Re: Any of you geezers have a "woolworth 45"???

On 25 Nov 2003 09:06:08 -0800, Laura Bush - wrote:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jim Bianchi) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> On 24 Nov 2003 21:12:33 -0800, Laura Bush - wrote:
>> >They're a cheapie gun used in WW2. Supposedly the US made thousands of
>> >them back then at a cost of $1.50 each (WW2 dollars). It was about
>> >fist-sized and was a 45 caliber single shot that held a half dozen or
>> >so cartridges in the grip. Each round had to be manually loaded. Gun
>> >was once described as " a great gun for getting another gun."  I've
>> >never seen one but they sound pretty cool and I wondered if there are
>> >any still around.  I assume they're still legal.
>> 
>>      This was the 'Liberator' pistol. Other than the name, what you've
>> said is correct. They were stamped out of sheet steel and air dropped into
>> occupied France in WWII for posible use by the resistance. As you say, the
>> grip held cartridges, a bit of dowel (which was used to extract the fired
>> brass), and an instruction sheet that was mostly pictures so it could be
>> understood by anyone. I've only seen photos of one, and it could only be
>> called VERY crude -- it was essentially a gov't mftd .45 caliber zip gun. 
>> It had a smooth bore, the bbl was 'prox 4" long. Surviving examples are 
>> very much collectors items today.
>
>I did not get the name wrong.  I suspect the gun had a number of names
>and woolworth 45 was one of them.

        'Woolworth 45' may've been a nickname. Sorta like the M-16 was
called the 'Mattel gun' in Viet-nam. However, as far as I'm aware, Liberator
was the official name and in any case, would be the name the gun would be
most often known by. 

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