re-used and it is possible to put a few extra .45 pounds in the grip ( This is why I show the picture with the grip plate open)
but it will only fire ones at the time and it is a difficult yob to eject the used shell out of the chamber.
To fire ,one have also to pull the firing mechanism to the rear where it blocks and then you can fire with the trigger.
Not something one can do in a battle!!! The first shot has to be the good one because there will not be a second chance!! It also has the tendency to blow up in your face after using it a few times LLL
We are almost talking about 18-century weaponry here
For the little story, there is somewhere a container with 1000 of them that was never recovered by the resistance or that has been stolen by them J
Marc V.

[Ken Jasper]

Hi Marc,

The main idea behind the "Liberator" and the single shot "Deer" pistol developed by the CIA in the 1960s, was indeed to kill someone who had a better, more effective weapon and then to take that weapon. The "Deer" pistol was in 9mm Parabellum vice .45 auto. The "Deer" is the direct descent of the "Liberator."

[Marc verstraete]

Here some more pictures of strange weapons I had the pleasure to discover during my research for adrenaline rush:
The American UD 42 (united defence model 42) also to be dropped to the resistance. Notice the double upside down magazine ( ancestor of the taped AK 47 magazines??)
The German sten-gun ( Highly scarce)
And the British sten-gun with silencer and pistol grip
Marc V.

[Panzerschreck]

My understanding is that the Marlin UD M-42 was an excellent gun. It fired the 9mm round & was used mainly for clandestine ops; the US govt. bought 15,000.

The strangest weapon of WWII was of course Joseph Heller's Lepage glue gun, which could stick together a whole formation of bombers in midair.:-> (Catch-22).

[Doug See]

Originally posted by Panzerschreck
My understanding is that the Marlin UD M-42 was an excellent gun. It fired the 9mm round & was used mainly for clandestine ops; the US govt. bought 15,000.

The strangest weapon of WWII was of course Joseph Heller's Lepage glue gun, which could stick together a whole formation of bombers in midair.:-> (Catch-22).

Anyone have a photo of the Marlin?

[admcdonald]

What would be even better would be an action photo of the Lepage in action.
Regards:Andrew

[Marc verstraete]

Hi Doug,
The Marlin UD gun is the one on the bottom photo that I send yesterday, I thought I was clear in my text describing it? It is the one with the double upside down magazine.
The one on the photo is missing the bold and firing mechanism, I received it from a former resistance man in Belgium. He had hidden it for 30 years in his farm and unfortunately the item suffered a lot from this.
Marc V.

[Doug See]

Marc, you did. I just didn't read carefully enough. Thanks.

[Matt Weber]

Marc,

I love that flare gun! that is just too cool!
I do think the Liberator pistol was a very desperate gamble. I mean if you were that close to someone, why don't you just take his gun, or stab him? Have you ever tried to shoot one? Good luck. It takes two minutes just to load and cock the damn thing!

I would have to say the Japanese weapons were the strangest of WWII.
The type 94 pistol is pretty weird. this gun was poorly made, poorly designed and was more dangerous to the men who carried it than to the enemy! It had an exsposed seer, which when force was applied to it, would fire the weapon!
I also would have to put the substitute 99 rifle in with that. Better known as the "last ditch" type 99.
Also some Japanes machine guns were strange. Like the type 91, with that "hopper" feed system. Neat idea, but it must not have been too effective, since no other Japanese machine guns later in the war have it. I really love the stock shape on the type91 MG though! That really has some style to it!
One of the strangest ones though, is the type14 Nambu pistol/sword! This gun was basically a type14 pistol with a sword fitted into the grip! When you ran out of ammo, you were suppose to use the sword in some heroic charge or something!? Very strange!

Matt