FP-45 Liberator
The FP-45 Liberator is a pistol manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories.
Posted on 11/08/2017 9:09:03 AM PST by w1n1
Not sure if these were the result of poor design, lack of materials, or sheer necessity, some firearms and guns are just ugly. Many early automatic weapons and pistols were designed without a complete understanding of what works, leading to strange and ugly guns that barely worked. Desperate times during World War II led to a need for cheap, easily made firearms, and there wasn’t time to make them with clean lines and beauty. The result? Some of the ugliest guns and weapons ever made. Modern designs have also been accused of lacking beauty, especially “bullpup” rifles, where the magazine actually goes behind the trigger. Try doing a speed reload, its a bitch. While this reduces the length and weight of the weapon, making it easier to carry, it also makes for a strange looking, quasi-futuristic rifle that lacks the classic beauty of earlier weapons. And sometimes, prevailing design fads take over, especially in communist countries, where principles in Soviet architecture led to blocky, metallic-looking firearms – many of which didn’t work. The ones that did work, it worked in any conditions. (Kalishnikov AK’s)
Here are some of the ugliest guns of the past:
FP-45 Liberator
The FP-45 Liberator is a pistol manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories.
Shattuck Palm Pistol
The Protector Palm Pistol is a small .32 rimfire revolver designed to be concealed in the palm of the hand. It was unique in that the revolver was clasped in a fist with the barrel protruding between two fingers and the entire handgun was squeezed in order to fire a round.
ZB-47
The ZB-47 was a submachine gun of Czechoslovak origin chambered in the 9 x 19 mm Parabellum round fed from a 32 round magazine. See the rest of the ugliest guns of the past here. What other guns do you think is ugly?
Ah yes. “The Bent One”
aka The Slick Willy
they came with 5 rounds in the grip and that was all they were good for.
they were smoothbore to boot.
I always thought the 9mm ‘grease gun’ looked cheap and flimsy. The barrel looked like an after thought.
what I would not give if someone would make a semi-auto version of that rifle.
The grease gun was cheap, but it worked and it worked very well.
Looks like something from a bad foreign sci-fi movie.
Some of the guns pictured in the article are not ugly in the sense of being visually unappealing, but possibly in the sense of how they operated. A couple are very interesting because of their unusual design.
isn’t that a WW II German “shoot around the corner” gun?
Erma EMP-44 The EMP 44 was a prototype, all-metal submachine gun produced by Erma Werke in 1943. It was rejected by the Heereswaffenamt.
The so called Apache ? Multi-weapon?
The one from the article that begs for a more detailed explanation of the works. For an underworld weapon, it sure seems cumbersome to deploy. And how does one carry it for the close quarter rapdly evolving street fight?
Looks to have a some folding pivots but.....
Laz, is this one of your early send ups? ;>)
When I first joined the Reserves back in'85. The M3A1 was my first issue weapon.
To say I was p!ssed when they took it away in exchange for a '16 was an understatement of cosmic proportions.
At least the 'grease gun' worked reliably, the '16 never did.
I don’t see the Glock anywhere. Did I miss it?
Yep!..................
The Liberator killed some Germans by resistance people. Made by General Motors— production run of 1 Million. . They worked- not pretty, but they worked. Smoothbore up close brain case blower 45 cal. Idea was then to get the enemy’s firearm(s) and all ammo. That was the intent. Most shipped to UK were melted down and not distributed, other large ship was to S. Pacific, similarly not distr by commanders of regular Army. Quite a few made it into China in 1943.
Under the heading— how can a handgun stop a regime?
My Dad loved his grease gun in Korea. It’s a great gun for urban warfare. Not many realize the amount urban fighting that happened during the Korean War.
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