Ugly Guns of the Past

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 8/9/2018 | M Rothschild

[w1n1]

Not sure if these were the result of poor design, lack of materials, or sheer necessity, some firearms and guns are just ugly. Many early automatic weapons and pistols were designed without a complete understanding of what works, leading to strange and ugly guns that barely worked.
Desperate times during World War II led to a need for cheap, easily made firearms, and there wasn’t time to make them with clean lines and beauty. The result? Some of the ugliest guns and weapons ever made.
Modern designs have also been accused of lacking beauty, especially "bullpup" rifles, where the magazine actually goes behind the trigger. Try doing a speed reload, its a bitch.

While this reduces the length and weight of the weapon, making it easier to carry, it also makes for a strange looking, quasi-futuristic rifle that lacks the classic beauty of earlier weapons. And sometimes, prevailing design fads take over, especially in communist countries, where principles in Soviet architecture led to blocky, metallic-looking firearms – many of which didn’t work. The ones that did work, it worked in any conditions. (Kalishnikov AK’s)
Here are some the ugliest guns of the past:
Shattuck Palm Pistol
Duck's Foot Pistol
Korobov TKB-022
Warner Infallible
Apache Revolver - See the full list and description of Ugly guns here.

[MCF]

I know they function very well but, to me, the Schmidt-Rubin is an ugly rifle.

[Yo-Yo]

For modern ugly it’s hard to beat a Hi-Point.

[LibWhacker]

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Looks like a stapler gun.

[Sender]

French Chauchat MG.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I guess it used the piston of the stapler to impact the primer. That’s about as ugly as it gets for homemade or a rock solid 10 on the cheapness scale.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The Mars Automatic Pistol

[Fresh Wind]

We need a common sense ban on hose clamps!

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Yep.Crude and maybe effective?

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

This isn't in the past and I don't care how well it shoots

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Probably not very. 3 feet at most.

I did see a video of a guy taking a .22 cal pellet and shooting it using a nail gun blank in a regular .22 rifle. The FPS was pretty impressive, somewhere around 1,800 fps.

[FLT-bird]

Funny you say that. I collect early automatic pistols. I find the designs really intriguing. To me, the ugliest are modern plastic guns.

As for a Mars Automatic Pistol, I sure wish I had one. Rock Island had one on auction in 2015 they sold for $46,000.

[chrisser]

I sorta like the looks of the ZB-47.

Then again, I like ‘59 Buicks/Chevys/Cadillacs and those are always in the top 10 lists for ugliest cars, so maybe my taste leaves something to be desired...

[Dutch Boy]

I remember the Rhino. It’s the only revolver I ever saw that fired from the bottom chamber of the cylinder. I saw one at a gun show once. I never shot one but it just seems wrong.

I’m guessing but doesn’t the lowering of the barrel make the recoil have less climb?

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

It’s probably a great gun, why else would someone make something so hideous. Like the Steven Hawking of Guns.

[Radix]

This like the coolest FR thread ever.

[Charles Martel]

I did see a video of a guy taking a .22 cal pellet and shooting it using a nail gun blank in a regular .22 rifle. The FPS was pretty impressive, somewhere around 1,800 fps.

I think I saw that video too - velocity was much higher than that. Those guys were drilling laser-like holes in metal targets with those pellets.

I think with a bolt-action .22, a tool made from a chamber flag to consistently seat the pellets at the same depth in the breech, and maybe a heavier pellet design - that could be a very effective combo when "normal" ammo is scarce.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I’m sure lead deposits would be an issue at some point.

Exploding squirrels.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Forty eight years ago, I saw a photo of a similar revolver made in the USSR for target shooting. It was in .38 spl and fired from the bottom of the cylinder.

I believe the magazine was GUNS Magazine.