- Joined
- Dec 17, 2007
- Messages
- 204
I saw this a few days ago on the History Channel (it was a show about strange weapons). The idea was something I had never heard of before. I've heard of the new Israeli version of the 'corner-shot (a device that allows an officer to fire his pistol around a corner) but who would've thought the Germans would have come up with it first...
*Note: Some were equipped with a mirror to aid in seeing what was on the tank or around the corner. It looks like this one has a mirror but I can't really tell what is attached to the barrel. *
From Wikipedia:
One unusual addition to the design was the Krummlauf, a bent-barrel attachment for rifles with a periscope sighting device for shooting around corners from a safe position. It was produced in several variants, an "I"-version for infantry use, a "P" version for use in tanks (to cover the dead areas in the close range around the tank, to defend against assaulting infantry), versions with 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° bends, a version for the StG44 and one for the MG 42. Only the 30° "I" version for the StG44 was produced in any numbers. The bent barrel attachments had very short lifespans - 300 rounds for the 30° version, and 160 for the 45° variant. The 30° model was able to achieve a 35X35 cm grouping at 100m
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmgewehr_44
