It may be true this pistol was a piece of junk. But for its size - only 5 inches long & weighing a pound, this single-shot pistol was conceived as an instrument of chaos in the darkest times of World War II. Posted on 08/14/2020 6:11:37 AM PDT by w1n1
It may be true this pistol was a piece of junk. But for its size - only 5 inches long & weighing a pound, this single-shot pistol was conceived as an instrument of chaos in the darkest times of World War II.
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.
They recommended a light, simple, inexpensive, powerful handgun that could be dropped from aircraft – or other distribution methods they might contrive to suit the circumstances – to litter the countryside of occupied nations. Once delivered in theater, these little handguns would subject the enemy's garrison troops to great mental anguish because even though they would find some of the weapons, they would never know how many they didn’t find. Hopefully, their anxiousness would be heightened by some fatal close range head shot casualties too. The expectation was that at least some of the weapons would be found by those intrepid souls who dared to resist the yoke of totalitarian rule forced on them by Germany and Japan.
SIX MONTHS LATER on August 21, 1942, one million FP-45 pistols had been completed. The FP designation stood for “flare projector,” and was part of a subterfuge to mislead enemy spies. Manufacturing was done in total secrecy at General Motor’s Guide Lamp factory in Anderson, Ind. The assembly work took an astonishing 11 weeks. Three hundred employees worked around the clock to put together the 23 individual parts that made up each pistol in an average of 6.6 seconds. It took them less time to assemble it than it took the average shooter to load and fire the weapon. Read the rest of FP-45 Liberator.
Instead of $150 Billion sent to Iran, think how may of these could have been air dropped to the people of Iran.
Saw one for sale in local gun shop/range. It was complete with manual and box for $1,200!
We actually believed and practiced “Loose lips sink ships”
If I had the money, I think I would have bought it.
THREE PERCENTERS!
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I miss Mike.
Someone is making
Reproductions.
Another company (I don’t recall who) was making repro a few years ago, with repro boxes and manuals. At $1200, I would wager you saw one of these.
This article seems to come around every year
Very interesting article. The related vid is pretty cool as well.
This article would come around more often than once a year but it takes a while to reload.
The gun was designed to be used to kill a German soldier and take his more effective weapons and ammo. Lather, rinse, repeat until you’ve armed your resistance cell.
CC
Be careful, there are reproductions out there.
CC
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