Gunner13
Active member
Dedicated to officially issued weapons from 1901 to 2001 that just didn’t work or work out. These are my nominations after more than a little research and investigation. There are undoubtedly many more nominations out there - and I am so glad I missed all of these :!:
1. Rifles.
a. Bolt Action - This award goes to Canada for the Ross Rifle, in any of its myriad variants or modifications 85 + :?: ). A straight pull action weapon that was over complicated and prone to jamming and damage. A good sniper’s rifle (it was retained for that purpose after its demise as an infantry weapon), but hopeless as a weapon for the basic infantryman. Luckless Canadian infantrymen started discarding the Ross as early as 1915 in favor or Lee Enfield rifles found on the battlefield :shock:
b. Automatic/Self Loading. France - Fusil Mitrailleur RSC Modele 1917, AKA the St-Etienne. A long (52.4 in/1331 mm), ugly and awkward-looking rifle that was heavy (11 lbs 9 oz/5.25 kg unloaded), cumbersome and not very reliable. Designed around the 8 mm Lebel rimmed cartridge (8x50R), this rifle was unpopular with the troops and the French Army converted all surviving rifles to manual action in 1935. Much worse than the Mauser FS Modell 15, Gewehr 41 (W) or the original M16 in its much despised “self cleaning” version.
2. Pistols. Japan - Type 94 Self-Loading Pistol. Possibly the WORST military weapon ever issued and the poster child for “Dangerous” weapons (defined as a weapon that is so poorly designed, manufactured or maintained that it poses as much or more danger to its user, or innocent bystanders, than it does to the target ). The design is so bad that it can be fired before the breech is even locked and an exposed sear bar can be released to fire the weapon if handled wrong. Definitely not a weapon to rely on in a tight situation such as combat.
3. Submachine Guns.
a. Switzerland - MP 41/44. A heavy (11 lbs 7 oz/5.19 kg unloaded), complicated, over-designed and expensive weapon that no one should have accepted for service issue, even the Swiss. Its designer was obsessed with the toggle action made famous by the Parabellum (Luger), pistol and applied here to no great effect. It was also a very clumsy weapon and holds the unique distinction of being so complex that only unit armorers were allowed to field strip them - ordinary soldiers were forbidden to do so.
b. USA - Reising M50 (close second). A complicated weapon whose action made no allowance for dirt or grit (things found in abundance down range), which caused it to jam. Worse, its very design seemed to attract fouling and/or dirt. Briefly used by USMC troops at Guadalcanal, it was soon discarded in favor of anything else they could find.
4. Machine Guns.
a. Light. France - CSRG Mle 1915, AKA the Chaucat. This has been described as the worst light machine gun ever designed and was universally hated by its users (those who survived using it anyway). A long recoil weapon (first mistake) designed for the 8 mm Lebel rimmed cartridge (8x50R)(second mistake); it was also poorly made (third mistake) of inferior materials (fourth mistake). Not content with dumping this piece of junk on its own soldiers, the French Army also convinced the US Army to take 16,000 of them. It was rechambered for US service using the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, which ensured that the weapons would shake apart, or break, even sooner than the with the 8 mm Lebel. It went on to baffle and disgust soldiers of Greece, Poland, Spain and Viet Nam (!) until the 1960s.
b. Medium/Heavy. Mitrailleuse Mle 1907, St-Etienne. Not to be confused with the rotten automatic rifle of the same name, this looser was an attempt to “improve” upon the Hotchkiss machine gun (a good weapon whose only real fault was the 24 or 30 round strip feed system) and it failed miserably. Renowned for its ability to overheat and then jam, the St-Etienne reversed the normal gas piston action (gas pressure comes in and then the piston goes back), which required a complicated system to reverse the motion to work the weapon, and placed the return spring below the barrel exposed to the elements. After numerous attempts to fix the St-Etienne, the French Army decided that it was best suited to arid climates and promptly dumped them on their troops in Morocco.
1. Rifles.
a. Bolt Action - This award goes to Canada for the Ross Rifle, in any of its myriad variants or modifications 85 + :?: ). A straight pull action weapon that was over complicated and prone to jamming and damage. A good sniper’s rifle (it was retained for that purpose after its demise as an infantry weapon), but hopeless as a weapon for the basic infantryman. Luckless Canadian infantrymen started discarding the Ross as early as 1915 in favor or Lee Enfield rifles found on the battlefield :shock:
b. Automatic/Self Loading. France - Fusil Mitrailleur RSC Modele 1917, AKA the St-Etienne. A long (52.4 in/1331 mm), ugly and awkward-looking rifle that was heavy (11 lbs 9 oz/5.25 kg unloaded), cumbersome and not very reliable. Designed around the 8 mm Lebel rimmed cartridge (8x50R), this rifle was unpopular with the troops and the French Army converted all surviving rifles to manual action in 1935. Much worse than the Mauser FS Modell 15, Gewehr 41 (W) or the original M16 in its much despised “self cleaning” version.
2. Pistols. Japan - Type 94 Self-Loading Pistol. Possibly the WORST military weapon ever issued and the poster child for “Dangerous” weapons (defined as a weapon that is so poorly designed, manufactured or maintained that it poses as much or more danger to its user, or innocent bystanders, than it does to the target ). The design is so bad that it can be fired before the breech is even locked and an exposed sear bar can be released to fire the weapon if handled wrong. Definitely not a weapon to rely on in a tight situation such as combat.
3. Submachine Guns.
a. Switzerland - MP 41/44. A heavy (11 lbs 7 oz/5.19 kg unloaded), complicated, over-designed and expensive weapon that no one should have accepted for service issue, even the Swiss. Its designer was obsessed with the toggle action made famous by the Parabellum (Luger), pistol and applied here to no great effect. It was also a very clumsy weapon and holds the unique distinction of being so complex that only unit armorers were allowed to field strip them - ordinary soldiers were forbidden to do so.
b. USA - Reising M50 (close second). A complicated weapon whose action made no allowance for dirt or grit (things found in abundance down range), which caused it to jam. Worse, its very design seemed to attract fouling and/or dirt. Briefly used by USMC troops at Guadalcanal, it was soon discarded in favor of anything else they could find.
4. Machine Guns.
a. Light. France - CSRG Mle 1915, AKA the Chaucat. This has been described as the worst light machine gun ever designed and was universally hated by its users (those who survived using it anyway). A long recoil weapon (first mistake) designed for the 8 mm Lebel rimmed cartridge (8x50R)(second mistake); it was also poorly made (third mistake) of inferior materials (fourth mistake). Not content with dumping this piece of junk on its own soldiers, the French Army also convinced the US Army to take 16,000 of them. It was rechambered for US service using the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, which ensured that the weapons would shake apart, or break, even sooner than the with the 8 mm Lebel. It went on to baffle and disgust soldiers of Greece, Poland, Spain and Viet Nam (!) until the 1960s.
b. Medium/Heavy. Mitrailleuse Mle 1907, St-Etienne. Not to be confused with the rotten automatic rifle of the same name, this looser was an attempt to “improve” upon the Hotchkiss machine gun (a good weapon whose only real fault was the 24 or 30 round strip feed system) and it failed miserably. Renowned for its ability to overheat and then jam, the St-Etienne reversed the normal gas piston action (gas pressure comes in and then the piston goes back), which required a complicated system to reverse the motion to work the weapon, and placed the return spring below the barrel exposed to the elements. After numerous attempts to fix the St-Etienne, the French Army decided that it was best suited to arid climates and promptly dumped them on their troops in Morocco.