Very Interesting Article and Video!

[RickRyder]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this in, but I read about these 2 pistols today I had never heard of before and I found them very interesting.

First is the Liberator FP45 from WWII:

http://carteach0.blogspot.com/2011/12/liberator-fp45-up-close-and-personal.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator

Second is the Deer Gun from the Vietnam-era:

http://www.rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/54/lid/3724

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_gun

[eightmd]

Yea I have see those, and they are very interesting froma historical point of view. That TV show with Ton and Alan Half doing the storage locker buying actually found a liberator once.

They both sound like a real bad idea to me. I mean why not get twice the killing power and make it a 2 shot deringer. Or make it more stealth and turn it into a knife. I just don't get it. Make a real POS little pistol that you have to get about 6 - 12" from someone to use.

I must be missing something. Either that or they were designed by our government.

BTW, these may be banned as assault weapons soon.

[IrishJoe3]

Uh. Well. They ARE a POS, and they WERE designed by the govt.

The intent was that they would be dropped by the millions into German occupied France. In the hands the resistance, a sentry or drunk soldier in the bar could be shot, and a better gun aquired.

From wikipedia : Unit Cost $2.10

The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[3] showing how to load and fire the weapon. Extra rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the weapon, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.

The weapon was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these weapons could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop the weapon in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all the weapons. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[4]

[RickRyder]

According to the article, the idea was to drop thousands of them into enemy territory in hopes that rebel alliances would pick them up and ambush lone German soldiers and steal their weapons.

[eightmd]

Yea, I remember that part about its only use is to get a better weapon. I don't know, I think a knife or club might work about as well.

[RickRyder]

Yea, I remember that part about its only use is to get a better weapon. I don't know, I think a knife or club might work about as well.

A single shot to the head, grab the other weapon and run off...Or, club or stab to death, struggle, fight, who knows...The single shot is quick, clean and you don't have to fight...

[Capybara]

The Liberator was much more a successful weapon of propaganda, more than a practical weapon, it was designed to freak out the Germans more than to actually be used successfully. I've seen a few at guns shows, I think they are kind of cool, I wouldn't mind owning one for the historical value.

[jt183]

Lol. That is awesome. But I wouldn't pay a high value price tag....

[Emdawg]

The Liberators were a neat idea, but the one drop weapon that was practical and useful were the British Sten SMG's.