The "Corner Gun": WW2's Genius Rifle That Tried to Bend Physics

Описание: The year is 1945. The war has reached the streets of Berlin. This is brutal, close-quarters combat where every corner is a potential ambush. Peeking your head out to shoot is a great way to lose it.

The problem: How do you shoot around a corner?

The German solution was literal, high-stakes cartoon logic: The "Krummlauf" or "curved barrel." It was an attachment for their futuristic StG 44 assault rifle that literally bent the barrel 30 or 45 degrees. Add a handy periscope, and voilà! You can shoot bad guys while safely hiding behind a wall.

Except, it was a spectacular failure. As it turns out, physics is not just a suggestion.

The incredible pressure meant the barrels would destroy themselves after just a few hundred shots. But more importantly, the bullets didn't curve... they smashed into the bend and sprayed out as a completely useless cloud of shrapnel.

Genius on paper, junk in reality.