5 Weird Guns You’ve Probably Never Seen (But Should)
Ever wonder what the weirdest guns in my collection are? Step inside and take a look at these bizarre firearms!
USMC Veteran. Concealed Carry & NRA Pistol Instructor. 3-Gun Competitor. Career firearms writer
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I love weird guns. I like looking at them, shooting them, and writing about them. I especially like owning them.
I’ll lament about how expensive a Staccato is, but gladly waste hundreds of dollars on something bizarre when given the chance. I just like things that are different, even if being different makes them just plain bad.
Weird guns keep things interesting in a world where another 9mm, polymer-frame, striker-fired pistol is treated like a game-changer. With that in mind, I wanted to share with you fine folks some of my favorite weirdest guns.
How I Chose the Weirdest Guns
I use the word ‘my’ literally. These are the weird guns I own. Well, they’re some of the weird guns I own – there are more. They are just my personal favorites.
They make me want to ask, “Why? Why do these exist? Who made them? What was wrong with that person?”
Okay, the last one is a joke.
Let’s dig into my weird guns and delve into an oft-forgotten world of gun design.
The Weirdest Guns I Own
1. High Standard Model Ten
Thanks to a glut of Turkish imports, bullpup shotguns aren’t exactly rare today. Quality bullpup shotguns might be, but we’re at least used to the idea. It was really unheard of more than 50 years ago when the High Standard Model Ten hit the scene.
A police officer named Alfred Crouch aimed to create the world’s greatest entry shotgun for SWAT teams. He began by converting a Remington semi-auto shotgun to a bullpup format, and gained the interest of High Standard. The company purchased his idea and created the Model 10 using their own Supermatic shotgun as the base-level gun. They converted it to a bullpup with a plastic shell, and boom – we have the Model Ten.
The initial Model Ten Series A featured an integrated weapon light built into the carry handle. It was certainly the first of its kind. The later Model Ten Series B lacked the light but featured a mount to make it easy to attach one.
These were gas-operated, semi-auto shotguns that held four rounds. High Standard marketed them to police agencies and produced them for ten years. Reliability issues plagued the gun; even with the advised magnum or high brass loads, it just sucked.
The gun never succeeded, but it’s an interesting collectible. Its use of polymer, integrated lights and light mounts, and bullpup design make it well ahead of its time.
Even today, it looks weird. The carry handle, for example, moves freely and is positioned perfectly to pop you in the nose while firing. The stock rotated freely and was intended to allow the user to brace the gun against the bicep for hip firing and for shooting out of a police cruiser’s window.
Recoil is brutal. Getting accurate fire is tough because the cheek weld sucks. The sights are too low. Overall, it’s not a fun gun but a weird one.
The KelTec KSG is a slightly more sensible (and much more reliable) alternative if this is too weird for you.
2. Calico Light Weapon Systems M950
When you think about 9mm PCCs, large format handguns, and submachine guns, don’t you wish you had a way to have more ammo? Regular stick magazines are great, but they get obnoxious once you get beyond 30 rounds or so. Drum magazines are expensive and not all that reliable. What's a company to do?
One solution is a helical magazine that fits on top of the gun. Calico Light Weapon Systems had that idea when they created their various guns. My Calico M950 is a 9mm, large-format pistol that comes with a 50-round helical drum. It’s worth noting that a 100-round drum is also available.
The drum mounts to the top of the gun, and each drum also contains the gun’s rear sight. The M950 looks like a weapon from the future – if the future was a low-tech mess. I guess that's why Calico Light Weapon Systems was featured in Spaceballs.
Is it reliable? Well, mine is. I’ve heard horror stories but never had a problem with my M950. People might underestimate the importance of following the directions for loading the drum. It’s very specific about loading the drum and tensioning the spring. The gun is very sensitive to user error.
What’s even more surprising is that the gun is fun to shoot. Calico went with a roller-delayed system that is similar to the MP5, and this works to reduce recoil substantially. The pistol is pleasant to shoot and surprisingly reliable for a gun that depends on its magazine for a rear sight.
The M950 looks weird and functions weirdly, but it functions well. The human error and care required to get it to run well take it off the duty market.
But for fun? Well, call me Princess Vespa.
3. USAF Zip Gun
I was a big believer in the USAF Zip Gun. When it first premiered, I was all in. I thought this weird, cheap little gun would be a blast!
USAF advertised the gun as being designed purely for fun and at a low price point. Roughly $150 could get you a mostly polymer, bullpup, space gun-looking pistol that uses Ruger 10/22 magazines. As a weird gun aficionado, I was hooked.
Modular promises were made, including rails for optics, conversions to a single-shot .22 WMR, SBR stocks, and more. If the Zip Gun had succeeded, I don’t doubt there would have been braces and all manner of crazy accessories.
Smarter folks than me called out the charging handle placement and the awkwardness of the design. It is impractical, but the weirdness, cheapness, and fun-gun appeal make up for that. I even prepaid for one at my local FFL.
However, like most people, my excitement turned to utter disappointment when there was no fun to be had. The USAF Zip Gun looked the part but just sucked. It never fed reliably, and promises to fix the design never came to fruition.
USAF became famous for producing American-made clones of the Colt Single Action Army, and the man behind USAF threw everything behind the Zip Gun, including selling the machinery to manufacture the Colt clones.
The Zip Gun’s failure killed the company entirely, and many of us were left with a barely functioning, single shot (at best) .22 LR bullpup handgun. I’m not salty about it, but I long for what could have been.
4. Richardson Industries M5 Guerrilla Gun
At first glance, the Richardson Industries M5 Guerrilla Gun looks like something you’d make to cash in on a gun buyback.
It’s a crudely made gun with an equally underwhelming stock. The entire device is just a stock, two pipes, and a few bolts. To shoot this slam-fire shotgun, I have to manually pull the barrel rearward into a fixed firing pin.
Richardson Industries produced the M5 after World War II, and you might wonder who wanted such a thing. The answer was not many people. Even with a price of $7, not many Americans were interested in a crude slamfire shotgun. Guys who like weird guns aren’t a huge market force.
The gun and the idea are weird, but the story behind the guerrilla gun is not. Iliff Richardson, the owner of Richardson Industries, was a sailor who got stuck in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded.
He fell in with Philippine guerillas and began operating against the Japanese. To get the support of the American forces, he helped unite bands of guerillas and established communications between guerrilla forces and the U.S. military.
When he came home, he replicated the his favorite homemade shotgun. And it works!
It kicks like a mule and patterns horribly, but it shoots reliably. When I look at this gun, I know I bought a story. Check out an old copy of American Guerilla to read about the exploits of Iliff Richardson.
5. Taurus Curve
There was a time when Taurus just made whatever the hell they wanted. Revolvers with a clear side plate and one-inch barrel? Sure! Snub nose, ported .41 Magnum revolvers? I wish they still made them.
What about a pocket-sized .380 ACP pistol that's curved to fit against the body when carried inside the waistband? Oh yeah, that’s the Taurus Curve.
Taurus left the slide straight, but curved the frame – which admittedly made it a right-handers-only gun. It wasn’t exactly the most ergonomic design. It was an instant weirdo, and a lot of folks had problems with the entire philosophy of the gun.
Taurus designed the Curve to be carried without a holster. It came with a built-in belt clip and a polymer trigger cover attached to a lanyard. Just toss it in your pants and go, like Wyatt does with his KelTec P32!
I will credit the gun for bringing a unique idea to life. Taurus implemented a built-in light and laser into the frame. In fact, the laser was the only sighting system it has.
The dual LED light gives off about 15 lumens of light. You can’t see anything with it, but the idea is cool.
Shooting the Curve is an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. Accuracy is terrible, and reliability is so-so on a good day.
It didn’t shoot well, but how does it carry?
Honestly, it's not bad. It rubs a bit, and – as a sweaty man – the gun gets awfully wet. However, it does conceal very well. You won’t have a fast draw or good accuracy, but the gun is tough to detect. In some ways, the Curve succeeds -- just not enough to prevent Taurus from killing it off.
Meet the Experts
Heading up this article is Pew Pew Tactical author Travis Pike. Travis spent a lifetime shooting and hunting before joining the United States Marine Corps, where he spent five years as an infantryman. Travis is also an NRA-certified instructor and concealed carry instructor in the state of Florida.
Editing this article is Scott Murdock. Scott is a Marine Corps veteran who competed and qualified as a rifle and pistol expert while in service. In addition to shooting, Scott has written for a variety of publications, testing, researching, and evaluating guns and gear. He brings that knowledge and skillset to this article, editing and fact-checking for accuracy.
Editor-in-Chief Jacki Billings runs our experienced team of reviewers. She is a National Rifle Association Basic Pistol Instructor as well as a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, ACES: Society for Editing, and the Professional Outdoor Media Association. Jacki has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has worked as a media professional for close to 20 years, specializing in gun media for almost 10 years. With 2,000+ articles to her name, she uses her professional journalism and editing experience to set testing protocols and editorial standards for Pew Pew Tactical.
Final Thoughts
That wraps up today's trip into the world of weird.
I have more weird guns, and I’m always looking for more, so don’t be surprised if there’s a sequel to this article.
If any of these weird guns intrigue you and you’d like a full review, let us know below. Also, share your favorite weird guns and let us know if weirdness intrigues you the way it intrigues me!
What’s the weirdest gun you own? Give it some love in the comments. Want something weird and mil-spec? Check out our guide to the Best Military Surplus Rifles!