Posted: 12/12/2005 11:10:38 AM EDT
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Anschutz, the target rifle/pistol people, conducted an experiment. They decided to prove/disprove the theory that only the last inch or two of a barrel affected the projectile's flight.  As you can see, the barrel is a lot longer than a regular pistol, and goes twisting completely around the cylinder, before straightening out at the end. Testing showed it to be just as accurate as a regular barrel. NTM |
Sortof. The Germans made exactly that in WWII. Problem was barrel wear. After a few hundered rounds, the rifle was useless. NTM |
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During WWII the Germans made MP-40 submachine guns with curved barrels for shooting around corners. The barrel could be quickly adjusted for shooting around opposite corners. For the MP-44 Assault rifle, the Germans made a special clamp-on barrel extension for corner shooting. Made by Versatz J. Geborgener Lauf, and known as the Models J and P, it had a 30 degree curve on the J model and a 90 degree curve on the P version. The extension has a front sight, and a elaborate periscope and prismatic mirror sighting device. The P version was mounted in tanks and used as a close-in anti-infantry defense weapon. Both were very limited production and are rare. The US made up an attachment for the M3 "Grease gun" that was a trough device that attached to the gun barrel. This was to be used in the Pacific by tank crews, to allow firing the grease gun out the tank hatch at Japanese suicide troops with satchel charges, without exposing the tank crewman. Like all such devices, these weapons were of such limited utility that they were never produced in any numbers. |