While browsing through the archives of Ian McCollum's marvelous Forgotten Weapons blog, I came across this unusual and curvaceous rifle design. It's Nikolai Afanasiev's TKB-011 2M automatic rifle from the mid 1960s. The bullpup design--meaning that the action is behind the trigger--permits a short overall length, thus making it useful for confined spaces. As far as I can tell, it was never put into production. Sometimes beauty is not accompanied by practicality.

Link | Photo: Maxim Popenker