FP-45 Liberator

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 12/11/2018 | F Jardim

[w1n1]

Clandestine weapons like the World War II FP-45 pistol, later dubbed the Liberator by the Office of Strategic Services in 1944, have always intrigued me.
It remains the rarest of American martial handguns from the conflict, with original examples usually starting in the $1,500 range for rusty, damaged pieces and the best examples, with their impossibly rare waxed shipping boxes, bringing over $7,000.
Myths and misinformation hide the pistol's real story; they weren't wildly inaccurate junk guns that exploded after a few shots, and they were never tossed out of airplanes over occupied Europe en masse.

THE FP-45 PISTOL was inexpensive by design. Constructed mostly of welded, stamped sheet metal parts with a die-cast zinc cocking piece, each gun cost the federal government a bit over $2, boxed for delivery with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition.
Only 5 inches long and weighing a pound, this single-shot pistol was conceived as an instrument of chaos in the darkest times of the war. The idea seems to have originated with a Polish military attaché in March of 1942.

His request for assistance with arming resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied areas was important enough that it reached the attention of the American assistant chief of staff for intelligence (G-2) of the War Department General Staff. In a little over two weeks, the Joint Psychological Warfare Committee completed a detailed plan of action and recommended urgent implementation, which was supported by Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. Read the rest of FP-45 Liberator.

[READINABLUESTATE]

A step up from a rock.

[gundog]

A step up to a Mauser or Luger

[V_TWIN]

That bad boy looks like it’s just waiting to blowup in your hand. LOL.

[Carriage Hill]

+1.

[Doogle]

"..whack em in da snot locker"

[yarddog]

I once bought a Mexican .22 Single shot pistol for, I think $12. It vaguely looked like a Colt single action. It had a lot of plastic and stamped sheet metal.

It used a rolling block action made of sheet metal. The barrel itself was of high quality. I guess I should not have been surprised that it was very accurate. Really no reason it should not have been.

It was probably made as cheaply as possible for a gun which actually performed OK. Much better design than the Liberator which was all but useless.

[Mr. K]

That is a great idea

Toss handguns out of a plane over occupied territory. Let the people handle the situation for us.

I wonder if a few million of these would have liberated chinese or russians.

[Ancient Man]

A true belly-gun.

[fso301]

A gun that enables you to get a better gun... if a lone sentry allows you to get that close.

[knarf]

GREAT animation.

[jim_trent]

Mendoza?

[yarddog]

Thanks, I was trying to think of the name and Mendoza was right.

For some reason I kept thinking “Obregon” but knew that was not it.