Something you don't see every day...

[BillinVA]

...not one, but TWO FP45s (aka "Liberator" pistols, and no, they aren't mine, but they do belong to a friend of mine, and I've shot both. )

For those who aren't familiar with the FP45, they were developed by the OSS and made by the Guide Lamp Corporation during WWII for the purposes of arming resistance fighters with cheap, disposable guns. The pistol is a single-shot and is made of stamped sheet metal. The idea was to provide a firearm to resistance fighters that would enable them to secure a better weapon (via capture from the now-deceased enemy soldier.) The only machined part is the a smooth-bore .45 caliber barrel and the spring loaded striker/firing pin. It's loaded by pulling the striker/cocking piece back and rotating it 90 degrees. A sheet metal gate is raised, a cartridge inserted into the barrel and the gate is lowered; the cocking piece is then rotated back to vertical and the pistol is fired when the trigger is squeezed. A wooden dowel was included with the gun for use in ejecting the spent cases; spare cartridges were stored in the hollow grip. Both of these are live guns. One, however, was demilled and then reactivated. The other is wholly unmolested.

[RH1941]

very cool always wanted one

[KradSpam]

Nice little item, I like. How does it shoot?

[lebus12]

Wouahh! 25 years ago, there was a lot in France, desactived, rustic.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Interesting pistol!....
FP- 45 Liberator - YouTube

[Nitram]

A friend of mine owns one. Apparently it wasn't very wise to fire it, as after a few shots it'd fall apart!

[lebus12]

In all my life, I don't remember of one found in one old maquis, colt 45, USM1...never this gun.

[BillinVA]

Nice little item, I like. How does it shoot?

It's unpleasant...a fairly stout recoil; it's relatively light and has no real moving parts so there's no weight or inertia to soak up the recoil. Accuracy is on a par with a Long Land Pattern musket, or minute-of-card-table...take your pick. The demilled/reactivated one is a little better to shoot because it was relined using a .32 acp barrel blank.

FWIW, Vintage Ordnance makes a functional reproduction of the FP45 (these two pictured are definitely not reproductions.) I had a chance to look at the Vintage Ordnance's repro at the past two Show of Shows and suitably impressed. The repros are serial numbered and have a rifled bore to comply with current US laws.

VOCO FP-45 Liberator Pistol

[Wagriff]

Very nice! A 45 auto is harsh enough to shoot....I can't imagine firing one from a soldered up piece of tin! You said that the demilled one is actually Fireable?? From the hole in the welds, I think I'd pass on giving it a try! Brrr!

[BillinVA]

Very nice! A 45 auto is harsh enough to shoot....I can't imagine firing one from a soldered up piece of tin! You said that the demilled one is actually Fireable?? From the hole in the welds, I think I'd pass on giving it a try! Brrr!

They are both working and I've fired both, multiple times. The demilled one was demilled by torch cutting through the breech end of the barrel. The owner repaired it (he's a machinist and long-time 07/02) by cleaning up the torch cut inside and out, and using a .32 acp barrel blank to sleeve the original .45 acp barrel....less pressure and more steel...perfectly safe to shoot and reasonably accurate.

Shifting gears, I've never really considered the .45 to be a harsh recoil. I own three 1911s and shoot them all regularly. If anything, it's a slower, heavier recoil and not as sharp or snappy as the 9mm (no matter what I'm shooting in 9mm, and I own perhaps a dozen or two assorted handguns in 9mm.) I'll have to dig around and see what kind of photos I have on hand; assuming I can find them I'll post them. Otherwise, I'll have to dig out the camera and set lights, etc... kind of a chore in my mind, but still....