The Second World War produced a wide range of high-profile military developments and technological experiments. The so-called “special projects” of Nazi Germany became priority targets for the Allied forces, but there were also ideas that at first glance seem absurd, even comical. One of them is Krummlauf, a curved barrel for the Sturmgewehr 44 rifle. In theory, a soldier would be able to fire at the enemy without exposing his position. In practice… let's just say it had some issues.
Bullets that bend around corners. It's the dream of any military force, but the concept of a “smart bullet” is definitely real, and many people are working on it. However, that desire to see bullets do something different than travel in a straight line is not new. A quick rewind to the Second World War puts us in the era of the Sturmgewehr 44, considered the first successful assault rifle and a major source of inspiration for the Soviet AK-47.
The Krummlauf
Based on the Sturmgewehr 44, German engineers began working on an adapter that would give soldiers and tanks alike an additional tactical advantage. One particular case was the Panzerjäger Elefant, especially vulnerable to infantry in its original configuration. The designers' answer was… the Krummlauf. Your eyes don't deceive you: It's a curved barrel attached to an assault rifle.
The barrel was created with four different angles (30°, 45°, 60° and 90°), plus an “I” variant for infantry and a “P” variant for tanks. In total, an estimated 20,000 units were produced, dominated mainly by the 30-degree I variant, but only 500 actually reached the battlefield. Those responsible for the Krummlauf quickly discovered that barrel durability would be very limited: Only 300 shots for the 30-degree edition, and 160 for the 45-degree.
The stress was too great throughout the system, and the bullets came out of the barrel completely destroyed, generating an unwanted “shotgun effect”. The designers added ventilation holes to allow gas to escape and reduce pressure, but there were no positive changes—quite the opposite: they had to add a shield to protect the integrated optics from the gases. Even with these difficulties, some shooters managed to hit a 35 x 35 centimeter surface at 100 meters away...
According to a Popular Mechanics article from 2016, this bizarre invention shows how far military research went during the war. It looks like something Wile E. Coyote would use against the Road Runner.
Source: Popular Mechanics
