One Shot Wonder

[Mark Tyson]

I read somewhere about a small, single shot, disposable gun used in WW2 in occupied countries. It was made in the United States and dropped all over Europe to resistance fighters.

Can anyone tell me more about this weapon? How hard would it be to make such a weapon today with "off-the-shelf" tools?

 

[pax]

It was called The Liberator -- a single-shot .45 caliber pistol that came with a comic book set of instructions and a little wooden dowel for hammering the spent casing back out again. It cost a little more than $2 to manufacture (in 1942 dollars) and was dropped into occupied countries by the thousands. Not sure how many were made, but it was a lot. They are collector's items today and worth quite a bit.

More information at http://www.gunsaregood.com/lib.htm

pax

If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism. --Thomas Sowell

 

[alamo]

Discussed here not long ago. I saw a fella at a gunshop with one last week. Said he got it from his grandfather.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21136&highlight=liberator

 

[blades67]

I thought you going to ask about the "One Shot Wonder" I saw at the range on Tuesday. He set his target stand at ten yards, loaded up when the range went hot and fired his first round totally missing the target stand and target. Then he said the gun was all f-ed up! He then proceeded to fire the other nine rounds in the magazine. Total damage? One single round had hit the target stand but still missed the target. I offered help and was refused because I'm not a gunsmith. I refered to him as "One Shot Wonder" for the rest of the afternoon.

 

[hoppinglark]

the liberator was a smooth bore .45 acp,they were produced by GM's Guide Lamp division, and you don't want to try to make one...

You'd be better off buying a Derringer

 

[Hardtarget]

Outdoor Life Network, (O.L.N.), has a show called "Mail Call". They did a segment on the Liberator. It actually took longer to load the gun than it did to make it!
Mark

 

[Ol' Badger]

Wasn't it made so a guy could get a better weapon with it? You get your hand on the "Lib" to get something better, like a MP-33.

 

[Detritus]

Hardtarget,

you're off a bit there, "mail call" (Hosted by R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket fame) is a history channel show. OLN might have had an episode of "americna shooter" where the liberator was mentioned as part of a classic guns segment or something.

 

[foghornl]

As I recall, the purpose of the "Liberator" was to use against a solder [at sneaky close face-to-face shooting range] to get his weapon.

The Liberator enabled you to get a Luger...pass along the Liberator
The Luger enabled you to get a Mauser...pass along the Luger
The Mauser enabled you to get a Gewehr...pass along the Mauser.

The "Liberator" was a smooth-bore single-shot in .45ACP. I have a data card around here somewhere with a pic and description. Will post it if I can find said card.

 

[cordex]

Seem to remember they were manufactured as FP-45 ... or "Flare Projector, .45 caliber".

Always thought it would be neat to own one ... just to own one.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Just as n aside - - -

I do believe the original Liberator pistols are on the curio and relic list, and can be owned legally.

Not a good idea to home-make a replica of it, though. Being a smoothbore, they are classed in the same category as a short barrel shotgun.

Best,
Johnny