LIBERATOR FP-45 (Historical Prop)

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This is a replica of a historical firearm that does not fire anything. The hammer can be cocked and fired, but there's no firing pin, and the chamber has been made smaller so no round can be chambered or fired. It's just a toy for big boys. These replicas cost $2.10 each at the time of production (about $32.35 in 2018). The origins of the FP-45 single-shot pistol place it as an initiative by the US Army to arm clandestine and resistance forces within enemy-occupied territories across Europe and spawn liberation of nations from within using their own motivated civilian populations. The pistol was a direct product of the Army's US Army Joint Psychological Committee findings, and the general designation of "FP-45" was derived from the formal designation of "Flare Projector Caliber 45" (also the "Flare Pistol M1942"). This deliberate mislabeling was intended to mislead prying eyes and ears into thinking the weapon was nothing more than a signal flare gun. The project was developed and completed in just six months from June to August of 1942 - this also encompassing the eleven weeks of required production. The US Army eventually turned over the reins to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to today's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The OSS was formed during World War 2 to conduct operations against the enemy from behind enemy lines and operated from June 1942 to September of 1945. At its peak, the branch employed some 13,000 personnel. Needless to say, the OSS was sold on the Army's resistance pistol concept. The FP-45 was designed from the outset as a cheap-to-produce, easy-to-use pistol meant for mass production. It was an implement suitable for close-in work and was intended to promote insurgencies where possible, adding a new internal threat to Axis occupiers. The idea behind the program was to develop a weapon suitable for air-dropping into enemy-held regions in quantity. Those inclined to resist Axis forces on the ground could then recover the weapon package and make use of the smallish pistol by incapacitating a lone enemy individual. This then freed the said enemy's weapons for the taking. Over time, it was seen that a resistance movement would grow in number by an emboldened civilian congregation, stocking themselves with proper, frontline Axis weapons thanks to the FP-45. The pistol was made available from 1942 to 1945 with production handled by the Guide Lamp Corporation Division of GMC out of Anderson, Indiana. It is thought that some 1,000,000 pistols were ultimately produced and the concept was renewed by the CIA to an extent with the advent of the "Deer Gun" of 1964. The Deer Gun bore no similarities in design to the previous Liberator offering and was chambered for the 9x19 Parabellum cartridge. Similarly, the Deer Gun was developed and produced but never issued. I will publish The Deer Gun next week.