Nazis’ World War II The crooked barrel weapons, which were used during World War II and later developed by other states for a period of time, were one of the surest and easiest solutions to achieve victory against the enemy. Because the person shooting with this gun was not visible at all.
So what other functions did these specially developed rifles have? Why did he just try it? Who knows what else would have happened if it had been implemented?
Developed by the Nazis, the Krummlauf is a type of barrel designed specifically for the StG-44 rifle.
This interesting design aims to enable the shooter to shoot from corners without revealing himself. Although there are 30, 45, 60 and 90 degree versions on paper, only the 30 degree version was produced for the StG-44.
But this special design doesn’t just have advantages; Its biggest disadvantage was that the shot life was limited due to the high pressure the barrel was exposed to. These weapons have a limited lifespan of 150-300 shots.
Krummlauf, developed against enemy soldiers, is also known to be used by tank crews. Especially when German Commander Ferdinand Schörner’s tank destroyer did not have a machine gun, StG-44 rifles mounted on Krummlauf were used as machine guns.
The US tested this particular barrel system on the M3 Grease gun; however, these attempts resulted in limited hits.
In American trials of the Krummlauf, it was determined that the accuracy was good enough to hit only the enemy area. The first examples were seen in the Korean War, and were later introduced in the popular magazine of the period, LIFE, in 1953.
The Russians similarly tested this inclined barrel system on their PPSH rifles. However, these models were not preferred due to their impractical use and low barrel fire rate. The advantage of these weapons was limited to the fact that they could be turned in any direction and fired from wherever they wanted.
These weapons are generally known as curved hulls.
Although this barrel type was used in various weapon types of the German Land Forces Wehrmacht, the most famous one is the one we mentioned above, the World War II. It was hidden in the design of the StG 44, the standard assault rifle that appeared in the second half of World War II.
The Sturmgewehr 44 was one of the most important German assault rifles. Near the end of the war, approximately 450 thousand units of this weapon were produced. Among all modern machine guns, this was the first to be produced in large quantities and stood out.
Unlike many submachine guns of the period, the fire range of these trapezoidal barreled weapons was much longer than others. This was achieved by using a cartridge that was a transition between an intermediate gun and a rifle. This cartridge had better ballistics and was also more powerful than the pistol cartridges commonly used in submachine guns.
The Krummlauf was designed on army order by the German company Rheinmetall in late 1943.
The first prototype of the water gods, Krummerlauf, which appeared to be very effective in trenches at distances of up to 150-200 meters from tanks, was mounted on the Mauser K98K, a standard German carbine (rifle). This rifle, which went through many test firings, could never be used outside of testing.
The reasons for not using it are that the shooting life is not long, the tip often cannot withstand the pressure when firing, and it breaks, making it one of the technologies that have become obsolete.
If the Nazis had effectively developed crooked barrel weapon technology in the direction they predicted, perhaps things would have been very different for all of us today. Who knows, maybe this scene in the movie Wanted will be possible with technology in the future!
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