Lost World War II Pistol – FP45 Liberator

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 8/8/2018 | 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.

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. Read the rest of this FP45 Liberator story here.

[vladimir998]

I always thought these were vastly over rated in terms of how effective they really were.

[Carriage Hill]

I think they’re meant for and “up closed and personal” shot on a nazi, not from distance.

[Yo-Yo]

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.

[knarf]

Right.

The idea was to drop an enemy with a more powerful gun and take his or just do damage in a no win situation.

Ladies today carry the equivelent ... small personal self defense weapons designed to drop an attacker right now so she can get away.

[moovova]

Don’t you occasionally post links to an article about this gun?

[03A3]

They were a means to acquiring a rifle.

[Lazamataz]

I always thought these were vastly over rated in terms of how effective they really were.

They were. The concept was somewhat interesting, but in practice, they were not used.

[Lazamataz]

They were a means to acquiring a rifle.....

.... but they were never employed.

[Vaquero]

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.

[teeman8r]

what can a pistol do against an army? let’s be real people./ sarc

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

They,meaning we, need to drop a bunch of these in the streets of tehran.They could start a real party with a bunch of those single shots.

[FLT-bird]

These things were the cheapest pieces of chit imaginable. Stamped parts, only one round, barrel not even rifled....they were the equivalent of small zip guns.

[READINABLUESTATE]

“they were the equivalent of small zip guns.”
Better than a stick or a rock.

[teeman8r]

or chicago.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Looks exactly like an old Spud Gun I had when I was a kid.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

The first shot it extremely effective.

[OldSmaj]

I always thought these were vastly over rated in terms of how effective they really were.

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.

[clee1]

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.

[clee1]

Much more than you’d logically think....