“Unveiling the Unexpected: Is It Possible for a Gun to Hit Targets Beyond Corners?”
Have you ever found yourself watching a movie and thought, “Could I really do that?” I mean, take the 2008 action flick *Wanted*, where the protagonist Wesley Gibson learns to curve bullets like a pro. Picture this: you’re swinging your gun in a dramatic fashion, and—whoosh!—the bullet bends around a corner to hit a target that’s safely out of sight! Sounds undeniably cool, right? But here’s the million-dollar question: Can you actually make a bullet curve like that, or is it just Hollywood magic?
Well, strap in, because the short answer is a resounding “no!”—at least not in the spectacular, physics-defying way depicted on screen. While it makes for electrifying viewing, real-world physics throws a big ol’ bucket of cold water on the idea. Once a bullet leaves the barrel, inertia takes over, and it’s gonna travel in a straight line unless something pretty powerful acts upon it. Sure, certain forces can nudge a bullet’s path over long distances—thanks to gravity, air resistance, and something called windage—but curving a bullet like a Major League Baseball pitcher? Nope, not gonna happen!
But don’t put your dreams of cinematic gunplay on complete hold just yet. Believe it or not, there are fascinating attempts throughout history to actually bend the trajectory of a bullet. Some clever folks have even tried bending the barrel of a firearm itself to shoot around corners! Curious? Let’s dive into the quirky and often humorous history of bullets, barrels, and some not-so-practical inventions that might just blow your mind!
In the 2008 film Wanted, mild-mannered office worker Wesley Gibson, played by James McAvoy, is inducted into a secret group of elite assassins known as The Fraternity, who keep the world in balance by eliminating those who threaten its safety. Among the superhuman skills Wesley learns is the ability to “curve” bullets by swinging his pistol as he fires, allowing him to hit targets hidden behind obstacles. While this makes for an awesome cinematic visual, is it actually possible to do this? Can you actually curve a bullet like a pitcher curves a baseball?
The short answer is no – at least, not in the way shown in Wanted, but there is a caveat we’ll get to in a bit. But for now, the reason has to do with plain old inertia. When an object is set in motion, it will travel in a straight line unless some force acts upon it. Thus, no matter how fast you swing your gun while firing, the bullet will fly in the same direction it was travelling the moment it left the barrel. Once in free flight, there are only two major forces that can affect a bullet’s trajectory: gravity and air resistance. Gravity, of course, pulls the bullet towards the centre of the earth, causing it to travel in a downward-arcing trajectory. Wind resistance, however – specifically from a crosswind – can cause a bullet’s trajectory to curve sideways. This is called windage, and the sights of nearly all rifles are designed to be adjustable to compensate for this effect. However, due to the high density, small surface area, and high velocity of most bullets, windage is only significant over long distances and would be useless for curving a bullet around, say, Angelina Jolie. Similarly, another force that can affect bullets – at least, modern, spin-stabilized ones – is the Magnus Effect, the same aerodynamic phenomenon causes golf balls to “slice”, baseballs to curve, and soccer balls (football to our non-American viewers) to “bend” into the net. However, for a cylindrical bullet spinning around its longitudinal axis, the Magnus Effect acts either upwards or downwards – not sideways. To achieve a sideways curve, a gun would need to fire a spherical projectile spinning around its vertical axis – but again, so high are the inertial forces compared to the aerodynamic forces acting on a bullet that this curve would be very gradual and only become apparent over long ranges. To make the curve more pronounced at short range, you must make the projectile much larger and far less dense – creating, essentially, a nerf gun.
Of course, there is a third way to make a bullet curve in flight: the Coriolis effect. Known to most people as the phenomenon that apparently makes toilets flush a different direction in the southern hemisphere (spoiler alert: no it doesn’t) in this case the Coriolis effect is the result of the earth rotating beneath a projectile as it flies, making it seem as though it is travelling along a curved trajectory. But once again, this effect only occurs over very long distances and is useless in a Wanted-type gunfight. So, in conclusion, there is no practical way to bend a regular bullet over the short distances depicted in Wanted. Sorry, all you would-be super assassins: you’ll just have to take out your targets the old-fashioned way.
“But wait”, I hear you saying, “If you can’t curve a bullet by swinging a gun around, what about bending the barrel to shoot around corners?” Well, as goofy as it may sound, this actually is possible, and has been tried several times throughout history. During the First World War, armies on both sides extensively experimented with so-called periscope rifles to allow soldiers to shoot over the rim of a trench without exposing themselves to enemy fire. These typically consisted of a wooden or metal frame holding a regular service rifle and fitted with a periscopic sight and various levers connected to the bolt and trigger to allow said rifle to be safely operated from below. But while this fits the technical definition of “shooting around corners”, none of these devices made use of a curved barrel to bend the bullet’s trajectory, though did result in some rather interesting guns. The first patent for a curved-barrel firearm would not appear until 1919, filed by inventor Alexander T. Fischer of Detroit, Michigan. Dubbed A Device for Oblique Firing, Fischer’s design included a periscopic sight so that firearms fitted with the system could be fired:
“…at an angle from that of the line of sight as is now practised. This improvement is especially desirable in airplane usage in war, as it enables the observer to shoot over the side of the airplane and direct his bullet to an object beneath him without being obliged to hold the fire arm in a vertical or nearly vertical position and without being exposed to fire from his adversary. Soldiers also by its use may fire over parapets without exposure to adverse fire.”
This description suggests that Fischer was naively ignorant with the realities of aerial combat, for by 1919 the days of aircraft observers firing at ground targets with regular rifles was long past. And unless the observer’s compartment was armoured – which few 1910s aircraft were – hiding behind its edge would make little difference to the gunner’s safety. And while Fischer’s invention was theoretically better suited to infantry use, there is no evidence a working example was ever built. It would not be until the 1940s that a working curved-barrel firearm was actually fielded by – who else – the Nazis.
Known as the krummlauf – literally “curved barrel” – this device was the brainchild of Hans Schaede of Düsseldorf weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall-Borsig, with development beginning in 1943. As it was believed that bending a regular barrel would impart too much stress on it and the bullet, the first prototypes used a curved piece of 20mm barrel as a “trough” to help guide the 8mm bullet around a corner. However, this did not work nearly as well as planned, and it was soon discovered that simply using a curved 8mm barrel actually worked much better. The curve still placed tremendous stress on the barrel extension, so relief holes were drilled to release some of the pressure. As the krummlauf was only intended for short-range use, the resulting loss of velocity and accuracy was not considered a major problem.
Several different versions of the krummlauf were developed, broadly divided into ‘I’ variants for infantry use and ‘P’ or panzer variants for use aboard armoured vehicles. 30º, 45º, 60º and 90º versions were designed, as well as special mountings for the MG-42 machine gun and the StG-44 assault rifle. (More on the fascinating history of assault rifles in the Bonus Facts in a bit.) The 90º ‘P’ krummlaufs were specifically designed for use in tank destroyers like the Porsche Elefant, which was not fitted with defensive machine guns. Mounted in a special swivelling cupola fitted with a periscope, an StG-44 fitted with a krummlauf allowed the vehicle crew to defend themselves against attacking infantry while keeping the weapon vertical, minimizing the space it occupied inside the hull. In the end, however, only the 30º ‘I’ variant for the StG-44 was produced in any significant numbers – and even then, of the 20,000 initially ordered, only around 500 ever made it into the field.
Intended for use in urban warfare, the ‘I’ krummlauf featured a 35 centimetre barrel, comprising a 10 cm straight section, a 14 cm curved section, and another 11 cm straight section. This clamped over the front sight and muzzle of the StG-44 using the same mount as the German Army’s standard schiessbecher grenade launching cup. While early on efforts were made to line up the rifling of the weapon and the krummlauf, this was eventually found to be unnecessary and production versions actually featured a short bored-out section between the muzzle of the weapon and the start of the curved barrel to allow the bullet to re-center itself. And to allow the infantryman to see what he was shooting at, the krummlauf was fitted with a periscopic mirror in a sheet-metal housing. This in turn featured a triangular shield to prevent gases from the barrel from clouding the optics.
Like many German “wunderwaffe,” the krummlauf arrived too late and in too few numbers to have any impact on the end of the war. However, the Allies took a keen interest in the odd-looking design, with both the Americans and Russians conducting extensive tests on captured examples. The results were something of a mixed bag. While comfortable to shoot and capable of achieving 35×35 centimetre grouping at a range of 100 metres when fired in semi-automatic mode, the 30º ‘I’ krummlauf became uncontrollable in fully-automatic fire, the sideways recoil spinning the shooter dangerously to the side. The powerful forces in the curved barrel also tended to tear the bullets into fragments, though this unintended shotgun effect was theoretically useful in close-quarters urban combat. However, these same forces also caused the barrel to very quickly wear out. Though originally designed to last 6,000 shots, in practice most krummlaufs failed after just a few hundred.
In his final report, Colonel H.A. Quinn of Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland concluded that:
“Despite the fact that the bent-barrel theory is in violation of accepted ideas on bullet delivery, it is believed to be worthy of extensive research and development. With the short length, large diameter, and short bearing of the 230-grain U.S. Caliber .45 bullet, various degrees of bent barrels might prove to be successful, and with reasonable control. With the 7.9mm Kurzpatronen bullet, it is believed that the 30-degree bend is practical. The 90-degree bend is apparently impractical.”
The Soviets came to similar conclusions, and produced experimental versions of the Mosin-Nagant 91/30 and AVS-36 rifles and the PPsH-41 submachine gun with 30º curved barrels. However, neither the U.S. nor the Red Army chose to pursue the idea any further.
But if curving a firearm’s barrel around a corner is impractical, why not just bend the whole firearm? This was the thinking Israeli Defense Forces Lieutenant Colonel and counter-terrorist expert Amos Golan when he created one of the most unique weapons currently in service: the CornerShot. Introduced in the year 2000, the CornerShot is not a weapon per se but rather a rifle-like chassis with a forward section designed to hold a standard service pistol like a Glock 17 or Beretta 92F. This section is hinged to allow the attached firearm to fire around corners, and incorporates a high-definition television camera connected to a screen on the rear of the device to allow the operator to see what they are shooting at. And if that weren’t bizarre enough, among the many accessories created for the CornerShot is the Kitty Corner Shot, a stuffed animal resembling a cat designed to be slipped over the muzzle of the pistol. The idea is that when the Kitty Corner Shot is pushed around a corner, it will distract the target just long enough for the CornerShot gunner to get them in their sights. And if you ask us, when someone starts coming up with ideas that unhinged, it is they, and not the bullets, that are truly going around the bend…
Bonus Fact:
Speaking of innovative weapons, what we now call assault rifles can trace their origins back to the Second World War. While that conflict is remembered for introducing advanced technologies like radar, jet aircraft, and nuclear weapons, the average infantryman went into WWII armed essentially the same weapon his parents had used in the last war: a bolt-action, manually-repeating rifle firing a full-power cartridge. The only major exception was the United States, which in 1936 became the first nation to issue a semi-automatic rifle – the M1 Garand – as its standard infantry weapon. But while such weapons were well-suited to shooting across no-man’s-land during the Great War or the South African Veldt during the Boer War, in the increasingly urban, close-quarters combat troops increasingly found themselves engaged in, bolt-action rifles quickly became something of a liability. Not only were they slow and awkward to operate – severely limiting the volume of fire that could be laid down – but the full-power cartridges they fired, great for precision shots over long distances, were grossly overpowered, with Army reports indicating that few combat engagements occurred at ranges over 300 metres. Such cartridges also made fully-automatic weapons all but uncontrollable when fired from the shoulder.
