The FP-45 "Liberator" Pistol
The "Liberator" Pistol, or to be correct, Flare Projector, Caliber .45 (FP-45)
The FP-45 was designed to be dropped behind enemy lines to give the resistance groups a way to arm themselves with better weapons taken from the enemy. While it was commonly thought that the arms went into France, most were delivered to the various groups in Asia, China and the Philippines. Some records indicate the pistol was designed by the OSS, while other records indicate that the US Army was the designer and they gave the pistol to the OSS after it was developed.
Inland Guide Lamp Division of General Motors was given the contract to produce the pistols, while they had no experience in firearms manufacturing they did have great experience in making items from stampings and turnings. The entire project took six months from start to finish with the actual production taking eleven weeks. In that eleven weeks, 1,000,000 FP-45s were produced at a rate of one every 6.6 seconds. Since it takes 10 seconds to load and fire the FP-45, it was the only pistol in history that took less time to manufacture than fire!
The frame, trigger, trigger guard, "breech block" were all stampings while the barrel was seamless mild steel tubing turned and chambered on a turret lathe. The pistol had a zinc casting on the striker block to add weight to the striker fall. The first production pistols lacked any method to assure that the striker would remain in line with the firing pin hole in the breech block. Later production pistols had a pin cast into the striker block to make sure everything remained in line and the FP-45 would fire. There were three styles of striker blocks, without an alignment pin, with a pin that was mostly exposed and the final design where the pin was cast into the striker block.
The FP-45 was shipped in a pasteboard/cardboard box with 10 rounds of ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty shell casing and a comic strip/pictograph instruction sheet. The box was wrapped in oiled paper. The instruction sheet showed the user how the 10 rounds of ammunition would store in the butt of the pistol. The delivered cost for the FP-45 was $2.10/unit.
To fire the FP-45 the striker block is pulled to the rear until the guide pin clears the hole in the breech block and then turned to the side, the breech block is lifted and a round is chambered. The breech block is lowered and the striker block turned back into position. The rear "sight" of the FP-45 is a notch on the top of the breech block and the front sight is a wedge on the top of the trigger guard. After a long, spongy trigger pull the striker block cams back and then off the sear. Due to the light weight of the pistol, recoil is noticeable. Since the bore is smooth and the chamber turned and not reamed, accuracy is almost non-existent and the bullets tumble badly. However at 7 to 10 feet the FP-45 would be more than sufficient to perform its designed duties.
By James Vollink
To add to Jim's excellent brief history lesson, I was recently given the opportunity to actually examine, handle and actually fire a "Liberator" pistol. The FP-45 in question belongs to a local collector, and he allowed us to experience first-hand the virtues and vices of the "Liberator". First off, the piece in no way impresses the user with any feeling of quality. The FP-45 is crudely made, light as a feather, and extremely clumsy in its operation. It is a poor military cousin of the elegant blued pre-war Colt M1911A1 .45 caliber pistols. Despite this, the mystique of the FP-45 combined with the small number of surviving specimens means that value and collector interest is increasing. While the pistols were made for approximately two dollars each (in 1940's currency), today a clean specimen can often bring over a thousand dollars! It is of course difficult to evaluate condition, as they were left unfinished. However, a "mint" specimen is usually considered one free of rust or damage, and with the original packing box and instruction sheet.
Firing one is truly an experience. Loading is simple enough, as you pull the striker back, flip it sideways to lock it open, lift up the loading gate, and insert a round. Close the loading gate, rotate the striker and let it move forward under heavy spring tension. There isn't much to aim with, just the tip of the triggerguard which forms the front sight and a large square notch cut into the loading gate. The trigger pull is just plain awful, as it is long, heavy, and mushy. Upon first use most of those present who fired it would keep pulling the trigger until the muzzle dropped, then look at the pistol to see if something was wrong. But if you kept tugging on the trigger, eventually it would release the striker block. The resulting sensation was of the striker block going forward, the moment of firing, then very sharp recoil and pain as the striker block was blown back, then forward under spring pressure trapping the web of the user's hand in the process! After just one shot the user quicky learned to hold as low on the grip as possible. If you were lucky (or just that good) there would be a hole in the target. Hopefully said target was only a few feet away, as the bullet merely rattled down the oversized bore and usually tumbled just a few feet from the muzzle. I fired perhaps a dozen rounds through the "Liberator", and after the first few rounds I was able to keep all the shots on the 8/5" x 17" target paper at a range of just ten feet. Half of the bullets cut a round hole, while the others tumbled and tore oblong holes in the target. Beyond ten feet there was just no way of ensuring that the bullet would actually fly straight enough to hit what you were aiming at.
In retrospective, I feel the FP-45 might have served some use in its intended purpose (killing unsuspecting enemy soldiers so that you could take their weapon for your own use), but for the most part was just as hazardous to the user as the intended victim. Not that it was unsafe to shoot, but more to the point I feel a garrote or knife would be a lot more effective, and a whole lot quieter too. Apparently the military agreed, for despite limited distribution to elements in SE Asia the vast majority that were produced were destroyed not long after production ended. The unknown number of remaining specimens remain as interesting examples of wartime planning and innovation however, and as thus deserve a place in any advanced militaria collection.
By D. Kamm
Heard these sell for $1,200-$1,500 now! :shock:
