Owen sub machine gun.

[The Basket]

Why was the owen considered more reliable than the other allied smgs.
Some say it's the gravity fed magazine. Others that it had its ejection port at the bottom allowing crud to fall out.
Please do tell.
I am interested in engineering of firearms and the Owen looks to me such a bag of spanners and Owen himself was not a gentleman of good standing. Although his SMG is very highly regarded.

 

[Snautzer01]

Owen himself was not a gentleman of good standing. .

Please tell me what you mean by that. I think a man that served and gave his country a weapon to defend itself with, is of quite good standing.

 

[The Basket]

He was a raging alcoholic. He died aged 33.
Just because you design a weapon or served in the military don't make you a saint.

 

[stona]

Please tell me what you mean by that. I think a man that served and gave his country a weapon to defend itself with, is of quite good standing.

I've no idea what he means. As far as I know Owen was just a regular bloke who died very young. He did sell the patent for the weapon to the Commonwealth of Australia having profited to the tune of a mere $10,000 Aus. I can think of many others who have profited far more from their patents (think of the millions Stoner made from the AR-15/M16).
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wildcat]

Here's an interesting clip of the Owen tested against the Sten and MP-40.
Owen Gun Tested Against Other Sub-Machine Guns. - Wazee Digital

 

[Old Wizard]

 

[The Basket]

Owen did receive a mere $10,000 but that was in 1940 money.
It would be getting on for $700,000 in todays cash.
I would take a mere $700,000 any day of the week.

 

[stona]

I'm not sure how the 10,000 Australian dollars was calculated. The currency didn't exist until 1966! Whatever Owen made would have been in pounds, shillings and pence.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Snautzer01]

He was a raging alcoholic. He died aged 33.
Just because you design a weapon or served in the military don't make you a saint.

It does not make you a saint, but serving your country in a war makes you of good standing, period.

 

[The Basket]

I was looking at websites about the 10 grand and it wasn't clear so fudged it but it's fair to say if it was £10,000 then in 1945 that's a lot of wedge.
Certainly enough to keep Owen in la dolce vita or living la Vida loca. Certainly enough to buy the Bentley of your choice in todays money
Don't get me wrong good for him and I don't begrudge him a penny.
I am struggling to answer the idea that serving in war makes you a gentleman of good standing.
Really am. I am ex military so I know people who actively served in war zones. Hmm.

 

[tyrodtom]

I have to ask if you honestly want to discuss the merits of the Owen submachine gun ?

If so, why would you make a statement in your original post that you had to know would deflect the discussion away from the weapon itself ?

 

[Shortround6]

Not at all sure what the relevance of his "standing" has to do with the gun. It either worked or it didn't.
Apparently it worked and well enough to survive in use into the 1960s.
A more than usual attention to keeping dirt out and being able to get dirt back out should it get in certainly helped.

Good video http://commerce.wazeedigital.com/license/clip/48050209_2200.do

Bottom opening on Own not only allowed cartridges out but dirt/sand could fall out and not collect in bottom of trough. Cocking handle engaged a tail on the bolt that went through an internal bulkhead helping keep sand/dirt away from the bolt itself, unlike guns with long slots in the side. Sand that entered rear compartment needed to build up considerably to interfere with small diameter tail.

 

[tyrodtom]

Some gun experts rate the Owen the best SMG of the WW2 era..

I got to fire one in Vietnam. Old, beat up, looked like it had been drug behind a truck, but it was clean.
Since so many guys was waiting to shoot it, I didn't even use 1/2 magazine, but it never failed to fire for any of us.

 

[parsifal]

having fired the owen, sten and the Thompson, as well as the somewhat more modern F1, I much prefer the Owen . better balance, less stoppages, lighter (except the sten and the F1).

Owen built his prototype using parts from a 0.22 calibre rifle

 

[The Basket]

It was an error of mine.
I will move on.
The issue to say with the open bottom is the Carcano had a similar arrangement but that it's a fault for that weapon.
Owen was basically a garden shed tinkerer who I can't find had any formal engineering training. So fair play to him for getting the job off the ground. And because he wasn't established he could think out of the box. Basically the understanding I am after is the internal tail bulkhead design.

 

[tyrodtom]

John Moses Browning had no formal engineering training either.
Started at his fathers gunsmith shop at about 6 or 7.. Was working on what would become the P-35 ( AKA Browning High Power ) on the day he died in the middle 1920s.

 

[stona]

Owen was basically a garden shed tinkerer who I can't find had any formal engineering training. .

So were many of the pioneers of flight

In the UK there is a long tradition of 'men in sheds' coming up with everything from important inventions to great racing cars! I would be surprised if it was different in the land down under,

Cheers

Steve

 

[michaelmaltby]

bicycle mechanics

 

[Shortround6]

Sir Henry Maxim

 

[stona]

I believe one of Jeremy Clarkson's irritating acolytes has written a book titled "Magnificent Machines - how men in sheds have changed our lives".

It's not just men either, James May please note. A certain Emily Cummins has invented a toothpaste tube squeezer for people suffering from arthritis in the hands (my own mother could have used one) and a solar powered fridge, both whilst working in her workshop, which turns out to be her dad's garden shed!

Cheers

Steve