Every now and again, a manufacturer decides to market a weapon that seemingly speeds right past all sense of aesthetics and functionality, to happily embrace a level of crudity and expedience normally reserved only for improvised or homebuilt guns. The Cobray Terminator is one such gun: an open barrel, backward recoiling single shot shotgun that makes one wonder what was wrong with an NEF Pardner. Ian of Forgotten Weapons has a hands-on video of one of three Terminators available at the current Rock Island Auction:

It’s difficult to imagine what utility a gun like this really has. It is at least “A Gun”, but a more inconvenient, ineffective, and uncomfortable weapon is difficult to imagine. Versus a simple single shot shotgun of the kind in use for over a hundred years, the Terminator is a tidier package, but much less useful (I couldn’t imagine trying to hunt birds with the Terminator, for instance). As a self-defense or guerrilla weapon, it seems less comfortable and useful than a host of other designs.

It is, however, interesting, and a little endearing in its shortcomings. If that is enough to get our readers interested, the gun in the video is of course available for auction.