Reising

From Free net encyclopedia

The Reising (sometimes called the Buck Rogers Gun) was an American submachine gun patented in 1940 and manufactured by Harrington & Richardson. It was designed by Eugene Reising in 1940. The two versions of the weapon produced during World War II were the M50 and the simplified M55. Over 10,000 guns were ordered, primarily by the United States Navy, though some went to the Canadian and Soviet forces.

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Design

Besides the most obvious one — use of a folding wire buttstock — there were several differences between the M50 and the M55. The M55 eliminated the flash suppressor and was simplified internally, making it lighter and shorter with a reduced rate of fire. The M55 was issued to Marine parachute troops and armored vehicle crews.

The Reising entered mass production because of the uncertainty of rapid delivery of sufficient Thompson submachine guns. In the testing stage, it won out over some other candidates. It was very light and quite accurate in aimed fire. Both of these strengths are due to its intricate closed bolt design.

Unfortunately, such a complicated weapon was not suited to the stresses of harsh battle conditions encountered in the Solomon Islands — namely, the difficulty in keeping the weapon clean enough to function properly — and the weapon earned a dismal performance reputation. Reportedly, many Marines would throw the weapon away upon finding just about anything else.

Even before the war was over, the government passed many unwanted Reisings to law enforcement and the National Guard, where it was quite successful. Harrington & Richardson also made a long-barreled, semi-automatic version, known as the M60 carbine. However, few of these were sold. The Marines used M60s for guard duty and other non-combat roles. Some M60s were issued to Marine NCOs at Guadalcanal.

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