LIBERATOR .45
- Thread starter Kodiac
- Start date
Kodiac,
Ever read "The Boof of the .45"? I can't make any qoutes right now as Idon't have it with me, but I seem to recall the author saying he has never seen one in his life. From the design described and pictured there, I bet a gunsmith could make one.
Boy, they look unpleasant to shoot!
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I need more money to buy more guns and ammo.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/beefclub
Ever read "The Boof of the .45"? I can't make any qoutes right now as Idon't have it with me, but I seem to recall the author saying he has never seen one in his life. From the design described and pictured there, I bet a gunsmith could make one.
Boy, they look unpleasant to shoot!
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I need more money to buy more guns and ammo.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/beefclub
Othermarc,
They probably *were* unpleasant to shoot, but they were intended to be used by several people once or twice each. I'm pretty sure the Maquis didn't mind the terrible ergonomics, compared to getting the chance to cap a member of the occupying army.
Yes, I'm trying to avoid the K and N words.
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"We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt.
But in the end, we will stand."
--Roland Deschain
They probably *were* unpleasant to shoot, but they were intended to be used by several people once or twice each. I'm pretty sure the Maquis didn't mind the terrible ergonomics, compared to getting the chance to cap a member of the occupying army.
Yes, I'm trying to avoid the K and N words.
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"We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt.
But in the end, we will stand."
--Roland Deschain
The little FP-45 (Flare Pistol was the cover name) is interesting. The book is "The FP-45 Liberator Pistol" by R.W. Koch, but I think it is out of print.
The gun is a single shot, made from stampings, castings and welds. The barrel is rolled sheet metal. There is space in the butt for 10 rounds of .45 ACP; not a magazine, just some ammo.
I have fired mine and it is accurate enough to hit a can at 7 yards. Smooth bore, of course, but not considered a "smooth bore pistol" by BATF, so no extra legal complications.
There seem to be few records of disposition or any indication what happened to most of them. One veteran told me of kicking thousands of the boxes out of a C-47 over France, but other authorities say they never went to France and French ex-maquis say they never saw them. Not necessarily contradictory, but you would think someone would find one or two (or get hit on the head) if they were just dropped.
Other sources claim they went to the Philippines, but same story there - they never saw them.
So... Destroyed? Dumped in the ocean? Who really knows? But they are scarce in this country, especially if with the brown waxed box, the wooden stick (extractor) and the instruction sheet. All, unfortunately, have been repro'd.
Anyway, if they were used, neither our allies nor our former enemies seem to have known about it.
Yes, I think the pistol is worth $400, maybe $500 if the complete kit.
As to making one, it would not be easy to make it the way GM did, since heavy duty sheet metal rolling and stamping machines and spot welders are not lying about in the average gun shop. To make something like it would be easy.
Jim
The gun is a single shot, made from stampings, castings and welds. The barrel is rolled sheet metal. There is space in the butt for 10 rounds of .45 ACP; not a magazine, just some ammo.
I have fired mine and it is accurate enough to hit a can at 7 yards. Smooth bore, of course, but not considered a "smooth bore pistol" by BATF, so no extra legal complications.
There seem to be few records of disposition or any indication what happened to most of them. One veteran told me of kicking thousands of the boxes out of a C-47 over France, but other authorities say they never went to France and French ex-maquis say they never saw them. Not necessarily contradictory, but you would think someone would find one or two (or get hit on the head) if they were just dropped.
Other sources claim they went to the Philippines, but same story there - they never saw them.
So... Destroyed? Dumped in the ocean? Who really knows? But they are scarce in this country, especially if with the brown waxed box, the wooden stick (extractor) and the instruction sheet. All, unfortunately, have been repro'd.
Anyway, if they were used, neither our allies nor our former enemies seem to have known about it.
Yes, I think the pistol is worth $400, maybe $500 if the complete kit.
As to making one, it would not be easy to make it the way GM did, since heavy duty sheet metal rolling and stamping machines and spot welders are not lying about in the average gun shop. To make something like it would be easy.
Jim
I wouldn't want a fabricated one...
The point of owning one would be the ironic symbology there.
Not meaning to sound like a radical nut - but looking at the entended purpose of the pistol, and looking at the decline of the US internallly... Some times out own Police seem like an occupying force...
Ever have to drive through a Police roadblock? Oh yeah... Road blocks are in the Constitution... YEAH RIGHT!
Anyways - this isnt about that - this is about a slick little pistol with a ton of interesting history.
Any history on one actually having been used in war?
Oh, Harley... Thanks for that Liberator page - very cool...
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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
[This message has been edited by Kodiac (edited June 26, 1999).]
The point of owning one would be the ironic symbology there.
Not meaning to sound like a radical nut - but looking at the entended purpose of the pistol, and looking at the decline of the US internallly... Some times out own Police seem like an occupying force...
Ever have to drive through a Police roadblock? Oh yeah... Road blocks are in the Constitution... YEAH RIGHT!
Anyways - this isnt about that - this is about a slick little pistol with a ton of interesting history.
Any history on one actually having been used in war?
Oh, Harley... Thanks for that Liberator page - very cool...
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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
[This message has been edited by Kodiac (edited June 26, 1999).]
Harley Nolden
Staff In Memoriam
JIM:
I cleaned one about 20 years ago and really oiled it goood. Sure was a slick little gun.
HJN
I cleaned one about 20 years ago and really oiled it goood. Sure was a slick little gun.
HJN
I have a Flare Projector, second version. Mine showed signs of use when I got it. If they did not have some use somewhere there would be more of the boxed ones left. Most of the ones I have seen have been shot and were missing the "floor plate" that held the spare ammo in the grip.
Fun to shoot, on a limited basis. Think of the age of the pistols and the way they were made.
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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
Fun to shoot, on a limited basis. Think of the age of the pistols and the way they were made.
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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
Author Bob Shimek did a report on the "Liberator" in either GUNS AND AMMO or HANDGUNS magazine. I think he said most of them were never delivered, and were destroyed at the end of the war. I'm not sure about that last part, but knowing our government, it could be true. He said it was very uncomfortable to shoot, and he only fired a few shots as he was afraid it would blow up in his hand. That's all I remember.
Paul B.
Paul B.
Smart fellow, Bob Shimek. They sure weren't made to stand up to a lot of shooting; that ten rounds was probably the pistol's life expectancy. I said I fired mine, not that I make a habit of it. Nasty, noisy with the short barrel, and of course not at all up to any serious standard of accuracy. Not exactly what one would want for the service pistol matches.
Jim
Jim
Jim, I did not mind shooting mine, I agree that rapid fire stages would bemost difficult in any match.
BTW, I got mine out of the safe and looked at the barrel. My pistol has a barrel made from seamless tubing. The chamber was lathe turned. Most likely on a screw machine or turret lathe. Face off end, bore chamber and cut to length.
If several people had access to a mid sized machine shop with at least one punch press those little hummers could be in production right quick.
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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
BTW, I got mine out of the safe and looked at the barrel. My pistol has a barrel made from seamless tubing. The chamber was lathe turned. Most likely on a screw machine or turret lathe. Face off end, bore chamber and cut to length.
If several people had access to a mid sized machine shop with at least one punch press those little hummers could be in production right quick.
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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
I seem to remember (from Small Arms of the World, or somewhere) the pistol was meant to cap some enemy troop, obtain a better weapon thereby, and either discard or, give the Liberator to another guerilla to replicate the process. So basically a disposable .45. Also, it was issued with a little single sheet cartoon of operating instructions.
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Yankee Doodle
[This message has been edited by BigG (edited June 29, 1999).]
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Yankee Doodle
[This message has been edited by BigG (edited June 29, 1999).]
Harley Nolden
Staff In Memoriam
I don't guess the Germans would care to discuss it. Those that had and dealing with it are gone.
Danke
HJN
[This message has been edited by Harley Nolden (edited June 29, 1999).]
Danke
HJN
[This message has been edited by Harley Nolden (edited June 29, 1999).]
Finding a Liberator is just like finding any scarce collector's item. Check ads in trade papers, go to gun shows, ask around at gun shops. Put out the word that you are interested, and maybe even place an ad in SGN or Gun List.
My experience has been that stuff I want comes in batches. I will look around for something for years, then find a bunch of them all at once. Keep some money handy; if you want it bad enough...
Jim
My experience has been that stuff I want comes in batches. I will look around for something for years, then find a bunch of them all at once. Keep some money handy; if you want it bad enough...
Jim