.
the Sherman was a shocking machine ,by 1944 sending it against the Germans was a crime ,
it suffered astronomical losses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6l7sCoWX4
its propensity to catch fire was only related to its ammo storage ,
worst was its thin skin , high profile and the use of high octane gasoline for its aviation derived engine
its gun was way to small , up gunning it was very difficult due to its small turret ring
for a short while around early 1943 it was adequate ,but was left behind by the new generation of armor
The worst should not be applied to prototype , that's normal to develop duds ,
that's why the weapons are field tested
it's not fair either to mention obsolete equipment, off course the results will be under par
the Buffalo was used by the Australian ,because that's what they had ,
it was OK as long as fighting Zero one on one was not on the menu
as for the OKA , sinking one ship probably paid for the whole project,
it's about asymmetry of means to an end.
The Sten was cheap , cheerful, light and easy to make ....plenty were made
as was pointed out above , magazines are the usual weak point in automatic weapons
its lack of a safety probably killed quite a few allied soldiers , it did the job if looked after with some suspicion
certainly it was very far from outstanding but it delivered on its purpose , close quarter combat
For me the worst piece of equipment , in a very contested field , is the British tank , the Churchill
developed during the war , in full knowledge of the requirements and with a long list of crappy predecessors
it was under gunned and unreliable with all the defects of its predecessors and the only advantage of a fine suspension
when the first specimen fell into German hands after the Dieppe raid the German couldn't believe that was the new British main battle tank ,
they supposed it was a rejected project send on a mission to fool the Wehrmacht into complacency
It found some marginal use as specialized equipment for the D Day landing
the British then used the Sherman , totally outclassed by then