Worst gun ever made

I always see threads about which gun or weapon is the best. I Thought it could be interesting to see what people say was the worst gun ever made.

My choice is the French made Chauchat AKA Show-show , Chauchard.


external image

Cartridge:8 x 50R Lebel later the .30-06 for US Service
Weight: 9.07 kg
Rate Of Fire: 250 rds/min

Sadly this hunk of junk was the most manufactured automatic weapon of WWI,outnumbering every other machinegun made, by the Allies and the Central Powers.

Now what exactly makes this thing a hunk of junk IMHO

1. First and most obvious was the horrendous Magazine. The magazine was not solid and infact had large wholes cut into it (so soldiers could see the rounds remaining) That might sound like a good idea until you try to use it real world, and in the trench warfare of WW1. Dirt and muck would easily find its way into the exposed magazine making them useless
pic

2. Parts were not interchangable from one gun to another. They were produced so poorly that parts from one gun could not be used on another. Not very handy when your in the field.

3. The Chauchat is built of inferior metal, and thus the moving parts wore out very fast. It was also very prone to jamming made even worst by the fact,When the gun did jam, tools were needed to take it apart. Very bad when your in the middle of a firefight

4.The bipod was 3-feet tall!, because the French believed the only accurate way to shoot the thing was on top of the standard 3-high sandbags.Also, each leg moved independently, and was inherently instable and prone to bending.

5. When it was finally chambered for 30-06, the proper bullet dimensions were not incorporated by the French so some tended to explode on firing

I dont even want to think how many Allies lost their lives because of this hunk of junk. The worst part is the allied had better guns already like the BAR they didnt because of political reasons.

the japanese type 94 ` shiki kenju ` gets my vote .the only side arms that fires if you squeeze the frame

I'm no gun expert, but a friend of mine who claims to be an expert tells me the Makarov is the worst gun ever made.

Peace

Hmmm good question.....

Id agree the chauchat was an awfull weapon made worse by its poor design and awfull manufacture. I actually saw one in the Leeds Royal Amroury. It looked like the most uncomfortable thing in the world to fire and must have bucked like a mule. Lookswise, completely unrefined. I read somewhere that the average rounds between stopages was something like 3!

Some of the reports I read about the early incarnations of the British SA80 were also poor but that weapon has now been modified so its one of the best in the world.

Nope you took my choice, the chauchat definately gets it!

Late war Japanese rifles, pistols, and MGs are of highly inferior quality, literally made in back yards, and were patheticly unsafe and reflected their situation well.

The french were trying to produce alot of light machine guns like everyone else, and the only nation that had a good quality light machine gun was the BAR, abeit in small numbers and limited clips. Everything else was either produced in small numbers due to production time or was too heavy to move. Yes it was bad, but it was plentiful...

What LMG did the British use during WW1 did they use the Lewis Gun instead of the Chauchat?

This little gem would get my vote. It was used extensively, although with little effect, in the 1953 border skirmish between Idaho and Utah.

LOL! Very few people can come up with that kind of originallity.

Shattered OUT...

Yeah the lewis was used instead. It was a much beter weapon. Still the Chauchat served its duty much like the sten in the second world war. The Bren that replaced it was an even beter weapon. Absolutely superb. My Grandad used it when he was in the Army and loved it. He said you could swear by it. Never had a problem with it.

The lewis MG is not a LMG. Its actually a very heavy, in terms of weight, machine gun, well suited for trench firing, but would be impossible to advance with.

A few french rifles during the first world war were also very crude, and didnt function well. However, they were working with inferior industrial power and didnt have the excellent arms works like Enfield, Mauser, or Browning.

This gets my vote. Even over the Potato gun
images.gunsamerica.com...

IIRC I saw a an episode of "Tales of the Gun" on the History channel where the talked about the Chauchat and how crappy it was. They said that they were so poorly made from stamped metal that parts from one gun were not interchangeable with another which I would say is pretty bad.

What is that stampped on the side of that pistol? It looks like an eagle, meaning it could be American, or virtually any other european nation production, though I would think either pre soviet russian or of balkan origin.

Yeah, I saw that 'Tales of the Gun' show too. Apparently, there was a little gun that was droped from air or something.. Japanese I think Troops could then find them on the ground and use it once before disposing of it! lol

It resembled a potato gun.

[edit on 7-10-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

Saw the same show and agree, that French POC is useless. Makes me want to get a time machine to go back and smack the Frenchie that made it. Then give all the US Troops MP5 or AK-47, or a potatoe gun, something better then that.

Is that a Lorsen?

The lewis gun weigh`s 12kg`s , so its not actually that heavy , and is firmly a `light machine gun` for its role.

Your friend has arguably chosen one of the finest handguns ever made as his nomination for the worst.

It's simple, safe, low cost, reliable and accurate - if you think the Makarov is junk, you would need to put the AK-47 in the same category (except the accurate part).

Unless I'm wrong, that's a Raven and it would get my vote as well


Also, I have to agree with Winchester Ranger T, the Makarov is a fine weapon, definitely not deserving of this nomination.

[edit on 12-10-2005 by Jaryn]

I'd agree with Jaryn, that does indeed look like a Raven. The factory that used to make them burned to the ground and when it was re-built the next pocket gun the company launched was the Phoenix - clever (ish).

That little .25ACP has done more to rid the inner cities of gangbangers than any police force, since they mostly use it on each other. Regrettably, most gangbangers also have the mounted heads of several 7-11 store clerks and pizza delivery guys mounted on their collective study walls.

Good call on the Chauchat.