Top ten greatest weapons in history

[Starke]

uhh, no I didn't. Yes I do like anime, but I know whats real, and whats not. What I do know from my experiences with a katana is that it is far from being as weak as that. I took apart a rusty junkyard car with it before it started getting dull. Calling it useless in a battle outside of duels isn't true ether. After all Miyamoto Musashi took on a clan of samurai while using the kenjutsu technique that involves wielding two katana (all of which is documented history) Uhh, in hind sight most swords usually do get dull pretty fast so its hardly worth dwelling on.

You're trying to sound impressive. It's not working. Musashi founded the two sword technique known as Niten Ichi-ryū. Kenjutsu is a general term that means the Art of the Sword and encompasses various traditional Samurai sword arts.

Musashi won his fights because the way he fought was his own. The people he fought could not think outside the box due to the rigidity of their traditional training which allowed them to be easily picked apart.

Am I, not really. I just wanted to add a fancy word. Still my point on the katanas versatility shows with my Masashi example.

No, your point demonstrates the... let's say inflexibility of Japanese society, something that permeated their blade production. Japanese society worked, and only worked, so long as everyone followed the rules precisely. When anyone emerged from this perfect lockstep system, no one could formulate a response. Masashi doesn't demonstrate the flexibility or versatility of the blade, he demonstrates the lack of versatility in the training that went into it.

Also, even with substantial training, two weapon fighting will always disadvantage the combatant in ways that a properly trained opponent can exploit. At best it slows down your individual movements, at worst you flail like an idiot, get exhausted, and get dead. Any decently trained and creative individual should have been able to take them apart.

 

[Daverson]

#10- Slostin Heavy Machine Gun
I'll admit, I don't actually know much about this, what I do know, is that's it's a 14.5mm (.57 cal, think .50, but bigger) Gatling gun. That alone should justify it's election as "President of the Earth and commander of space", but I have a feeling it'd still be in service if it didn't have a huge flaw I don't know about...

If you're going for gattling weapons firing big-ass ammo, what about the GAU-8?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger

Well, the GAU-8 is just overkill. That combined with the USAF's somewhat... liberal... view when it comes to collateral damage... I don't think I need to continue....

In short, the Slostin or M134 would be a scalpel (a very sharp scalpel, but a scalpel nonetheless!), whereas something like the GAU-8 would be a sledgehammer. You wouldn't use a sledgehammer to perform heart surgery, would you?

Also, the MP44 as this was the first assault rifle in history which the AK 47 was based on.

...*sigh*...

The Mondragón rifle was the first assault rifle (Patented 1887). The Fedorov Avtomat was the first assault rifle to be used in a Major conflict (WW1) and the FG.42 was the first assault rifle to be standard issue rifle, as opposed something like the Bren gun (1943, one of the first users was the somewhat infamous Otto Skorzeny, look him up, the guy puts almost every movie super-henchman ever to shame, even looks sort of like "Jaws" D= ).

The AK-47 was not based on the StG.44. The only similarity is in profile. The internals of the AK-47 and StG.44 are completely different.

If you're going to tell someone they're wrong, you could at least try to be right...

 

[The Stonker]

Why not poisons?
I mean for assasinations and people would have a clue.
And of course the horse,catapult and tactics, then corpses infected with the plague =D

 

[Sebenko]

In short, the Slostin or M134 would be a scalpel (a very sharp scalpel, but a scalpel nonetheless!), whereas something like the GAU-8 would be a sledgehammer. You wouldn't use a sledgehammer to perform heart surgery, would you?

If I could, I would.

Since me performing heart surgery would have the same effect no matter what tool I used, I don't think it matters.

 

[Withall]

I'd say that the crossbow is the most complete weapon ever deviced. It was even bloody -banned- by the Catholic Church!

 

[Wurek]

http://www.icanhasmotivation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/whenshit.jpg

 

[Koeryn]

I think I just got trolled.

 

[Koeryn]

LeMat Revolver: Its was a revolver that held 9 shots, and a central shotgun chamber. That's awesome. To bad its been buried into obscurity(the LeMat in RDR doesn't do it justice)

It was unreliable, the switching mechanism between the pistol and the shotgun chamber wasn't terribly well-designed and the shotgun round was of limited effectiveness anyway, being of 16-gauge calibre. Not exactly a weapon I'd want by my side in a crisis.

#8. M1911A1: This gun give birth to the modern pistol design, and could arguably be considered the greatest innovation in pistol history. With almost 100 years of military service there no doubt that the M1911A1 has some amazing lasting power behind it. So what makes this gun so great? Well, because it was the first magazine-fed handgun, and it was fired powerful 45. caliber rounds. So why is it so low on the list you may ask? Well, it does have an issue with jamming, and its recoil hinders its accuracy which bumps it down several notches.

WRONG!

It wasn't even John Browning's first design with a detachable magazine. Learn more before you mouth off in a forum with several pedants and military specialists. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_M1900]

#1. The Katana: There is no such greater weapon than that which can feel as an extension of the person who's using it. In that light the katana as a sword, and a weapon is perfection. It has perfect balance, precise control, its has great strength while still being flexible, and its shape, and sharpness combine create a powerful edge. It is every bit a slashing sword as it is a stabbing, and thrusting one. Honestly I believe it is impossible to create a sword as perfect as the katana.

I'm wondering whether you fall under the category of "idiot" or "troll". The katana was an appropriate sword for fighting largely unarmoured peasants and other samurai in the context of one-on-one duels, but that's about it. The quality of Japanese steel is poor, with a load of sulphur in there that needs to be hammered out first, and that's going to limit the weapon by design. Samurai did not typically wear European-style plate, instead using less effective lamellar armour, and I doubt that a katana would prove to be an effective weapon against a soldier in full plate armour.

They've got several, incredibly glaring issues in their list, whether through ignorance or out-right stupidity.

Hell, the M1911 was chosen over the other applicants because you could feed literally any of the ammunition they had through it and it would have no issue with it, even dented and BENT rounds. That's the exact OPPOSITE of unreliable.

You don't assume the original is of low quality because modern froo-froo guns like the Kimber get tummy aches if you try and feed them anything but gold.

 

[BonsaiK]

10. Short sword/dagger - the "perfect" Katana is useless inside a tight corridoor - small all the way for assassins, then and now
9. Firearm - does it matter which one? No. The real 'weapon of mass destruction' is small arms, not inaccurate chemicals
8. Rotting carcass - you can't kill it if it's already dead, but it can kill you
7. Dogma - fundamentalism of all types is the closest we've got to the zombie apocalypse so far
6. Asbestos - the true killer present at 9/11, the death toll for which has barely even begun
5. Pen - mightier than the sword and has killed far more
4. 700ml wine bottle - can kill in so many ways it's hard to quantify, also mostly street legal
3. Automobile - the ubiquitous tin can of death kills thousands per year
2. Human brain - it thought up everything else on this list, the ultimate killing machine
1. Lego AK-47 - just for being awesome

 

[kouriichi]

My number one has to be.....

The Howitzer! Long range destruction at its best. Easy to aim, easy to load, and it breaks moral like glass. Not to mention, if you stuff it right, you can probably lob bags of rattle snakes at people!
MUWAHAHAHHAHAHA!

 

[Kukakkau]

Really? No mention for the weapon that gets used on a good chunk of support vehicles these days?

 

[RazgrizInferno]

Whenever I think about "best" weapons, I think in terms of devastation. It's more fun that way.

Things like the AA-12, M134, GAU 8, Crazy Metal Storm shit, Claymores...

As far as one-man weapons go, few things are scarier than an AA-12, especially in an urban combat situation. The one in MW2 was a pea-shooter compared to the real thing. (And I'm not just basing that off the movie Expendables, although that's a pretty good representation)

If there's one weapon that the ignorant masses severely underestimate due to video games, it's the Claymore Mine. Damn those things are scary. Boom and everything in front of it for 50 yards or more is dead.

I also like those Anti-Personal tank rounds. Not sure what they're called, but it's basically a tank-sized shotgun. A Claymore in the barrel.
Here's a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6wxBQ3f_0

And of course there's Metal Storm, the ultimate in overkill. BZZZT! There goes a few hundred grenades, or a few thousand rounds.

but you have a phenomenal ability to say things that undermine your credibility the most. See: Sniper Rifle.

Could someone explain to me what's so bad about describing a gun as a Sniper Rifle?

 

[WolfThomas]

Still, that 6.5mm round is a weird one, which makes me wonder, would you class it as a battle rifle today or an assault rifle?

6.5x50mm, I'd say battle rifle because it's closer to say 7.62x51mm than 5.56x45mm in size. But each to his own I guess.

...*sigh*...

The Mondragón rifle was the first assault rifle (Patented 1887). The Fedorov Avtomat was the first assault rifle to be used in a Major conflict (WW1) and the FG.42 was the first assault rifle to be standard issue rifle, as opposed something like the Bren gun (1943, one of the first users was the somewhat infamous Otto Skorzeny, look him up, the guy puts almost every movie super-henchman ever to shame, even looks sort of like "Jaws" D= ).

The AK-47 was not based on the StG.44. The only similarity is in profile. The internals of the AK-47 and StG.44 are completely different.

If you're going to tell someone they're wrong, you could at least try to be right...

(Counter sigh)

The Mondragón and the FG42 were not assault rifles. They were battle rifles. The requirements for Assault rifles are selectable fire, detachable magazines and an intermediatory cartridge. Both of these fail in the last catergory.

The StG44 (as far as I know) was the first to use an intermediatory round in the form of 7.92x33mm. As opposed to 7x57 and 7.92x57 mauser which those two used.

Edit: Okay the french Ribeyrolles 1918 is probably the world's first assault rifle firing 8x35mm.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

A Katana? Kind of played, don't you think?

I was expecting something a bit more interesting.

And absolutely useless against chainmail.

i wouldn't say that.back in the day, to test how well a katana was made, they would give it to a samurai, then grab some young korean or chinese boy, and slice him in half with the blade; if the katana is properly made, the samurai should be able to slice the boy clean in half from the should to the thigh in 1 swing. if a katana could cut through gut and bone so easily, i don't think chainmail would be a huge hindrance

it would, just like a kevlar vest is a hindrance for the common bullet. There is a nice episode of "deadliest warrior" were they test a samurai's weaponry against the viking's. The sam had not a chance to cut through the armor. It just glides off of the rings.
On the other hand they were tremoundously fine archers, and thats were the true potential of the samurai is. The katana is indeed sharp as the devils tongue, but thats it.And that is exactly what a chainmail is made againts.Our feudal friend from japan just would have to hope that the impact of his strike is hard enough to distract the armored one long enough so he could land a killing blow against the neck.

 

[Voodoomancer]

Greatest weapon ever? I'd say 2 nominees.

On one hand, the nuclear bomb. It's a weapon that could kill up to all the world's population in one blow (if big enough), it is effective without even being used and simply possessing it can start and end entire entire wars. It's the (current) ultimatum in humanity's compulsion for destruction.

On the other hand, cliché: The human mind. It is the start of every other weapon, and strategy and tactics are undeniably an essential and key part of all conflict.

 

[Starke]

but you have a phenomenal ability to say things that undermine your credibility the most. See: Sniper Rifle.

Could someone explain to me what's so bad about describing a gun as a Sniper Rifle?

Aside from it being the wrong (or at least very sloppy) terminology? No, that's basically it. The term sniper rifle does have some legitimate history behind it, but it's fallen out of favor for a number of reasons. Not the least of them being the proliferation of just about anything with a scope in a game being dubbed a "sniper rifle".

I mean, Far Cry 2 classifies its M1903 as a sniper rifle. How does that make sense?

 

[Mistermixmaster]

My own contribution to this thread (I hope, as I haven't checked all the pages of this thread yet) has to be the S-mine 35 (also known as "Bouncing Betty"). Just when you thought normal mines and claymores were bad news, think about this one! Psychological warfare at it's finest, seeing how the S-mine was more likely to maim and/or seriously hurt the person who set it off, rather than kill. Explodes at waist-height, thus making legs and genitals the "target" so to speak. Bastard thing with 'em is that you don't usually see 'em until the small charge on their underside makes 'em pop-up, before they explode. Oh, and it's not just a regular explosion either, the bastard thing is filled with shrapnel too!

Yeah, It's not really a "top 10 list", more like a "I don't know if anyone mentioned this bastard yet"-post. Sorry

 

[Starke]

EDIT: Fuck it's late. I completely misread the post I was quoting.

My understanding was that the Ribeyrolles was classed as an SMG, though I've no idea how that makes sense.

 

[WolfThomas]

EDIT: Fuck it's late. I completely misread the post I was quoting.

My understanding was that the Ribeyrolles was classed as an SMG, though I've no idea how that makes sense.

That's okay, no hard feelings. I don't know enough of it to really comment about the ribeyrolles. So far StG44 is still the first firm example of an assault rifle in my book.

Edit: There appears to be two Ribeyrolles, an SMG and a rifle variant.