Battlefield 1: the tiny Kolibri pistol is the most ridiculous thing we've seen – but yes, it's real

This is like the opposite of compensating for something.

Battlefield 1 is finally arriving for fans of the series via EA Access and Origin Access members ahead of its full-blown launch – and with that launch fans are discovering some of the easter eggs hidden away in the game.

One such easter egg is the inclusion of one of the most infamous guns in history, the 2mm Kolibri. This is a tiny, tiny gun. YouTuber JackFrags uploaded the first footage of it in action. Here's a gif of it in-game via reddit, who describe it as a handgun for ants:

You've got to love those reload animations. So delicate! We don't currently know how you get the gun, but we'll update when we do.

This gun might look funny and ludicrous, but it's actually the real deal. The 2mm Kolibri Pistol was made by an Austrian Watchmaker between 1910 and 1914, making it ideal for Battlefield 1. It was intended as a self-defence weapon but was actually pretty rubbish – bullets had poor penetration and low accuracy.

It only fires at around 4 joules – that's less than some paintball guns. If you shot one of these things into plywood, it'd only make it a couple of centimetres deep… which explains why this tiny pistol does so little damage in Battlefield 1. These days original Kolibris are pretty rare and are quite valuable as a result.

Here's a little history lesson on the real Kolibri and some video footage of the real thing on YouTube.

Battlefield 1 is out now via EA Access and Origin Access for Xbox One and PC. Buyers of the Early Enlister edition will join these players on the 18th, and the game finally launches a few days later. Stick with us for loads about the game.