Given the sheer scope of World War II, it naturally follows that a lot of weapons got involved. Getting a handle on the exact numbers is difficult, given the number of nations, manufacturers, and soldiers involved. But it's estimated that 27 million rifles and carbines alone were produced from 1939 to 1945, with the U.S. and Soviet Union each manufacturing over 12 million per nation in that period. And then consider all the extra firepower that can be added to that number when you factor in tanks, explosives, aircraft, seafaring vessels, and more. Like so much about the Second World War, trying to understand the full scope of things can get dizzying.

What makes things even more incomprehensible are some of the failed weapons of the war. While some manufacturers were reliably churning out

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