Ugly Gun Sunday

This Sunday we present one of the finest photographs of one of the ugliest pistols ever produced. The FP-45 Liberator is proof that ugly is truly in the eye of the beholder. With just 23 stamped steel parts, the FP-45 was a firearm designed to be mass produced during wartime. It's primary purpose was that of a cheap weapon to be inserted to resistance forces in occupied territories. A one shot assassination weapon, it fired a .45ACP round through a unrifled steel pipe, and was easily concealed to allow the assassin to get close enough to do the bloody deed. If the shooter lived through the killing, he could twist open the breech, and poke the spent shell out of the chamber with a stick. Then reload. Extra rounds could be stored in the grip.

The original delivered cost for the Liberator, with original box and ammunition was $2.40 per pistol. A FP-45 in good condition today will command around $2500-$3000 with the correct climate and collectors in the room. The original box will bump the price up an additional $1500. A comic strip instruction insert was included with the pistol as well as a wooden dowel for reloading. If these are present (original as shown by a hard to fake watermark), it would take $5000-$5500 for the entire package to change hands. But it is still ugly.

The FP-45 is proof that an ugly gun is not necessarily inexpensive, or undesirable. It's just ugly. I want one.

I cannot remember where I stole this beautiful photo from several years back, but if it belongs to to you, thank you for taking and publishing it.