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WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP for sale
WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP for sale
Click Photo to Enlarge
Guns International #: 102896906
Seller's Inventory #: 3/271
Category - Military Pistols - Liberator
- Military Arms
WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Contact Seller
|
Click Photo to Enlarge
|
Guns International #: 102896906
Category - Military Pistols - Liberator
- Military Arms
WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP
Description: The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1] Project history[edit] The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers. Design[edit] The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45 The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip. Wartime use[edit] The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons. It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7] General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible. French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9] One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10 EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00 Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021 TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you. We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped. SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise. RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!! U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now Curio/Relic: Yes Contact Seller |
Click Photo to Enlarge
Guns International #: 102896906
Seller's Inventory #: 3/271
Category - Military Pistols - Liberator
- Military Arms
WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Guns International #: 102896906
Seller's Inventory #: 3/271
Guns International #: 102896906
Seller's Inventory #: 3/271
Category - Military Pistols - Liberator
- Military Arms
WWII FP -45 LIBERATOR PISTOL 45ACP
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Description:
The FP-45 Liberator is a handgun manufactured by the United States military during World War II for use by resistance forces in occupied territories. The Liberator was never issued to American or other Allied troops, and there are few documented instances of the weapon being used for its intended purpose; though the intended recipients, irregulars and resistance fighters, rarely kept detailed records due to the inherent risks if the records were captured by the enemy. Few FP-45 pistols were distributed as intended, and most were destroyed by Allied forces after the war.[1]
Project history[edit]
The concept was suggested by a Polish military attaché in March 1942. The project was assigned to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and was designed for the United States Army two months later by George Hyde of the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Production was undertaken by General Motors Guide Lamp Division to avoid conflicting priorities with Inland Division production of the M1 carbine.[1] The army designated the weapon the Flare Projector Caliber .45 hence the designation FP-45. This was done to disguise the fact that a pistol was being mass-produced. The original engineering drawings labeled the barrel as "tube", the trigger as "yoke", the firing pin as "control rod", and the trigger guard as "spanner". The Guide Lamp Division plant in Anderson, Indiana assembled a million of these guns.[2] The Liberator project took about six months from conception to the end of production with about 11 weeks of actual manufacturing time, done by 300 workers.
Design[edit]
The operating instructions distributed with the FP-45
The FP-45 was a crude, single-shot pistol designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short-range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit (equivalent to $38 in 2022[3]), lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[4] Five rounds of ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip.
Wartime use[edit]
The Liberator was shipped in a cardboard box with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, a wooden dowel to remove the empty cartridge case, and an instruction sheet in comic strip form[5] showing how to load and fire the weapon. The Liberator was a crude and clumsy weapon, never intended for front-line service. It was originally intended as an insurgency weapon to be mass-dropped behind enemy lines to resistance fighters in occupied territory. A resistance fighter was to recover the gun, sneak up on an Axis occupier, kill or incapacitate him, and retrieve his weapons.
It was manufactured under the "FP" prefix and referred to in official documentation as a "Flare pistol".[6] The pistol was valued as much for its psychological warfare effect as its actual field performance. It was believed that if vast quantities of these handguns could be delivered into Axis-occupied territory, it would have a devastating effect on the morale of occupying troops. The plan was to drop them in such great quantities that occupying forces could never capture or recover all of them. It was hoped that the thought of thousands of these unrecovered weapons potentially in the hands of the citizens of occupied countries would have a deleterious effect on enemy morale.[7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff never saw the practicality in mass dropping the Liberator over occupied Europe, and authorized distribution of fewer than 25,000 of the half million FP-45 pistols shipped to Great Britain for the French resistance. Generals Joseph Stilwell and Douglas MacArthur were similarly unenthusiastic about the other half of the pistols scheduled for shipment to the Pacific. The Army then turned 450,000 Liberators over to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which preferred to supply Resistance fighters in both theatres with more effective weapons whenever possible.
French use of the FP-45 remains undocumented, however, a first-hand account of an assassination with an FP-45 exists from German military policeman Niklaus Lange. He claimed that there were thousands in circulation in occupied France.[8] The OSS did distribute a few to Greek resistance forces in 1944. Most of the pistols shipped to Britain were undistributed, and later dumped at sea or melted for scrap metal.[9]
One hundred thousand FP-45 pistols were shipped to China in 1943, but the number actually distributed remains unknown. A few were distributed to the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and resistance fighters.[1][10
EASTERN BRANCH FIREARMS
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – NEXT DAY AIR SHIPPING
ADD 50.00 SHIPPING – LONG GUNS GROUND
OPTIONAL INSURANCE IS AVAILABLE AT 1.25 PER 100.00
Questions e-mail or call Glen at Eastern Branch Firearms 207-215-5021
TERMS – PLEASE READ BEFORE
I DO NOT HAVE A LAYAWAY OPTION ( WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS ) -- I GET ALOT OF REQUEST FOR TRADES, I WOULD PERFER NOT TO DO TRADES ON MY INTERNET LISTINGS
PAYMENT OPTIONS- We accept money orders, cashier’s checks , bank checks. sorry no personal checks. We accept all major credit cards please add 3% to the ’s cash discount price.(Shipping within the state of Florida - Florida Residents must pay sales tax) .Handguns and long guns do need to be shipped separate. PLEASE do not send payment via FED EX . USPS & UPS are fine. Thank you.
We include a signed copy of our FFL with each firearm shipped.
SAFTY NOTICE- Buyer is solely responsible for determining that a used gun is safe to shoot. The firearms offered have not been test fired but have been given a visual inspection only for purposes. It is a requirement that every used firearm is inspected by a qualified gunsmith before firing. By , the buyer agrees to hold seller harmless against damages, injury, or death caused by defective merchandise.
RETURN POLICY- All firearms come with a 3-day non firing , non messing with ( turning srews ,taking apart,removing parts, scoping. firing, cleaning or messing with in anyway) inspection/return privilege.Inspection is based on a visual review of the gun to confirm the gun is in the condition stated. In the case of a return, buyer pays all shipping charges & if paid for with a credit card buyer absorbs the 3% credit card charges . So please ask questions BEFORE you bid. Thanks for Looking and Good Luck!!
U.S. sales only, no exports…this includes antiques. I will ship to third party for exporting
Price: $3,250.00 Buy Now
Curio/Relic: Yes
Contact Seller
Buy Now
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GunsInternational.com is the #1 Gun Classified website that brings gun buyers and gun brokers or sellers together through classifed advertising of guns, gun related items and services for sale online. If you are looking to buy guns or sell guns, you have come to the right place. GunsInternational.com gun classifieds currently have over 100,000 guns for sale online by numerous dealers and collectors alike. Guns International makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information contained in the gun classifieds, gun parts or gun services classifieds listings. Buyers and sellers are required to know and comply with all applicable local, state, federal and international firearm laws.
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