On display at the West Point museum is an example of the “Liberator” pistol mass produced during WWII. Little more than a stamped-metal “zip gun,” the idea was to produce at minimal cost the minimal firearm capable of putting down an enemy soldier. It was a one-shot weapon (with storage in the grip for a few extra rounds), not intended for combat use. Instead, the idea was that it would be airdropped to partisans across Europe, who would use it to cap Axis soldiers… and then take *their* guns. Relatively few of the millions produced still exist; fewer still were actually used. They came packaged in a carboard box with a cartoon instruction sheet. A wooden dowel rod was also included to help the shooter eject a spent cartrige.
Given its limited practical value, they are really rather pricy, and if you find a boxload of ’em, scrapping them for the steel would be a really, really bad idea.
4 Responses to “Liberator”
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I always wanted to shoot one of those things.
Perfect weapon for hitting the broad side of a barn. 😀
It was a pretty brilliant device to cause a lot of chaos for the Germans at low cost (those Sticky Bombs that got snuggled to the French resistance were another one; you could take out a tank with one of those things, or drop it on a train heading into a railway tunnel, or barge passing under a bridge.)
Back when I was a kid, my older brother bought a $20 crossbow made by Wham-o. The reason for these things was that they were being distributed to the Montagnard tribesmen to let them take shots at the Viet Cong and NVA. Little did he know that soon he would be going to where they got used at.
The CIA made an updated version of the Liberator Pistol called the “Deer Gun” that used a cast aluminum frame in the mid 1960’s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_gun
Looks a bit like “Noisy Cricket out of “Men In Black”.
P.S. – at 820 FPS, the Liberator’s bullet is way subsonic, so although there will be a lot of noise from the gas coming out of the barrel behind it, you won’t have to worry about the bullet generating a noisy shockwave.
Given the very short barrel, there must have been a hell of a muzzle flash if you used this thing at night.
More small weapons: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/02/miniature-spy-guns.html
There is a company in KY that makes new (almost-) functional reproductions of these, which they strongly advise you not to fire.
http://vintageordnance.homestead.com/index.html