I always thought these were vastly over rated in terms of how effective they really were.
I think they’re meant for and “up closed and personal” shot on a nazi, not from distance.
They were never used. OSS had a million of them made, but never dropped them into France or anywhere else.
Most of them ended up at the bottom of the ocean after WWII.
They were a means to acquiring a rifle.
They were. The concept was somewhat interesting, but in practice, they were not used.
You ask the nice German sergeant for a light for your cigarette. As he fumbles for his captured ronson you blow his brains out and take his MP-40 and his P-38. You then give the liberator to another partisan.
The first shot it extremely effective.
When you are surrounded by troops armed to the teeth and you have nothing...this is much better than a brick.
It was intended to be the means by which resistance fighters would capture a larger, more effective firearm.
Solely intended for up-close and personal...as they did not have a rifled barrel and were single shot.
Where did they go?
After the war, they had much more use as salvage metal...so.
Plus, those that were warehoused were simply moved to the nearest recycler (which we didn't call them that in those days) and used probably to make those wonderful post-war cars that returning servicemen clamored for.
They were meant to be used for point-blank head shots on a sole enemy; to steal their military grade weapon and ammo. Beyond that they were a terror weapon, and a force multiplier method.
Psychological warfare. The more motivated the enemy the less it works.
Still wouldnt want to take a shot from one.
Possibly because you weren't on the other side. And, of course, a nighttime airdrop of a few hundred thousand of them into a contested area just before a major offensive action makes for a pretty effective diversion, whether an effective shot is fired from one or not.