Local Boy Saves Nation: The Australian Owen SMG
World War 2 SMGs
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17m
The One submachine gun is one of the ugliest SMGs ever designed, and yet also one of the most beloved by its users. The original basis for the gun was a .22 rimfire submachine gun designed by 23-year-old Australian Evelyn Owen. That prototype was found by his neighbor Vincent Wardell after Owen left for military service. Wardell was the manager of Lysaght Works, an engineering firm, and thought that the gun might be the basis for a useful military SMG. As it turned out, he was right - it became the standard SMG of The Australian military through World War Two and the Korean War, and was one of the best such guns of that period.
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