FP-45 (Liberator / OSS Pistol / M1942 Pistol)

History

The origins of the FP-45 single-shot pistol can be traced back to an initiative of the U.S. Army to arm covert and resistance forces in enemy-held areas in Europe, and to achieve the nations power from within by empowering its own active civilian population. Liberate the deployment population.

The pistol is a direct product of the findings of the United States Army's Joint Psychological Commission, and the generic designation "FP-45" is derived from the official designation "Flare Projector Calibre 45" (also known as "Flare Pistol M1942"). This deliberate false marking is designed to deceive prying eyes and ears into believing that the weapon is nothing more than a flare gun. The project was developed and completed in just 6 months, June-August 1942 - which also included the required 11 weeks of production - and the U.S. Army eventually passed control to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

The predecessor of today's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The OSS was established during World War II to operate against enemies behind enemy lines and operated from June 1942 to September 1945. At its peak, the branch employed about 13,000 people.

Needless to say, the OSS was sold under the Army's Resistance Pistol concept.

The FP-45 was designed from the outset to be an inexpensive, easy-to-use, mass-produced pistol. It was a device suitable for close work, designed to encourage rebellion as much as possible and pose a new internal threat to the Axis occupiers. The idea behind the program was to develop a weapon that could be air-dropped into enemy territory in large numbers. Those inclined to resist Axis forces on the ground could retract their weapon packs and use smaller pistols, incapacitating individual enemy personnel. This then frees said enemy's weapon to take away.

Over time, with the FP-45 and the courageous civilian community stocked with enough frontline Axis weapons, it became clear that the number of resistance movements would increase.

This pistol was offered from 1942 to 1945 and was produced by the GMC Guide Light Company division in Anderson, Indiana. It is believed that around 1,000,000 pistols were eventually produced and the system was known as the Liberator, OSS pistol and M1942 pistol.

Each gun comes with a 12-step visual guide to assist the operator. This is an interesting aspect in itself, as the use of images in the instruction set ensures that those receiving the ready-to-use FP-45 have no language or literacy impairments, and that very little training is actually required to use it. The pistol - packaged in a clear plastic bag - also comes with ten extra cartridges.

45 ACP (five of which can be stowed in the pistol grip) and the wooden dowels needed to remove spent cartridges.

The FP-45 was designed to be very functional - some would say downright shoddy - and featured a large, blocky pistol grip. The spring-loaded trigger is located on its front and is lightly protected by a curved wire trigger guard. The receiver is plate-side, the short smoothbore barrel sticks out a short distance forward and is covered by a basic rear sight rod. The structure is mainly made of stamped metal.

Overall, the system weighs just 1 pound, measures 5.55 inches long, and has a 4-inch long barrel. The chamber of this gun can fire one round. 45 ACP, muzzle velocity 820 feet per second, range limited to 8 meters.

The FP-45 operates on a simplified twist-pull breech system. The user manually opened the crack block and attached a .45 ACP cartridge (the same cartridge used in the famous Colt M1911 semi-automatic pistol) and manually closed the bolt. Weapons can now be fired on demand. Once the cartridge is used up, the operator will reopen the breech and use a lever-like device (however, a wooden positioning lever is provided) to push the spent cartridge down into the barrel and out of the chamber.

As a single-shot weapon, each cartridge of the FP-45 must be manually loaded and unloaded in a similar fashion.

The FP-45 is by no means a frontline offensive weapon. Since it was designed for covert units, it was often used (and intended) as an assassination tool. Its accuracy at close range has been shown to perform well against the .45 ACP cartridge - plus the resulting muzzle velocity - in this type of operation. The barrel is inherently smooth, so there is no internal "rifling", which means close range work is essential and directly related to overall accuracy. The absence of rifling itself ensures that weapons can be easily and quickly manufactured and assembled without much precision.

However, the "first strike, first kill" operation that operators must ensure to reload the FP-45 is time-consuming and cumbersome.

Although it was produced in the millions, only a few FP-45s actually entered circulation. The OSS has never achieved mass airdrops over the European theater, while Chinese and Philippine insurgent forces in the Pacific theater have recorded large-scale use of this interesting weapon. Not sure that the Allies used the FP-45 directly, let alone this type.

As you might expect, the rare small FP-45 with all its accompanying documentation and packaging is in excellent condition - fetching top prices in today's collectibles market.

It should be noted that the concept of the FP-45 Liberator was somewhat updated by the CIA, as the 1964 Deer Gun was introduced for use by similar resistance forces in the early days of the Vietnam War. The design of the Deer Gun bears no resemblance to previous Liberator products and accommodates the 9x19 Parabellum cartridge.

Likewise, deer guns were developed and produced, but never released.

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