What's the weirdest gun(s) you've ever actually held in your hands?

[ga red clay]

Way back when, when I was a young kid, I had a family friend who, after done eating dinner with my parents, would take me up to his gun closet and let me look at whatever I wanted. He had all kinds of rare weaponry, I cant even remember them all but some of the oddest, to me at the time, at least, included:
-A full auto WWII M3 SMG. I remember this one cause he called it the grease gun.
-A .50 cal machine gun, mounted to the back of his IH Scout. I remember that one cause it had triggers you fired with your thumbs, which was so cool and odd at the time.
-And an old belt fed machine gun that had a water cooled barrel. He'd hook it up to the hose in the back to show me how it worked.
All of these things arent really all that weird now, but at the time, they blew my mind. I guess weird is in the eye of the beholder. One man's weird is another man's normal.

More recently, a guy at the range, next to me, had a .45-70 with a pistol grip, a short 16" barrel, and barrel shroud, as well as a really nice scope and bipod. Recoil like a mule-kick, but fun to see him shoot it. Just odd to see a rifle like that with such a short barrel and a pistol grip.

 

[hardluk1]

A sherrif i grew up near had a set of Ithica shotgun pistols. They were a 12ga and 20 ga double barrels. One was named chicago auto/burglar and the other was something about police/guard,,, something odd. Cool handguns .

 

[Jonah71]

Way back when, when I was a young kid, I had a family friend who, after done eating dinner with my parents, would take me up to his gun closet and let me look at whatever I wanted. He had all kinds of rare weaponry, I cant even remember them all but some of the oddest, to me at the time, at least, included:
-A full auto WWII M3 SMG. I remember this one cause he called it the grease gun.
-A .50 cal machine gun, mounted to the back of his IH Scout. I remember that one cause it had triggers you fired with your thumbs, which was so cool and odd at the time.
-And an old belt fed machine gun that had a water cooled barrel. He'd hook it up to the hose in the back to show me how it worked.
All of these things arent really all that weird now, but at the time, they blew my mind. I guess weird is in the eye of the beholder. One man's weird is another man's normal.

More recently, a guy at the range, next to me, had a .45-70 with a pistol grip, a short 16" barrel, and barrel shroud, as well as a really nice scope and bipod. Recoil like a mule-kick, but fun to see him shoot it. Just odd to see a rifle like that with such a short barrel and a pistol grip.

I've held one of those old greese guns years ago. Had heard of them before, but until I saw that thing I never did know why it was called a grease gun.

 

[Detachment Charlie]

Got to fire a few mags from a genuine old Lewis gun. A WWI machinegun, it fired Brit .303 from a drum magazine (capacity +/- 100 rounds) that rode on top of the receiver. The barrel had a full length shroud that provided a cool function, real cool. The actual barrel ended inside the front of the shroud. When a round was fired, a low pressure situation was created within the front of the shroud and cooling air was drawn into the space between the barrel and shroud, cooling he barrel. Neat Idea. However, many times these were mounted on aircraft and the headwind had to defeat that function. It was a piece of history. Also, very little recoil because the thing weighed a ton.

 

[glockdriver]

had 4 barreled COP at one time.Everyone kept asking if you could fire all 4 at once. Had some Thompson Contender .357 Hotshot rounds that were about half an inch from sticking out of the barrel. You talk about BRUTAL !! All ways wanted one of those "Dick Tracey" High Standard bullpup shotguns

 

[1KPerDay]

Full auto 9mm Steyr AUG.

 

[Stophel]

Held, not fired, a really nice MP-38/40. NO markings whatsoever, and VERY nicely made. I will presume early production.

 

[Avenger29]

All ways wanted one of those "Dick Tracey" High Standard bullpup shotguns

Mossberg also used to make their 500 in a bullpup.

http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/sh03-e.htm

The High Standards apparently didn't have the best reliability. The Mossberg 500 solves that problem some because it's a pump shotgun and does not have the potential finickiness of an autoloader.

I do believe the Moss 500 bullpup made some appearances on Miami Vice, too.

 

[DougW]

Another is the Webber Palm Pistol. Got one in the safe. Forgot about it. Guess I need to tak pics.

 

[effengee]

wow... REALLY cool posts everyone! Keep 'em coming!

Isn't it funny how one defines weird?

I've held some of the weapons mentioned above and didn't think that they were very weird at the time:
The bolt-action Barret .50 BMG, the closed bolt Steyr AUG, and it's cousin-in-law the pump-action Mossberg bullpup shotgun, and God only knows how many DEWAT or milsurp firearms I've drooled over throughout the years that I thought were extremely cool and exotic but not really all that weird because they still employed recognizable actions...
I started this thread because I'd never seen a semi-automatic shotgun (or any other weapon for that matter) that cocked and loaded by gripping the barrel and forcing it back into the frame. Being a sport shooter I immediately thought that it would make multiple loadings impractical and wondered if it was originally sold with an asbestos mitt. That I hadn't ever actually held one or heard of one was what intrigued me the most.
Of course, I'm still an FNG when it comes to firearms knowledge.
I'll probably never be an expert because I'm always learning something new. (And sometimes re-learning things I've forgotten.)
Seeing this shotgun made me recall my hunter safety course at age 13 when we went through the different types of actions. I remembered the guy saying something about other types of actions being obsolete so we didn't need to study them... Of course, that's what made me study them, but, alas, Wincheter's famous Widowmaker action slipped my young mind untill many moons later when I was shown one and didn't recognize it...
I've seen all-manner of odd guns in books or on documentaries, but haven't held them in my hands for closer examination which is the reason why I asked what's the weirdest you've actually held?

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Believe it or not, I actually held a Colt/Umarex .22 that hadn't broken yet!

 

[Jbabbler]

A homemade set gun from Colombia. They use them to hunt small game. The local campesino I was with went ahead of me and disarmed it. Good thing.

Geologist, Thats a pretty cool gun. How does it work? Is it a tripwire or does someone have to fire it? I'd love to hear more about it.

 

[mljdeckard]

I helped replace the 120mm smoothbore on an M-1A1.

 

[Hardtarget]

No so much "weird" just old....but a friend had a smooth bore, flint lock pistol. Made in France with silver side plates and grip cap. Barrel length was close to five inches and looked to be fifty cal. It was made in the mid 1700's.

It was a "hold only"...never got to shoot it.Never could talk him out of it! Too bad.

Mark

 

[Ian]

Either a Charleton (semiauto conversion of a Long Lee bolt action) or a Pedersen automatic rifle (with a toggle locking bolt that looks like a Luger).

 

[mesinge2]

I held a .380 ACP Russian R-92 ages ago in a gun store.

I should have bought it.

View attachment 112684

 

[ol' scratch]

A smooth bore .22 rimfire. It is very weird and old. It seems to me it was European. I also held a pistol lenth single shot Stevens 16 gauge shotgun. It was at a gun show.

If you classify rare as weird, I have handled a true 1901 DWM Bulgarian Luger. It has the crest and all the correct markings. The pistol has fascinated me since I was 12. It belongs to a family member. He lets me take it out and maintain it once in a while. It is in the original 7.65 parabellum.

 

[kentucky bucky]

I have a 1870 Snider Enfield .577 saddle carbine.

My Brother-in-Law has one of those weird looking Calico .22's with the 100 round mag. Strange looking.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Lots of competition for "weirdest" in my lifetime: Polish 7.62x107 anti-tank rifle? Hotchkiss 25mm? Nambu pistol? Accurate and reliable Raven .25? Ditto RG 14? Sherman 75mm tank turret guns re-breeched for muzzle loading? Coast Guard line-thrower? Original Paterson? Colt "Potato Digger"? Chauchat? 5" naval dual-purpose? French 75?

I could go on... .

 

[FROGO207]

A single shot 12 guage shotgun with a 6 foot barrel. Called the Penobscot River Waterfowler. Not much kick but a wicked tight pattern.

 

[thebaldguy]

I handled a HK VP-70Z pistol; the semi-auto verson around 20 years ago. I had shot and seen semi-autos before, but this one looked weird and felt weird in the hand.

It was way over my price range.

I don't think I've seen one anywhere since.

 

[Crash_Test_Dhimmi]

a german MG42 that made its way to Iraq and rusted out, along with STENs and Sterlings.

 

[CWL]

Gyrojet pistol & carbine
Dardick pistol
Mateba .357 magnum
A pair of 16th Century wheellock cavalry pistols

 

[wilkersk]

The "wildest" has to be the General Electric GAU-2B. Its a 7.62mm electrically fired gatling gun with a cyclic rate of something like 6,000 rounds per minute.

The "Wierdest" is an old pump action REM 25 that I still can't find a lot of info about. It has a sidemount peep sight and is chambered in rem 25. Whereas the other pump action rifles of the early 1900s were 25-20 and 35 cal. I have not seen another rifle like it.

 

[hivel37]

A friend of mine had a Remington-Keene chambered in 45-70. It is a bolt action with a manual hammer, manufactured in the 1880's. Around 5,000 were made, IIRC. Most were used up in the Indian wars.

He told me I'd probably never see another, let alone have the opportunity to shoot one. So I did.