Liberator FP-45: The Most Economical Weapon of World War II?

The history of improvised firearms is as rich as that of formal designs, and I would even venture to say it is even deeper and more complex. The world changed forever when the plans for the 3D Liberator pistol were published on the Web. However, its essential concepts (a single shot, easy to make, hide, and transport, very cheap) are not exactly new, and they saw a bit of action during World War II. That brings us to the original Liberator FP-45, distributed by the Allied forces as a basic resource for resistance groups.

It doesn't take much to fire a bullet. In fact, the device doesn't even need to follow a mandatory shape as long as it accomplishes its goal and ensures a minimum level of accuracy and stability. A special team from General Motors and the United States Army went in that direction when designing the Liberator FP-45.

The year was 1942, and German forces had occupied much of Europe. As expected, most of the population was not very happy, but they lacked the resources to resist. The conclusion of the Liberator project (named Flare Projector to hide that it was a mass-produced pistol) was that if they could distribute a cheap weapon throughout the occupied territory, users could take down a German soldier and take their equipment, or launch small campaigns of terror and/or sabotage, one bullet at a time.

Liberator FP-45: The Mini Pistol That Went to War

The Guide Lamp division of General Motors was responsible for producing the Liberator FP-45, and the final design turned out to be so simple that they created one million units in eleven weeks (almost 13,000 per day) and tested each one, so they left the factory with at least one shot. Stamped steel, a basic 100-millimeter barrel with smooth bore compatible with .45 Auto, five bullets that could be stored in the grip, and a tedious loading process defined the Liberator FP-45.

Its creators relied on the psychological impact of the pistol more than its actual performance, hoping to erode the morale of German troops by turning every civilian into a potential opponent. However, they underestimated the logistical difficulties associated with distribution. The number of flights needed to drop these weapons from the air was impressive, and risking bombers for such a mission would have been madness.

The initial distribution of the FP-45 did not exceed 25,000 units. After many back-and-forths, taking up space in warehouses that had to be cleared and under the threat of being recycled, the Army handed over to the OSS (predecessor of the modern CIA) a total of 450,000 pistols, reaching Greece, China, and the Philippines, where they saw wider use.

The total cost of each Liberator was $2.10, which adjusted for inflation equals about $32. Despite the apparent failure of the Liberator FP-45, the CIA decided to create a successor in 1964 called the Deer Gun, intended for the Vietnam War, but the scale that conflict reached reduced its usefulness to zero.

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