History Main / LittleUselessGun

* Discussed in ''Film/GetShorty'': When Ray Bones threatens Ronnie with his little gun (an AMT Backup, which is actually pretty reliable as pocket guns go), Ronnie (who was sent by [[HorribleHollywood a corrupt film producer]] and probably has more experience [[WrongGenreSavvy seeing gangster films than actually killing people]]) calls it "the Fiat of guns" and expects this to happen. [[SubvertedTrope Ray kills him with four bullets to his chest]].

** The film ironically gets it backwards due to an inability to secure the right prop weapons; in that scene, Bond is instead turning in a Beretta 1934 in .380 ACP, which M continues to disparage as he proceeds to force Bond to use a Walther PP in the same caliber, which the dialogue insists is actually the ''lower''-caliber PPK in .32 ACP. The film provides a second justification in any case; The Beretta had jammed on Bond on a recent mission and he was wounded as a result.
** The 4.2mm handgun used by ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' should be this, but since it's only used by Scaramanga, who has ImprobableAimingSkills, every shot is an instant one-hit kill (ironically, in the original novel, Scaramanga uses a HandCannon which an [=MI6=] psychiatric report suggests is CompensatingForSomething). Bond-based video games frequently include Scaramanga's golden gun and a similar gold-plated variation of whichever Walther pistol Bond swears by as a MythologyGag, and they're always an instant kill, regardless of who's using it, or sometimes even ''what'' is being shot with it.

* Literature/JamesBond originally carried a Beretta 418 (.25 calibre) before switching to his signature Walther PPK. Behind the scenes, the change happened after one Geoffrey Boothroyd--[[{{Tuckerization}} for whom the character who would become Q would be named]]--wrote to Fleming objecting to the use of the Beretta and, after some back-and-forth, suggested the Walther. Calibre size is not the only reason he has to turn it in, at least, as his Beretta had jammed on him and he was wounded as a result (in the preceding book, ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'', it became stuck in a holster when Bond attached a suppressor to it, allowing him to be stabbed with a poisoned knife; this was not included in the film version, as the chronology was changed between films, what with ''Dr. No'' being the first one adapted). Incidentally Bond does carry a long-barreled Colt .45 (either a custom [=M1911=] longslide or a Colt SAA revolver) in his glovebox should he ever need a HandCannon.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' manages this with a revolver, of all things, with the Executioner. Based on an unproduced 28-gauge version of the Taurus Judge shotgun-revolver, it's presumably intended to combine the upsides of a pistol (such as quick times to draw and aim, less slowed movement when aiming, etc) with the extreme power and pellet spread of a shotgun. This does increase its power to even more extremes, enough so that it's the only pistol in the game that can kill a man in a single shot, but the problem here is that [[ShortRangeShotgun shotguns are basically melee weapons]] in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series - a one-shot kill requires you to be close enough to the target that you could just as well use your knife instead and achieve the same result, and being even a few inches further will require the entire five-round cylinder to kill someone. Plus, this also means it's not possible to cherry-tap people from beyond about a foot like you could with the other pistols, either, because like the full-size shotguns, the pellets disappear at their maximum range.

** The [=PS20=] is an energy weapon example. A one-shot plasma derringer that you're inexplicably restricted from carrying more than one of, it can't even one-shot basic mooks from point-blank range with a headshot, defeating its purpose entirely. Apparently in early versions of the game, it actually did a more-than-respectable 40 damage (about equivalent to two shells through the assault shotgun if you're close enough that every pellet hits), but then something broke with both of the plasma weapons in the update that added multiplayer, making them both deal such low damage per projectile that the only things that deal less damage than them are melee weapons, ''if'' you don't have any training in them.

** The .22 SMG, meanwhile, makes itself more useful by playing to the intended strengths of a low-damage weapon, by negating it with [[MoreDakka a high rate of fire and a very large pan magazine]]; it can deal with most low DT enemies through DeathOfAThousandCuts. The downside here is that .22LR ammo is rather scarce since very few enemies carry it and it can't be built at a reloading bench without mods, though what supply vendors have it very cheap. 9mm ammo in comparison is much more common, as are other 9mm pistols you'll need to [[BreakableWeapons repair yours]] for most of the game.

* The pistol in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is this; it sounds like a pop gun and does about as much damage. The only reason you ever use it is to kill a shotgun trooper and get ahold of a better weapon. The chaingun makes it completely obsolete - it runs off the same ammo, does the same amount of damage, but has a far higher fire rate. Most user made maps give you a shotgun straight away so you don't have to bother with the lowly pistol at all.

* The pistol in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is this; it sounds like a pop gun and does about as much damage. The only reason you ever use it is to kill a shotgun trooper and get ahold of a better weapon. Especially since the chaingun makes it completely obsolete - it runs off the same ammo, does the same amount of damage, but has a far higher fire rate. Most user made maps give you a shotgun straight away so you don't have to bother with the lowly pistol at all.

* The pistol in ''VideoGame/Doom'' is this; it sounds like a pop gun and does about as much damage. The only reason you ever use it is to kill a shotgun trooper and get ahold of a better weapon. Especially since the chaingun makes it completely obsolete - it runs off the same ammo, does the same amount of damage, but has a far higher fire rate. Most user made maps give you a shotgun straight away so you don't have to bother with the lowly pistol at all.

* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series rarely features small-bore weapons, but they invert this whenever they do appear, instead frequently saving its ire for [[ArbitraryGunPower anything full-auto]]. The Calico M100-P guns you can find in ''Code: Veronica'' are large handguns chambered in the comparably tiny [=.22LR=], and can do slightly more damage per shot than the basic 9mm handgun. Meanwhile, the Derringer you can find in the 2002 [=REmake=] has only one unfired [=.22WMR=] round, but it can kill ''any'' regular enemy with its single shot.

* Literature/JamesBond originally carried a Beretta 418 (.25 calibre) before switching to his signature Walther PPK. Behind the scenes, the change happened after one Geoffrey Boothroyd--[[{{Tuckerization}} for whom the character who would become Q would be named]]--wrote to Fleming objecting to the use of the Beretta and, after some back-and-forth, suggested the Walther. Calibre size is not the only reason he has to turn it in, at least, as his Beretta had jammed on him and he was wounded as a result (in the preceding book, ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'', it became stuck in a holster when Bond attached a suppressor to it, allowing him to be stabbed with a poisoned knife; this was not included in the film version, as the chronology was changed between films, what with ''Dr. No'' being the first one adapted). Incidentally Bond does carry a .45 M1911 in his glovebox should he ever need a HandCannon.

** Meryl Strife gets some mockery over her WeaponOfChoice, the derringer, both because of its two-shot capacity and its low penetration. She overcomes the former problem by carrying several dozen at a time. The justification for her choice of weapon seems to be that, in accordance with this trope, it's treated as a nonlethal weapon due to its small caliber. Thus, she can use it with impunity and not worry about deaths or serious collateral damage (which is a reasonable concern for an insurance representative).

* Downplayed in ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree''. Jake's WeaponOfChoice is a .38 Police Special, a snubnose revolver. He chooses it [[RevolversAreForAmateurs because it's simple]], [[BoringYetPractical lightweight, and easily concealable]]. Stopping power is not the issue, however, as while he uses it to great effect to kill Harry Dunning's father, it proves useless against Lee Harvey Oswald, as its short barrel impedes its accuracy during their confrontation in the Book Depository (it is repeatedly noted that the gun is only effective up to fifteen yards). Because Jake misses, Oswald is able to use his own rifle [[spoiler:to kill Sadie instead of Kennedy]].

** Another story from Georgia included an ''inversion'' of this trope; several county officers were chasing an armed robbery suspect and got into a gunfight, before the suspect, realizing he was outnumbered, turned to flee. The officers fired another shot or two from their [[HandCannon .44 Magnum]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]] before realizing he was running and gave chase, eventually catching him and hauling him back to the station. While they were processing him, they noticed he was shifting uncomfortably and, upon inquiry, the suspect admitted to having intense pain in his buttocks that had started during the chase and only gotten worse. Suspecting that he had been stung by a wasp or had pulled something during his flight from the officers, they conducted a medical inspection...and found that the suspect was bleeding from a [[ShotInTheAss .44 magnum slug wedged in his left (lower) cheek]]. After getting the man medical attention from the apparently-true shot, they began to consider the implications, realizing with [[OhCrap no small amount of horror]] that what this man thought was a bee sting or pulled muscle was one of their bullets, meaning it had ''utterly failed'' to work as advertised, and as such uncovered the abysmal reliability of the .44 ammunition they used. Fortunately, this was in TheNineties, when many other police departments were switching to more reliable automatic pistols, and this department quickly followed suit.
* Apparently the reasoning behind the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-180 American-180]] RareGuns/{{submachine gun|s}}, a .22LR weapon that fitted magazines carrying anywhere between 165 to 275 rounds, and which fired them at about 1,200 rounds per minute, but which was designed to be a ''riot control'' weapon, since the logic of the time was "oh, well, it uses small, barely lethal bullets so it's barely lethal," with little consideration to the fact that it spat out a ''shitload of a '''fuckton''''' of those "barely lethal" bullets at a volume that would put an MG 42 to shame, and considering the gun can easily chew through a solid concrete block in a matter of seconds, "control" is ''one'' way of putting what it can do to human targets - in fact, much was also made of its ability to chew through body armor by simply [[MoreDakka hammering on it until it gave way]], the designers apparently completely blind to the irony. Hard to tell whether this is a more or less sane approach to riot control than the nearly-concurrent Soviet KS-23, a shotgun/carbine made from the rejected barrels for [[{{BFG}} 23mm anti-aircraft guns]], which was on paper designed for less-lethal usage but in practice had ''several'' very much lethal ammunition types produced for it.

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', the "noisy cricket" is the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it's dismissed as "completely useless". [[HandCannon It's capable of blowing a hole through a completely sealed door]] and sending the user [[BlownAcrossTheRoom flying the opposite direction]]. The funny thing is that it functionally is near-useless, but for [[AwesomeButImpractical the exact opposite reason]] of what it looks like it would be. [[AllThereInTheManual Background materials]] suggest that the Noisy Cricket's standard function is significantly toned down from what is seen; it's meant to be a [[HiddenWeapons holdout gun]]. It's given in an overpowered state to rookie agents as an object lesson... or a form of hazing. In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', Agent K [[spoiler:in his neuralized state]] is given one that does not have the comical level of overcharging, and in [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlack the animated series]] J receives a silencer for his (which is much longer than the actual gun it's screwed to), which reduces the power of each shot but also allows him to fire it without bowling himself over.

* In ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005'', the eponymous characters are getting guns from a stash. Mrs. Smith complains when she is given the visibly smaller "girl gun".

** Played straight, however, with both the Zip 22 and the M231. {{Word of God}} for the former (just ''look'' at the thing!), and officially by the latter. The Zip 22 is your average, low damage 22 LR pistol, which is basically the modern rendition of the Kolibri (see below). The M231 is the complete opposite: so opposite it loops back around the spectrum and ends up being useless again, featuring a fire rate of over 1000, which wouldn't be so bad if the recoil wasn't terrible. So terrible, in fact, that you literally have to aim at the ''ground'' so the recoil can kick up and actually hit your enemy, besides the fact that there aren't any iron sights. The fact that the stock is just a ''cylinder'' explains it: firing the weapon while braced against your shoulder in real life would more than likely result in extreme pain, which is why it's ''mounted'' in real life.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2mm_Kolibri Kolibri pistol]] is a weapon intended for women to defend themselves with in the 1910s; as weapon historian Ian Hogg put it, "What the lady was expected to defend herself against is open to some question." With a '''2.7mm''' caliber, smoothbore barrel, and maximum of 1.5 inches of penetration in pine board, we have a sterling real-life example of a Little Useless Gun. In fact, it is the smallest centerfire, magazine-fed pistol to be produced. To get a sense of the energy coming out of one, a heavy (0.43g) airsoft pellet traveling at 120m/s (for high-end models) has roughly 3/4's the energy of the bullet coming out of a Kolibri. Technology at the time was not advanced enough to rifle a gun barrel that small, so the bullet had no spin, and thus was also terribly inaccurate. Strong language would've protected you better than this pea shooter, and it may be the only gun that is potentially more lethal if you ''swallow'' it.
** It should be noted that guns like that [[WeaponForIntimidation were not necessarily meant to be fired at an attacker]]. In the early 20th century, even a very tiny wound could result in a potentially fatal infection. Hence pistols made for self-defense generally emphasised portability over stopping power, as most would-be muggers didn't want to die a slow and painful death and would back down if a gun was simply pointed at them. As antibiotics became widely available and medical care has advanced, the threat of merely being wounded by a gunshot, especially one that small, has become less effective, necessitating the focus for defensive handguns shifting more towards stopping power with larger guns firing larger bullets.

* During the Philippine-American War (particularly the Moro Rebellion theatre), the US military's .38 Long Colt revolvers proved to be ineffective against charging Moro fighters, who would shrug off several rounds for a variety of reasons, including a quirk in how the revolvers themselves worked that gave them inconsistent shot placement. Of course, that fact in particular wasn't realized at the time, so when the military temporarily remedied the situation by [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece readopting the Colt Single Action Army]], they came to the belief that caliber was the sole reason for why the .38 revolvers were less effective. This lead to a strong and long-standing belief in this trope among the US Armed Forces, enough that the 1911 remained standard-issue for 70 years, and after it was finally replaced with the 9mm Beretta 92 in TheEighties, the near-constant attempts to replace it seemed to ignore even legitimate issues with the pistol in favor of focusing solely on the fact that it wasn't .45 [[FelonyMisdemeanor and was therefore apparently blasphemy]].

* Apparently the reasoning behind the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-180 American-180]] RareGuns/{{submachine gun|s}}, a .22LR weapon that fitted magazines carrying anywhere between 165 to 275 rounds, and which fired them at about 1,200 rounds per minute, but which was designed to be a ''riot control'' weapon, since the logic of the time was "oh, well, it uses small, barely lethal bullets so it's barely lethal," with little consideration to the fact that it spat out a ''shitload of a '''fuckton''''' of those "barely lethal" bullets at a volume that would put an MG-42 to shame, and considering the gun can easily chew through a solid concrete block in a matter of seconds, "control" is ''one'' way of putting what it can do to human targets - in fact, much was also made of its ability to chew through body armor by simply [[MoreDakka hammering on it until it gave way]], the designers apparently completely blind to the irony. Hard to tell whether this is a more or less sane approach to riot control than the nearly-concurrent Soviet KS-23, a shotgun/carbine made from the rejected barrels for [[{{BFG}} 23mm anti-aircraft guns]], which was on paper designed for less-lethal usage but in practice had ''several'' very much lethal ammunition types produced for it.

* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USFA_ZiP_.22 The USFA Zip 22.]] ''Heavy'' emphasis on useless. [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X9bULArrKs4 This video talks about the gun]] by ''WebVideo/ForgottenWeapons'' while [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3fd4goVs-4 this other video sees the gun in action.]]

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'''s Varmint Rifle is an intentional example in that, much like its RealLife counterpart, it's not meant to be used for combat, but rather for shooting small game, such as rabbits, allowing their carcasses to be collected intact, as opposed to being obliterated by a larger gun.

* ''The Big Kill'' by Creator/MickeySpillane involves the VillainProtagonist returning to his home city to investigate the murder of his former childhood friend who had become a crime boss. At one points it's sneeringly noted that TheDreaded boss was killed by a .22, the kind of thing a street kid would use. This turns out to be an important clue when he returns to the lair they used when they were street kids, looks in the place where the gang hid their weapons, and finds one of the zip guns missing.

** ''VideoGame/XCOMTerrorFromTheDeep'' will start players with dart and harpoon-based weapons, among other things. The dart pistol is weak to the point of uselessness. It does so little damage that Aquatoids, the weakest starting enemies, will take at least three direct hits to bring them down, whereas the harpoon rifle will often drop an Aquatoid where it stands after just one shot. For the price of the dart pistol and a single clip of 12 darts, you might as well buy three grenades and actually ''kill'' some of the aliens instead.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMTerrorFromTheDeep'' will start players with dart and harpoon-based weapons, among other things. The dart pistol is weak to the point of uselessness. It does so little damage that Aquatoids, the weakest starting enemies, will take at least three direct hits to bring them down, whereas the harpoon rifle will often drop an Aquatoid where it stands after just one shot. For the price of the dart pistol and a single clip of 12 darts, you might as well buy three grenades and actually ''kill'' some of the aliens instead.
** The pistol in [[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense the first game]] is not any better: with worse accuracy than the rifle and less than half the power, the only redeeming quality the pistol has is that you can put it in your belt inventory... or you can replace it with a couple grenades for the same cost

* The infamous [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout North Hollywood Shootout]] caused many American police forces to conclude that many of their standard armaments at the time were this trope. The two shooters tooled themselves up with assault rifles and body armour, the former of which gave them a massive [[MoreDakka amount of firepower]] compared to the pistols and shotguns of the responding cops, and the latter which allowed them to NoSell most of what the police did manage to throw at them. Several officers ended up borrowing some AR-15 rifles from a nearby gunshop in order to try and fight back. In the end, Larry Phillips was shot eleven times (including the [[AteHisGun self inflicted gunshot wound]] that killed him, while Emil Mătăsăreanu was shot ''29 times'' and took ''over an hour'' to bleed out when he was finally apprehended. Many police departments began arming their officers with greater firepower in response to the incident.

** The pistol in [[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense the first game]] is not any better: with worse accuracy than the rifle and less than half the power, the only redeeming quality the pistol has is that you can put it in your belt inventory. The fact that you could replace that pistol with a couple of grenades for about the same cost...

* The [[AKA47 SC Pistol]] from ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' while offering a ''20 round'' magazine, has pathetically little stopping power and, past a couple feet, even a headshot is not a guaranteed kill. TruthInTelevision, particularly if using [[ArmorPiercingAttack armor piercing]] rounds[[note]]As a rule, armor-piercing qualities and stopping power are on opposite ends of a sliding scale, and in most cases emphasizing one will decrease the other.[[/note]], as Fisher is using SB 193 subsonic rounds, which greatly reduce armour-piercing capabilities as well as over all stopping power in favor of making it easier to silence the gun. Same goes for the SC-20K rifle, which seems to have a similar subsonic load and can often take a longer than necessary burst to take down some enemies if you're not aiming for the head. Averted in ''Conviction'', where the SC Pistol is pretty much the best weapon in the game.

On the other hand, small-caliber firearms, such as .22 rimfire "Purse Guns", are ''worthless'' against most forms of ballistic armor, which will stop a small caliber round ''flat''. Literally, the bullet will flatten to the width of a coin, or thereabouts. Higher caliber pistols like the .45 and 9mm are more likely to get through lighter armors but aren't guaranteed to do so, while rifle rounds like the 5.56 require modern heavy-duty armor to have any chance of stopping them. Even then, some bruises or even broken bones will result from the force of the shot.

* Scaled up to tank size with the German 37mm [=PaK=] 36 anti-tank gun. It received the nickname 'door-knocker' owing to its inability to penetrate the armour of all but the lightest of enemy tanks. The Americans also used a 37mm anti-tank gun, but it proved to be more useful because many of the German tanks in use when it was first deployed were poorly-armored Panzer [=II=]s, [=IIIs=], and [=IVs=]. Its use in the European theater diminished after Germany began improving the armor of the Panzer III and IV, and it was completely ineffective against the Panther and Tiger unless it [[EyeScream hit the optical slit]] (though German tank crews reported that American troops quickly became disturbingly skilled at doing so). And it was still useful in the Pacific theater since the Japanese never deployed any armor heavier than tiny two-man tankettes that were so poorly armored they were vulnerable even to regular small arms.

* ''Anime/DoraemonTheRecordOfNobitaSpaceblazer'' has Ropporu's family heirloom, a pocket-sized gun belonging to his late father, which despite it's size can ''blow a tree into half'' by hitting the trunk. Nobita actually comments on how small and harmless looking it seems before Ropporu decides to demonstrate it's power.

** In ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' almost every repeater pistol certainly fits this, doing pitiful damage compared to [[RevolversAreJustBetter your average revolver]], which the wiki refers to as [[HandCannon "a hybrid of pistols and sniper rifles"]]. Repeaters that deal good damage are rare and often very unique

* It's unclear what caliber everything is in ''{{VideoGame/Borderlands}}'' (and it wouldn't matter anyway) but almost every repeater pistol certainly fits this, doing pitiful damage compared to [[RevolversAreJustBetter your average revolver]], which the wiki refers to as [[HandCannon "A hybrid of pistols and sniper rifles"]]. Possibly more a case of Automatics are Useless. [[PunchPackingPistol Turned on its head]] in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''.
** ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' has Miss Moxxi's Probe, a rather sad little unique weapon. It has the LifeDrain ability of all Moxxi weapons, but it does minimal damage and has such low life drain values that it is practically worthless--expect maybe 1 to 2 HP returned to you per hit. Its only real purpose is pissing off some otherwise peaceful kraggons so they can open a path for you.

** Another story from Georgia included an ''inversion'' of this trope; several county officers were chasing an armed robbery suspect and got into a gunfight, before the suspect, realizing he was outnumbered, turned to flee. The officers fired another shot or two from their [[HandCannon .44 Magnum]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]] before realizing he was running and gave chase, eventually catching him and hauling him back to the station. While they were processing him, they noticed he was shifting uncomfortably and, upon inquiry, the suspect admitted to having intense pain in his buttocks that had started during the chase and only gotten worse. Suspecting that he had been stung by a wasp or had pulled something during his flight from the officers, they conducted a medical inspection...and found that the suspect was bleeding from a [[ShotInTheAss .44 magnum slug wedged in his left (lower) cheek.]] After getting the man medical attention from the apparently-true shot, they began to consider the implications, realizing with [[OhCrap no small amount of horror]] that what this man thought was a bee sting or pulled muscle was one of their rounds, meaning it had ''utterly failed'' to work as advertised, and as such uncovered the abysmal reliability of the 44 rounds they used. Fortunately, this was in the 90's where many other police departments were taking this moment to switch to more reliable automatic pistols, and this department quickly followed suit.