Owen SMG (Owen Machine Carbine)

Owen SMG (Owen Machine Carbine) History

Despite their obvious battlefield value today, it took some time for the armies of the world to embrace the idea of ??mass procuring and using submachine guns and their tried and true bolt action and auxiliary machine guns. A number of submachine guns appeared in the years after World War I, most notably the famous American M1 Thompson submachine gun, while the first "true" submachine gun - the German Bergman MP18 - was launched in World War I The end played a role and saw service until 1945.

Prior to World War II, Imperial Japan had become a military-minded regional power, and its invasion of the Asian continent preceded its eventual expansion across the South Pacific to Australia. Of course, with the Japanese military establishing a base of operations so close to the mainland, it was a little disconcerting that Australia was forced to develop a military war industry that was largely non-existent at the time.

Australian-born Evelyn Owen (1915-1949) was an inventor with a passion for firearms of all kinds, which she designed and built from a young age. When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, following British policy, Australia officially declared war on European powers. This has forced the Australian state to modernize much of its infrastructure, including heavy industry.

Initially lacking in making its own weapons, the Australian military accepted supplies of foreign-developed aircraft, tanks and guns to replenish their war stocks.

In the 1930s, Irving was working on a cartridge designed for .22 caliber. He demonstrated the weapon to representatives of the Australian Army in July 1939, but showed little interest in his creation. Just as Australian politicians are committed to the war against the Axis powers, so are ordinary Australians for a variety of reasons

So Owen continued to develop his weapon, and the Australian government eventually took notice - the military remained skeptical. The Owen gun was further developed into several similar but different prototypes designed to fire different caliber cartridges for evaluation. The test also pitted the Irving design against the tried-and-true American M1 Thompson and British Sten submachine guns, all three submachine guns that have withstood the rigors expected on the battlefield. In all tests and all cartridges fired under load, the Irwin design prevailed.

With the Australian Army unable to agree on a caliber for the Owen system, the government stepped in and opted for the 9x19mm Parabellum - a cartridge that has been shown to perform well in submachine guns and pistols at the listed ranges. With the development of history, the Owen gun was simply referred to as the "Irving Submachine Gun" and officially entered service as the "Irving Machine Carbine" in 1940.

The Owen submachine gun has an extremely functional look - certainly not the prettiest gun ever made. However, it is very practical, robust, reliable, and requires little training to work at any level of effectiveness.

The Owen was a simple weapon with a simple structure that could meet the mass production requirements of the emerging Australian Army. The design consists primarily of a tubular, unstructured receiver covered by a detachable barrel assembly.

The stock has a skeleton design to save weight and construction materials, but some versions also feature an all-wood stock, while others have a "dumb" design with a wood and metal frame. The lower part of the receiver was "hollowed out" and a simple pistol grip and trigger unit was attached to it. The magazine feed was placed on the nose tip of the tubular receiver and fed from a vertical spring magazine (early forms used drum magazines, later dropping a detachable box). This installation provides a very reliable feeding mechanism for the cartridges it contains, aided by the magazine spring itself and gravity - the detachable box magazine feeds one 32x9mm cartridge at a time.

There's a front pistol grip for a firm two-point grip and more finger grooves for basic ergonomics. The barrel was rather unremarkable, and early forms had fins near the bottom of the case, although this design element was later dropped.

Interestingly, the barrel is also designed to be "quick change" to prevent overheating in severe sustained fire conditions - a design quality more akin to a light machine gun than a submachine gun. The design of the sight is iron and is offset to the side of the receiver due to the position of the vertical magazine.

The firing action is a typical "recoil" system, using an open bolt. The internal compartmentalization of the receiver allows the overall assembly to remain free of debris that would otherwise hinder operation.

Overall, the Owen submachine gun weighs about 9 pounds, has a barrel length of 32 inches, and a barrel assembly that is closer to 10 inches. The rate of fire is specified at 700 rounds per minute, the muzzle velocity is 1,380 feet per second, and the effective range is up to 135 yards.

After being commissioned - and unlikely to deliver Sten guns from the UK - production of its own SMGs began at the John Lysaght factory, which was further reinforced by the involvement of the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, eventually totaling over 50,000, specimens Produced from 1941 to 1945. The full production rate was limited to 2,000 units per month simply because Australians lacked the facilities to produce more. The use of the first batch was hampered by the wrong caliber of the promised ammunition supply. With the logistics settled, Australian soldiers were able to effectively use their Owens weapons against the Japanese, a weapon that proved its intrinsic value in the often unforgiving nature of the jungle.

The weapon also appears in various pseudo-decorations to reflect the combat environment in question, and some also appear on the short bayonet next to the barrel. The weapon was perfect for Australian troops to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the fanatical Japanese, who often charged into positions in suicide attempts. Additionally, special forces could use the more compact design for their covert missions, or to scout enemy positions before attacking.

Despite Owen's physical abuse, the gun for the most part refused to give up, earning her the nickname "The Diggers' Darling." The weapon can fall into rivers, get muddy, and get dustjust to keep it firing like new. Over time, the armed forces of neighboring New Zealand also began to use the gun, and the Owen gun even attracted the interest of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. Soldiers in the Australian Army are said to prefer their home-made Owen submachine guns because if there is a problem with the system, it is their generally high overall weight over their contemporaries.

However, the confident use of two-hand grips and shoulder rests can help mitigate this error.

All in all, there are only two different forms of Irving - the base model named Mark 1 (1/42), which appeared in 1943, and the wooden stock model named Mark 1 (1/43), which appeared in 1943 , the Mark 2 was intended to be a simplified production version, but did not appear as a prototype until the end of the war. The U.S.

Army in Australia ordered 60,000 Owens themselves, but that request was never fulfilled because Australia lacked the machine infrastructure and raw materials needed for the war.

With the end of World War II in September 1945, the Owen submachine gun continued to serve after the war. When a fierce battle broke out in the South Korean peninsula and North Korea, the Owen submachine gun went to war with the Australian army again.

In 1952, many of the Owens were completely rebuilt to increase their lifespan, and longer bayonets were added. Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War also brought back Owen, an old girl who was no stranger to bush warfare.

Surprisingly, the "small submachine gun" survived various global conflicts and served in the Australian Armed Forces until the 1960s, when it was eventually replaced by the F1 submachine gun line that entered service in 1963. This weapon was also used in the Vietnam War with the Australian Army, using the 9x19 Parabellum cartridge, using a vertical magazine and in service until 1991.

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