FP-45 Liberator Pistol
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- / forgottenweapons
The Liberator is one of those interesting artifacts of WWII; an extremely simple single-shot .45 caliber pistol made by the boxcar-load (a million, specifically) with the intention of being dropped en masse across Europe to promote civilian sabotage against German occupation forces. They were manufactured by the Guide Lamp division of GM in record time - just 10-11 weeks for a literal million-gun production run. However, as they were being manufactured, shipped, and put into storage the motivation behind the project largely evaporated. British SOE ultimately decided not to distribute any in France, and only distributed a small number to partisans in Greece.
In the US, the Army stockpile of Liberators was transferred to the OSS, and a fair number were actually distributed in India, China, and the Philippine Islands - although they did not ultimately have any measurable impact on the war effort.
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As a kid in Poland, I remember my grandfather giving me one to play with. I don't remember if he ever used one during the war, but he brought it from France as a souvenir. I was the only kid on the block who had a real pistol as a toy, it elevated my status among my friends to a god! Good times followed...
This thing in Poland as a toy for a kid? Damn, I didn't knew that I live in such wild country XD
@@danielmichalski94 sounds like a nice place to visit
You were the first in the gang with a gun in your hand - the first to do time, the first of the gang to die. Except that you didn't die. I just thought this channel would benefit from a Morrissey reference.
@@danielmichalski94 I assume the guy's grandfather made sure no bullets were loaded in it, first.
@@danielmichalski94 I mean, where in the world is a child going to find .45 ACP ammunition in 80s-90s-2000s Poland? Where would an adult?
A liberator pistol made faster than it could be loaded, most likely shipped to Europe on a liberty ship - a ship built faster than the enemy could find and sink them.
And both ended up as scrap!
Warrior civs are all good 'n fun. But it's the economic civs that'll right fuck you in a war.
The enduring lesson of both wargaming AND history!
And not dropped by a liberator....
Let's just think a moment about all the sailors who died 😒
Damn right. The war in Europe was won by American shipbuilders - not by GIs.
A 230 grain .45 ACP bullet tumbling sideways at 730 fps sounds terrifying.
You ain't just whistling Dixie. Yikes!!!
That's a huge Key Hole
Just keep the scary side pointing the enemy and you should be fine
Using "grains" and "feet per second" whereas the whole scientific community uses metric because it's more logical.. that sounds really terrifying
Remember this is meant for point blank or very short range.
2:02 "Remember, manufacturing a new pistol is always faster than reloading."
“We have Colt .45s, we have captured Beretta and Luger pistols, and even come Japanese pistols. What should we send to the resistance?”
“MUSKET PISTOL”
I'd take this over a Nambu. It's less likely to explode in your face.
Wait the beretta wasnt even a thing in ww2, that came way later
@@Engieman909 what? the Beretta is a firearms producer, it's been around for almost 500 years
Main issue is air dropping Lugers puts innocents at risk, the German military could launch an investigation on their arms factories. Which won't stall arms production but Germany's policing was pretty bad. Its best to make some American made cheap gun than use one that could've just been stolen from an arms factory. At least if they stole one off an officer the German government would recognize that.
@@Engieman909 lmao berettas have been a thing since 1500. The first recorded sale happened in 1526. They’ve supplied every major European war since the mid 1600s. In WW2 there were tons of Beretta 1934s in use, and even some earlier designs like the 1915, 1923, and 1924 models. The Beretta 1934 was one of the most reliable autoloading pistols fielded in WW2.
You forgot to mention the ammunition storage in the grip.
Late answer but thanks, I was wondering why there was what looked like a sliding part at the bottom of the grip.
It's plainly visible on the instruction sheet.
@@popefacto5945 so is everything else. : ) nonetheless he still talked about everything else.
which one is older is the liberator or the woolworth sticky gun ( like a baton + silencer + a detachable pistol grip that doubles as ammo storage)
Very basic , but deadly at close range .The 2 shot version sound a better deal .
For a single shot, point blank weapon, the inclusion of sights seems superflous.
khamjaninja
can insta kill someone in the head tho.
@@khamjaninja. most civilians deff aren't one shotting a guy with a knife. Takes effort. And extreme close range. This thing give you 10 feet of a spinning tumbling .45. Way easier kill for the average human.
@@BigBeerus the idealized usage was recognized to be point blank, last ditch weapon. After all, the thing is going to sound like an M-80 going off in an area otherwise quiet. I would expect that someone might want to look into what made that disturbing noise...
So, the idea was shoot, grab and scoot away fast.
@@khamjaninja. Much fewer people are willing to stab someone to death than shoot them to death, possibly one-shotting them through the back of the head.
Isnt 4 shot?
"we'll take a box of a million. How much will that be? Right then the salesman looked at me said. That'll be about tree fiddy. Well it was about this time I noticed this salesman was 8 stories tall and was a crustacean from the mesozoic era"
ghost 👏absolute classic! I was thinking the same, but then, I always think of that ep of SP whenever I hear the term tree fiddy ......
Haha!..... I dont get the reference
You have made my day sir.
You fucking made that amazing reference and I have to thank you so much Hahahaha
Whats that off ?
Well the neighborhood fights between kids would've escalated pretty quickly after it started raining guns.
This commenta remindes of an Italian book titled "The path to the nests of spiders"
I had guns from the time I was twelve years old. My friends did too. I remember getting in a fight one day . The 22 rifles were leaning against a tree while we were fighting. When it was over we both got our rifles and went separate ways. It never crossed our minds to shoot one another. That was Taboo .
@@winnon992100% agree I think this guy's comment is along the anti gun lines.
On the other hand today's kids who didn't have fathers and were raised by gang members may take on a different thought process.
It isn't like it use to be when people had religion and moral values
Kids are supposed to learn.😅
"but why did you have to make it look like that?"
"Because it's cool."
"I see"
XD... good ol' MGS3
It was meant just as much as psychological weapon as anything. Some german stumbles upon a free gun the allies give away, well then, how many are we missing. Some old lady walks up and, BANG, now she's a bad grandma with sturmgeweher 44. And yes, 50 rounds from a liberator, better record than my FORMER Glock 22.
jeremy stewert: 4 years to late but....you had a glock 22 that sucked or what? I’ve had good luck mine I’m genuinely curious what u meant there
I wonder if it was really that much more expensive to just make a decent gun instead lol.
C- Jam he failed to please its machine spirit
A free gun with a seven digit serial number.
You should read more non fiction books.
The USA: Arming insurgents since 1942. A proud tradition that continues to this day.
+BC Fuerst Except today they're arming the very people they claim to be fighting. Back then wars were really about freedom. Now we have covert ops that we don't tell anyone about our jackals going in to assassinate stable government leaders so we can corrupt their nation's economy with our economic hitmen who force other countries to sell their soul to the devil, aka, the USA.
@@mdlindsey A huge part of why US joined the European theatre of WW2 was economic self-interest. The US had tons of manufacturing capability but nowhere to export to without Europe consuming their goods. It wasn't all selfless goodwill.
@@poika22 that's why a country needs to invade the US, they haven't seen proper war in 200 years
@@GTAmaniac1 that would be over quick.even if the national guard and army stood down just us civies would kick their ass.
Mark lmao back then wars were about freedom war had never ever been about freedom .
Don’t lie to yourself
For comparison purposes, $3.50 in 1942 is about $50 today
Kevin Gregory I think he actually meant in modern times, it probably only cost about a few pennies.
Mantaris Cheap Loser
This seems more reasonable
Robot Bjorn its a peice of stamped metal , its been mass produced, it would probably have cost more to ship to europe then to make
@@Te0L0ser its a decent one but more comparable to a miniature cannon artilery. since the breech etc all resembles more like it minus the blowback barrel
@@nicholaskotlarczyk6131 even the ammo is more than the gun lol
As another RUclips video that I can’t remember so aptly put it:
“The Liberator was never meant to be used as a straight up weapon like say a Luger or 1911. What you would do with it was shoot a German soldier with a better gun so you could take said better gun.”
Luger P 08? Only Generals used they in WW2. The soldier used the Walther P 38
Hamael Mirza well not only gerneral as but yeah it was definitely a very rare gun to find in ww2 If you were an allied soldier
@@thehamael3712 The P38 was standard issue at that point, but the P08 was still in circulation. In big enough numbers that they set the "good ammo" (brass jacket) aside as P08 designated, because that gun couldn't reliably feed steel casings. Later on, they produced specific P08 ammunition, at the height of the war. The P08 was not a Generals exclusive gucci weapon by far. The gucci gun was often their own Walther PPK, sometimes even a custom ornamented one. Some units, the Waffen SS primarily, even used FN Hi Power.
My father at the age young age of 6 found one of these in a garden just after ww2 in the uk, needless to say it’s long since lost but a very interesting gun!
@@user-tp8ht4xv6f musta gotten loony toons style slung into his garden
Where abouts in the UK??
@@nathanwilson2116 south wales
@@nathanwilson2116you're not gonna find it.....
imagine One Million people each armed with these, pointing at the same target and firing once
WarbanderLasty They would probably miss then all break their wrists.
WarbanderLasty none of them would hit the target
Needs moar dakka!
Well, that's no good - you'd just break both wrists.
the target: hitlers nads
The time it took to make these guns, roughly every 8 seconds one was made.
So the the Liberator was the only gun which was produced faster than it could be fired.
The gamblers derringer in a post-apocalyptic old west scenario, I want one :D
I'm think Fall Out New Vagus stuff
I want the All-American, it's my favorite unique gun in FNV
find one at bond arms or cobra they arent that hard to get
good analogy...throw in a bit of steampunk augmentation (for vanity's sake) and you have something really nice...small and brutally efficient at close range under the table target practice
Nothing like airdropping the second amendment for the people
They should do that now!
@@fredrikcarlen3212 The yellow vest crysis would end up surprisingly fast haha
@@anselme198 I would donate money to aidrop guns over Hong Kong...
Well shit guess I'm on China's shit list now..
@@fredrikcarlen3212 Being on the CCP's (Chines Communist Party) shit list is something you should take pride in.
@@mwalton9526 Amen
Remember, crafting a new pistol is always faster than reloading
Very well done video presentation.
No way it’s featureman
I don't remember seeing this video before.
Featureman I saw your I’m like no way is this the real featureman I clicked on your channel and it’s your channel it’s kinda weird seeing you on forgotten weapons anyways have a blessed day man keep up with the content
You're new around here, huh?
Welcome to the best gun channel on RUclips.
yeah
Tree fiddy? That's about how much it is to make a hi-point ...
Say what you want about Hi Point, they may be god awful ugly where the fell off the ugly tree and was beat by ever ugly branch on the way down, they are reliable and have good customer service.
Michael Henriques That's really all that counts. I've never owned one, and I only know one person who has, but they are shoot-worthy for under $200. I mean, if I've got to arm a gang on the cheap, or need a throwaway because I did a hit, sure. Taurus used to have the same reputation. I worked at a gun shop in the early 2000s, We would see warranty work for maybe one Kimber, Para-Ordnance, Springfield, HK and the like, per quarter - whereas Taurus we would see several a month. For that alone, I would never trust my life to a Taurus semi-auto. Revolver, sure. But not a semi.
Yeah. I am thinking of getting one. I fired one a friend had and it was a good shooter. I would have one for home defense.
HAHA, yeah. My last firearm class with the company I work for one of out co-workers kept having malfunctions...Love one of my managers remarks....Its a Taurus...
yep. Instant karma on your wallet.
I actually own my Grandfather's Liberator. Im afraid to shoot it. It might blow up in my hand!
if i was you i wouldn't. its not worth potentially destroying a piece of history while potentially killing ur self in the process. just display it
You could try making some low power hand loads.
a nice coversation piece and a piece of history.
basil fawlty- imagine being so ghetto that you use a ~70 year old unstable gun as a paperweight. basically as ghetto as a baby using a shotty as a dummy.
@@antonistich9316 "unstable gun" you must be an idiot. Wtf one it has a hammer block, 2, don't keep it loaded and its 2000% safe. Do you even understand what a gun is? That's the dumbest shit I've read all day. Good job. Must be super "ghetto" to use a $1500 antique as a paper weight huh? 😂😂 idiot.
You know, a modern one of these, made to a high standard of quality and with a rifled barrel, would be pretty neat.
A company did exactly that about 5 or 6 years ago, although they were expensive because theyre basically a boutique product by a small company with a low volume of sales.
The new one's are made with a rifled barrel. The originals, with a smoothbore barrel, were NFA AOW's ($5 tax stamp). They are no longer NFA items. Like the Winchester Trapper rifles, and a few others, with barrels less than 16". Unless they are stolen they will probably not ever be used in a crime. They are not cheap!
600 seems like a really small load for an entire long-range bomber. I'd have expected a single bomber to carry thousands of these.
Well, the bombers and their pilots were very valuable, so they'd rather have them used to carry bombs and then the Liberators as an extra rather than dedicating an entire squadron to delivering these behind enemy lines were they'd potentially get hunted and shot down by German fighter planes.
@@CyberVonCyberus Yeah, but if they're carrying these as an extra on existing bombing runs, then the cost is 0, so it wouldn't matter how many they can move per plane. The narration implies that it was 600 per plane on a dedicated mission.
It's probably the packaging that takes up most of the space (so it's an issue of volume rather than weight), it's not like you could just throw the guns out the bomb bay as they were.
The British would use dedicated (smaller) bombers for clandestine operations (not their regular Lancaster's that they used for raids on Germany). Still, it would have been interesting if each regular bomber, during such mass-raids had thrown out one box - to arm German citizens (or flying over The Netherlands) - maybe enticing some 'resistance' (esp. at the end of the war) - although all initial anti-nazi groups (many communist students) had been executed earlier on.
@@ibubezi7685 The RAF would use Halifax bombers in convert weapon/agent drops and those things are just as big if not slightly bigger than the Lancaster. But if you're going to risk an expensive crew and plane you'd better be dropping something worth more than a 2 buck ten cent paperweight.
Very interesting. The trick I think is to make sure every citizen owns one of these BEFORE someone tries to invade your country.
Doge Maverick Well, the amount of firearms in Afghanistan didn’t stop the US from invading.
@@DanDanDoe However we're still in Afghanistan, the longest war in our history. All the tech in the world can't suppress guerrillas.
@yeoldebiggetee America was insanely disorganized and weak beck then. Madison was a fool to provoke what was still considered a superpower at the time. The British were actually very considerate as they only attacked government and not private citizens.
Washington was burned but they left the patent house because they considered patents private property.
yeoldebiggetee
There may even have been other issues. Enlighten us?
Good point. Downside is then you have 2500+ school and workplace shootings a year.
"Kolibri Effect" part 2: This gun is in Battlefield V.
I’m still waiting for a 6 times scope
You only got one shot, don't miss your chance blow, opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime you know. Literally the FP-45 during WWII in a nutshell!
Jack Nelson the Mathers FP-45 liberator
You got the lyrics all wrong 😭
i hated that song in 2001, i still hate that song in 2021. 🙄
I actually thought I knew everything about these guns, but then I saw him hold it in his hand and saw how large it really is. It looks alot smaller in the old pictures,Thanks for the upload.
Seen your comments on this channel a few times Robert, you seem to know your stuff mate! Wish I could get back to America and to a range to enjoy an afternoon of shooting. I spent many hours in them. Only handguns though. I would be interested in hearing what your favourite handgun and bullet type would be and whym. All the best mate from 🇮🇪
My favourite pistol, although I've only fired mine twice. When I bought it, it was still in the original (waxed?) cardboard box, with the ammunition wrapped individually. It was thought that these were called 'Woolworths' guns, because they were so cheap...just wish I only paid $3.50 for mine :)
How many bullets have you fired now?
I've offered 15k for one
Whether you prefer glock, colt or ruger. Just know that this gun is better than anything you will ever shoot.
***** Banishing trolls? You mean like this?
+Matan Pulverman yes relay considering the alternative in a life or death confrontation..
Donoven Ryder - If you are talking about the Liberator pistol none of the 500,000 shipped to Britain were ever dropped in France a few thousand were dropped in the Philippines some of those were even used by the Philippine police after the war. But all in all they had very little impact on the out come of anything. Did you know that the British dropped little Parachutes into France and Holland that contained a chocolate bar and a stick of military grade dynamite with fuse and primer and instructions on who to use it to blow up telephone/telegraph poles and train rails?
+bones020694 It's a joke smart one.
+bones020694 *woosh*
ECO ROUND
lmfao
noob team why did you buy
I BOUGHT A SCOUT SHIT
Yeah, except on an ECO pistol do more damage than rifles because bs
Mod name: Liberator
Cost: $0.01
The FP-45 Liberator is actually a...
Jolt reskin.
When you are Turkish and you are serving as an infantry
@@piston0773 Being Turkish isn't a harbour
lmao
You are a man of culture as well, I see
A what?
European here.Do it again please
Do you have an n-word pass, sir? I don't think you can use that username without it.
Man you all are so FUNNY HAHAHAHA NOPE
Best gun you could ever obtain in Europe
Implying an average Yuro would be willing to even touch a gun without calling the feds
3d printing might allow you to produce something even more accurate and reliable... albeit not intended for repeated usage
"Dropping millions of guns over Europe" - sounds like a US gun nut's dream :)
@MisterK The cradle of democracy, surely? Including, let us not forget, your own.
@@raymondhainey8631 Europeans as a whole don't get to piggyback off Athens and Rome, especially not after giving it up for feudal lords.
@@grizzdotcom what?
@@usarkarzts4207 the start of the comment chain looks like it got deleted, it made sense back when it was still up.
Obviously you are unaware of the horror inflicted by the Nazi
I had a relative by marriage whose family home was NORMANDY France
He was evicted from his home by the Nazis and as a pre an and teen fought with the underground
Came to the USA in 1952 for the opportunity we offered.
I asked him how the French felt about the Carnage from "D"Day
It was horrible he said. But worth it to get rid of the Nazi
LEAST WE FORGET
LLLIIIBBERRRAAATTTOOOORRRSSSSSS..... MOUNT UP!
+Rock Island Auction Company Yall doin some great work.
Thanks! Though we can take little credit for all Ian's hard work on these videos.
Rock Island Auction Company
Fair, but the mashup is perfect, we not only get to learn a bit of history about old and cool weapons that don't get much view, AND we get a chance to own an authentic one if the desire arises.
Or in my case I get to stare and wish I had a bit more to spend, or at least lived back when they were a few bucks a pop.
+MacEwanMouse I don't think they were ever "Cheep " in the U.S. they have always been kind of rare. They have usually been priced about the same level as a collectable 99% U.S. Colt 1911 a1.
+Robert Benson cheap*
Does this get the dubious honor of costing less than its lifetime in ammo?
+Kabuki Kitsune Hey it did its job
@Kabuki Kitsune
I feel the Zip 22 beats it there.
@@CruelestChris yep that's true
Most modern guns will shoot more dollars in ammo than they cost. A cheap AR-15 that lasts 2000 rounds or an expensive one that lasts 10000 rounds aren't crazy. How about a Glock that lasts 4000 rounds or a 1911 that lasts 3000? Obviously I'm assuming some cleaning, lubing, and maybe replacing one or two small parts but if you shoot more dollars in ammo through your gun than the cost of the gun that's not weird, that just means it was worth buying in the first place. Some guns in .22 LR might be an exception this but 10000 rounds through a Ruger 10/22 still isn't crazy.
IDK how little you shoot, but every gun owner I know is spending more on ammo than guns...
Even those that do reloading...
Interesting that it's max lifespan is only about 50 rounds...so basically it's a Taurus.
One of my Taurus pistols has over 5000 rounds
@@winnon992we don’t believe you.
Thanks, Ian. Your vids are always extremely interesting. The only problem is I have to remember to go back and give them a thumbs up because I just keep rolling from one video to another. I always enjoy your style of presentation, very personable and loaded with facts. Cheers from Canada.
“How much does it cost to make this gun?”
“About tree fiddy.”
Looks like it was crafted from Fallout 4.
It's probably still better than a pipe weapon
Better than a pointy stick.
Now its in battlefield V
@Yes r/comedycementery
R3cruit M4in haha reddit is so funny dude
It's really cool to see the multitude of weird stuff you've managed to dig up over the years, but even more impressive to watch your team profile these weapons to such a high degree of history and detail in each video.
As much as the Liberator is one of those love-to-hate guns, the premise behind it is truly fascinating, as is the eventual turn things took in carrying out the secret plans.
Neat little firearm for what it was. It merits mentioning that the pistol grip could be used as an ammunition storage clip (not a magazine that fed into the breech, but just a small "drawer" into which the remaining 9 rounds could be placed). Thanks for the vid on this one!
Thanks, I was wondering if that bottom steel piece slid open for ammo
storage.
@@mikesuss9513 Yeah this is one of those guns that would probably be more of a danger to the user than the enemy you pointed it at!
I think Id feel safer shooting that Liberator than a modern Jiminez Arms pistol.
3d printing candidate...can you recommend another firearm that might be a good fit? large clumsy parts that work well
Did you not watch the beginning? He explicitly talked about that
has anyone read D-day through German eyes? if so what was the "assassination pistol" that was described, it does not sound like a welrod because of the quote "it was not even meant to be reloaded" and i know for a fact that you could reload a welrod i though that might be a liberator, one delivered by the Americans maybe?
x10mark2 that definitely sounds like a liberator
It was mostly likely referring to the Sleeve Gun, which was a single-shot Welrod barrel designed, as the name implies, to be hidden up one's sleeve. Wasn't designed to be reloaded in the field since the Welrod's bolt-action was replaced with a block that simply screwed into the back of the barrel. Unlikely to be a Liberator since you can reload those, it's just awkward.
Welrod was alot larger. It had a long silenced barrel, and a screw system to load a new round into it.
It was designed to deliver one quiet shot, at close range using a sub sonic round. Very quiet, but not a weapon you would want to reload under fire.
How long they remained in use post war is not entirely known, but they where one of the quietest weapons made known..
Imagine if they had all been dropped, Europeans would still be finding them.... and still be finding a taste of liberty.
Yep. This singular mistake is still rippling through the culture of the continent to this day.
Lame, you could just buy way better air pressure guns if you are 14 or older. Online shops restrict it to 18 or older. Because most of the rifles could easily shoot through a fridge on the higher settings.
So yes, definitely deadly and way better effective range. (over 100m/300foot)
Also more silent then a real powder gun with silencer.
fgreger Bro, air guns? Just buy an antique gun...
@@agarthangamer Why go to the trouble of getting antique stuff for self defense or hunting when there are easily accessible options that have a higher effective range and are more convenient to use?
"Bro, airguns?" Just tells me how ignorant you are. Handling black powder is much more of a hassle then pumping for 15 minutes to fill the magazine. The only reason the military uses powder weapons are logistics and rate of fire. But for home usage in most cases air pressure is just a lot cheaper and more clean. It's all a matter of scaling if you need to store like 5000 rounds of ammo, go powder, but if you need like
And as soon we dug it up the police would come guns blazing to incarcerate us indefinitely.
"So how cheap and disposable you want this gun to be?" "YES"
Very informative I happen to own a Liberator pistol. Dad brought it home from WW2 As im sure you are aware the object was to shoot the enemy and take his superior weapon . I always thought it was sort of silly until your very educational video. Also never was aware that my Gallil had a integral bottle opener. Never be thirsty on the shooting range again. Thanks
Lots of history behind this little, crude thing. Thank you, Ian!
I absolutely love this gun! The history, the simplicity, etc... Thanks for the vid!
found this channel a few months ago
subbed immediately
liked every video since then
This is awesome, keep em coming please.
> single-shot
> smoothbore
> need a stick to reload it
Holy shit, pocket musket
My Uncle Joe found one of these pistols in the Philippines during WWII. He said he fired it twice and it sprained his wrist both times. The .45 doesn't kick that bad,so there must be something about the grip angle.
Its a single shot. Reloading reduces the recoil in semi-autos. And it very lightweight. I bet they kick like little mules.
One wonders, if sending handguns to the possible civilian resistance in Europe is something you wish to do, would not the US have some, certainly obsolete, warehoused surplus pistols, revolvers and such stockpiled? An obsolete decommissioned weapon is still most likely a better gun than a single-shot Liberator.
Jari Heiska They made the liberator to get rid of the possiblity of German soldiers finding one of these cases that were airdropped in various areas around Europe with an actual US military sidearm in it. If a German solider found one of these cases with a modern US military sidearm inside it would basically be giving them free research material to possibly improve upon their weapon designs.
They made those to be trash.at least if a german soldier found those they couldn't do much thing with it
@@ghoulishgoober3122 haha no offense but, at the time German arms were MUCH much better + more advanced than any others, besides possibly Russian. besides the nuclear bomb (developed by exiled German engineers) we ddidt have anything to match their guns. American M-60 of recent times is based on the german FG-42 + MG-42. the AK47 , M16, + every select fire assault rifle of today, basically derives from the german MP-43 design.
The assault rifles and mass shootings make the news. Most people are killed with cheap handguns that are not much better than the Liberator. There is a "fear" that the Government is coming to take all the guns away. The same Government that had the idea to drop cheap handguns to whoever found them? America can't even invade America now.
@@ghoulishgoober3122 I wouldn't think so. Are you trying to say that not one Nazi soldier ever picked up an allies weapon after killing them? Anyway the Nazis had far superior weaponry/equipment so there was no need to copy our designs
Thanks very much for sharing these greatly informative videos. You and 'Mr. H45' are educating those of us who would otherwise not be able to learn about, let alone be aware of, these historically significant firearms. Thanks, Ian.
Sounds like the Liberator pistol is like the weapon equivalent of the "Keep calm & carry on" posters.
These always reminded me of those clear plastic guns I’d get at carnivals as a kid which made sparks when the trigger was pulled
Probably one of the biggest psychological impact this gun really represented the massive industrial capability of the US at the time. I can imagine the Brits when they were first told about them: "So... you came up with the idea a few months ago, designed, developed and put into production... and how many do you have now? A million? Bloody hell..."
The liberater is just the modern day flint lock pistol
Jolt not flit lock
@@roastedrooster7183 Oh
Are there any documented cases of a liberator being used for it's intended purpose?
BF4 Analyzed apperently not
In the Philippines
He literally explained how they saw use in the Philippines
@@visassess8607 Yeah but what he asked was if it was used for it's intended purpose, I.E being used by rebels against Germans in WWII. Not by Filipino policemen
Firing this weapon? Nope. But the bullets innit yes. My grandpa had this pistol he said he trade the bullets rather than using it on combat.
This is the weapons trolls use in bf5. Remember that.
Some of the number from this episode:
- A million gun
- 1:50 11 weeks, 300 employees
- 3:25 each bomber carries 600 of these guns in one time
- 12:10 12 inch group at 50 feet (16 yards and 15m)
- 13:40 600 barrels an hours
But the math gets a little weird there. You see, a million barrel / 600 barrel an hour = 1666 hour / 8 hours a day = 208 days / 7 days a week = 30 weeks. Even if it's 12 hours a day, it would need 2/3 of that time, which is 20 weeks
I like to imagine being a kid in Poland and a crate full of single shot pistols lands in your backyard.
looks like a nerf jolt
Maybe hes born with it maybe its Mephistopheles well at least the jolt can shoot more than 50 times
Hol up you’re right
ITS A JOLT RESKIN
@Yes Oh WOW man you are so FUNNY HAHAHAHA NOPE JUST SHUT UP
@@notgray88 Not FUNNY!
I'd like to add some correction. It would be incorrect to say that "none of these guns were ever dropped into Europe"
In fact they were in Denmark at least, possibly other countries as well, I cannot confirm this. But I do distinctly remember hearing stories from my grandfather about how he listened in on the radio to hear clues about British air drops, many of which did occur and did drop other guns like Sten guns etc. as well as what we knew as "liquidation guns" which were one-shot guns, likely this particular gun. They were used most famously by resistance movement members "Flammen" and "Citronen" who used the liquidation guns to kill Nazi sympathizers and collaborators in the open street, as to spread fear and send a message. If you want to know more about the two I can recommend the 2008 movie "Flame & Citron"
sounds interesting.
Holy crap these garbage guns are selling for $1500.
They're shitty weapons and there were a million of them made.
It's a piece of history, but so is every Mosin Nagant.
Well it's because they were shitty at the time, so shitty most got dumped in the ocean since no one would ever want to buy such a crappy gun. But now they're rare and historical so yeah worth a lot
Besides the combo backplate that warps the idea is good. Cheap, fast to produce, no complicated parts, every village smith could repair it, parts are easily available or can be changed, and the pictogram is understandable for everyone regardless of language and age.
Imagine using one of these without the guide rod and failing to fire when you need it
Aw man, I was hoping for a test fire
Excellent video. One of the reasons these guns weren't dropped in France was British intelligence was nervous about the French resistance being too heavily armed. The resistance was made up of a large number of rival factions rather than being one cohesive group. Rivalry and even hatred between these factions meant the French were more likely to use guns on each other rather than on the Germans.These fears were well founded, after liberation the resistance killed more French people than the Germans did during the entire occupation and the country could easily have descended into civil war.
SIGINT: I see you're using the EZ-Gun.
One of the best and most informative talks I've ever listened to.
Dropping weapons over France was rather pointless. most militias where storing captured weapons away because they were planing for a big civil war they thought would come after Germany was defeated...
I've always been a little mystified by the Liberator -- why not simply do the same thing with a Derringer design?
This design was probably cheaper to make en masse
$$$$
I'd love to have the disposable income to buy one of these. I love the background, and the look of the thing.
is it me or does that look a lot like the EZ gun from MGS3?
+Jason Armstrong sigint want to make the ez gun look like a liberator just because it looks cool
+Jason Armstrong EZ gun is based off of the Liberator
PastaSandwich makes sense
i'm glad i'm not alone in this!
A codec call confirms that the EZ gun is based of the liberator.
In the book 'D-Day through German Eyes (book 2)' a German soldier speaking in the 1950s said that these were dropped into Europe during WW2 and were 'very common' in France around the time of D-Day. He says that the German found a canister dropped from a bomber with 100 of these inside. In the book he tells the story of a German officer being killed by one the night before D-Day.
"100 boxcars all filled with Liberator pistols, that's a long train."
The local coal train in my town is about 120 cars a train. Most mainline freight trains have anywhere from 70-300 railcars, even back in the 1930's, so that's not that long of a train at the time, it would just be a double-header.
"Dumped them into the sea" who comes up with these ideas?
Because it was a feasible way of destroying them. As far as I know (and I may be mistaken), the difference between steel standarts in the US and the UK made it unfeasible to recycle the liberators as scrap metal, so the decision was made to just dump them in the sea.
@@a.hollins8691 When it comes to rocks and metalware that does not contain heavy metals like mercury and lead, then yes_ perfect. Any other waste products should be handled on land.
arming the fish
Someone who needs space in his warehouse and who isn't allowed to sell a dangerous (in terms of being a weapon as well as potentially blowing up in the hand) product to the public. These things were worthless at the time and were occupying space, dump em so you can make money.
An octopus is already very intelligent and scary... now I'm scared to go in the ocean incase one pops up holding eight of these bastards!
"we have it we love it", Battlefield 5
Did he even mention the bottom plate that comes out so you can store ammunition?
+Just Another Fanboy No, unfortunately he did not. I was waiting for it, and was surprised considering how informative and thorough his narratives are.
***** I very much enjoyed seeing those instructions, primarily because I knew that I would never need to use them. If I'm not mistaken, whomever it was that made them went on to work for Ikea creating assembly instructions.
which undoubtedly allows the pistol to double as a maraca, bewildering the Nazi you're carefully trying to sneak up on.
Fascinating as always. I particularly enjoy your videos when you talk about the manufacturing process, it's easy to forget that these weapons need to be made, my people and machines.
thank you for showing the genius that was General Motors Bill Knutson we have so much to thank the that great generation how they fought the second world war should give us a lesson on how we should mobilize and prepare for the next conflict I really appreciate forgotten weapons going into the nitty-gritty on these interesting subjects that most people know very very little about thanks again for forgotten weapons awesome attention-to-detail no-nonsense look into firearms
To anyone whose asking "why would they just throw them away when they could recycle them?! " remember, Recycling doesn't magically happen for free, people have to be paid to break those all down and collect the reusable parts, when it comes to massive scale things like this, the items in question often don't have enough value to merit the cost of man hours to reuse them.
I wonder if the Brits didn't like it because they had a similar project, the Welrod. Not sure what the chronological timelines line up with the two projects, but the Welrod, though more costly to produce, was a far better weapon for insurrection/resistance.
Wouldn't it be more practical to make them in 9mm because that was a much more common ammo type in Europe in WW2 (and still today) and would be much easier to acquire by partisans/civilians then .45?
+Anton Kubala Do they really need more than 10 rounds anyway? They came with ammo.
+Anton Kubala No, because the US was already mass producing .45 for the military, but not 9mm.
But including 10 chances is already ridiculously generous, considering that would imply 10 seperate assassination attempts. If it were semi-auto and was simply a cheap backup weapon for partisans even after they got others, that would make sense and you would have a good point.
Not to mention that if you have one shot would you rather it be 9mm or .45? And the lower operating pressures make manufacture easier.
As well as what Ian mentioned, there was the idea that the Liberator was supposed to be _useless_ to the Germans if they managed to capture them. A delivery of 600 Liberators each with 10 rounds would mean 6,000 rounds, and they probably had mental images of German soldiers waving and shouting "Danke, Uncle Sam!" as a bomber flew away after accidentally re-arming them if it was chambered in 9mm.
We should drop some of these in Hong Kong
That's insane!
...tell me more...
Why not drop you with one of these instead, keyboard warrior?
You missed the “magazine” that could store six bullets in the “handle.” Excellent video!
These pistils had more quality control than modern products.
man if people made these today I bet you could sell them for around 50$-75$ [in monder dollars it would cost like 26$-30$]
Someone did make repos a few years back; they sold for $500-$600.
Forgotten Weapons not bad, might make a few my self, how hard do you think it would be to make?
very hard in a garage at home and it wouldn't be worth it to make the presses unless you were churning out thousands of them a day stamping only really pays off in massive bulk quantities if you're just selling a few it's too expensive and overly complex to turn a profit
If you've got access to the tools needed and you really want to try making one, It probably wouldn't cost too much. Sure you could find materials for under $20, then put in a few hours' work, tops, and have yourself a nice homemade replica. Wouldn't mind doing it myself if I had the tools.
The Reeper they do make replicas these days and they are not cheap... but i eould pay alot for one of the originals just for the history
I think we've learned by now that giving foreign civilians free weapons isn't a good idea
Only Americans should be armed i guess is your view
@@bigtony4829 I read it as an mujahideen/Al-Qaeda joke.
You have so fcking nice voice... I can hearing you all the time and I'm so relaxed.
This guys voice is so calming, seriously, I could listen to these videos while falling asleep.
My brother and I had one of these when we were kids, our dad found it somewhere and gave it to us to play with. I'm pretty sure he had no idea that it was a real gun. I'm not sure what ever happened to it, but I wish I had it today.
great video
I get the feeling that after a few tweaks to the gun (i.e. Not as painful grip, better ejection system, rifling, etc.), I feel that the Liberator would make a good concealed carry pistol. But that's just me, so feel free to state your opinion.
The Liberator's entire purpose is to be disposable. You find the gun, take the gun, find a Nazi/occupying German soldier, shoot them, take their far better gun, and throw away the Liberator as you have a better gun.
Malcom Alexander But, if you tweak it a bit, like the guy said, it might be a good conceal carry, not if you left it as it is.
A shame they never distributed them.
More useful to distribute STENs which they did.
+Simon Watts Oh yeah. Word has it, they never did find all of those after the war, either. And I bet there are a few sitting quietly in closets.
+HunterShows I agree. They could have helped partizans all over Europe. Imagine getting them into the death camps and Warsaw Ghetto.
+Simon Watts Ironically the STEN cost about the same price ,after it got simplified by a toy maker (2.5 pounds/piece).
+mowtow90 That is about three times as much. Also remember that British had lower labor costs. A pre-war Thompson was $250, wartime versions were $40 IIRC. A Garand was at lowest about $25. The grease gun was about $15 if I remember correctly.
There, however, is a point if the weapon being so bad. It was of no use for Germans. Dropping a million Stens on Germans would have doubled their number of SMGs.
The strategy was lacking as Germans retaliated heavily on every killed soldier so there resistance focused on sabotage etc. The resistance was really useful only when it could be coordinated with normal land offensives.
I have a forgotten weapon. I have a Jukar Spain percussion pistol I found in an abandoned house. I think it was made in the early 1970s. The assembly manual had a 1975 manual. I think it is ready to be fired now.
Not only were they manufactured faster than you could fire them. But also with the 4 round (Retaining) clip it came with, they were Cheaper to produce than they were to fire, too. The pistol cost less than 4 rounds of .45 ball at the time.
The most widely produced zip-gun, in history. Arguably the most successful one too. Which isn't saying much. At all.
Can you imagine someone scattering LOADED guns all over the place today? What if some kid found it?
Well I guess back in the days before warning signs people taught their kids to have a bit more personal responsibility.
Kids were in wartime, they could identify a firearm.
Lol I had one when I was a kid , nanna made me hand it in to west Midlands police. I think they were more surprised by the family box of cyanide capsules.
@MisterK listen, those kids needed a shower even if it killed them