I was crap with the SLR have only just learnt recently that I am left eye dominate.Not good for a rightarm shooter. The M16 I was ok but not the SLR. The army did not test for eye dominance in 65, thats why I missed a lot to the right. Ihave been told that with a telescopic sight it makes no difference. I am not a shooter now anyway
@18tangles I was pretty crap with the SLR too! But we still had No.4 Lee Enfields, being rather 3rd echelon. I was pretty damn good with that, but being some of the last people to use them, we were encouraged to shoot off ammunition just to try and get rid of it. Some ammunition we used was WW2 stuff, most was from the 1950s.
I had one in Vietnam in 66 could take the butt off and carry it in my bag when I went into town.My bayonet was different than the one shown in the final model, mine was a cut down .303 great steel. I think the author is wrong the Owen was withdrawn partway through Vietnam When I went back second tour 68 I did not see one.And I went back to the same unit.I had an SLR then & when I went to Saigon or Points north They let me carry a pistol..
I got to fire one in the 70's. Because the power of our 9mm ammo was reduced so that the 9mm browning didn't blow-up, it made the owen obsolete over night. To fire it was like smooth as silk, easy to aim on it's side-on sights (like the F1 sub machine gun). And easy to operate at all stages.
@TheDerbvankillenu The ammo I had in 66 was 1943 so no danger of blowing up. On the way over on the Vernon Sturdee we dumped hundreds of owens into the sea somewhere north of New Guinea. Mine was on the way out bore just about shot out.
Owen was in the 2/17th Bat as was my dad.My father said he was something of a loner, not particularly popular & some even said he was a bit of a nutter,(not my dad).But they said it was a bit strange when he was shipped back to OZ.The Owen was better than both the Sten & Thompson.It had a greater range, more accurate & more importantly didn't have to be mollycoddled.It was also one of the cheapest weapons to produce in materials & man hours. Dad didn't know him personally, the opinions hearsay
Back in the 80's, a friend of mine managed to build a replica of an Owen gun using the odd combination of an extremely heavily modified Sten Mk V, a forward grip from a Spitfire Thompson, and a modified Chauchat buttstock.
When I first saw it a few years ago, I thought he'd finally gone senile, but it's a pretty spot on replica (sights and pistol grips are wrong, but that's about it) and to this day it's still the strangest gun I've ever seen.
Hi i was in the ares in the 80/s just missed out. a lot of the older gus swore by it we had the submachine gun 9/mm f1 to give it its full name an aus built version of the pom sterling but whith the mag upright sight on side evidintly the old digs wanted the same set up a good toy but would not want tocarry one for real slr the go and the first owen was 45 but not standard aus caliber
@18tangles Yes, my bad F1, think before posting, Think they were more a development of the Sterling. I vaguely recall the L1A1 bayonet was interchangeable, but that's many years back now. Us techs did not get to use them a real lot, just the SLR.
The sights are offset to the left. Much like the Bren .303 LMG of British design. The Owen was an excellent and robust machine pistol. It was heavy though. Odd looking as it was it was undeniably reliable to no end and represents an excellent collectible to anyone who is fortunate enough to snag one on E-bay. LOL. Just kidding. Excellent vintage SMG.
Imagine if Mr. Owen displayed such determination and technical achievement now. Instead of merely annoying the Army bureaucracy into doing what it should have, he would go to gaol for a very long time. Much longer than a murderer by the way. Still, Australia isn't what it was!!
If you think about it, having the mag on top makes perfect sense. If you hit the dirt, the bottom mag would raise the gun, not to mention that the mag is relatively fragile. Take the Sten, people hold the mag when carrying it ( I believe because there's isn't another comfortable position ) and doing so jams the gun when fired from the hip.
I never seen a gun like that having a magazine on top, in my entire life. That is so beautiful and I think it's genius. Why can't all guns like the UZI have magazines on top, rather than the bottom? Does the Owen gun jams a little, none, or a lot?
The sights are offset. The top-mounted magazine was seen on a few guns in that time; the main advantage is you have gravity working with you for feeding.
i enjoyed this vid n just letting u know (if u dont know) the owen gun was created in wollongong nsw australia and even tested on port kembla beach port kembla is just south of wollongong its a very nice place as i live here and my grandfather was friends with evelyn owen
@WWIIAustrailianTroop The tommy-gun looks cooler... but looks don't count when you've been up to your neck in a PNG swamp for 36 hours and you suddenly need your weapon to work NOW!!
@WWIIAustrailianTroop Thompsons 45 cal is a big round,stop any banzi crazed Japanese,9 mm easier to hold on target,carries further,but doesn't have the brute knock down of the 45
I've never read any complaints about this gun, everyone loved it. But there must be something, anything that can be said was not as good as the X3 or it wouldn't have been decommissioned...surely?
my grandfather has a very funny story about the owen. seeing as it was so effective in jungle fighting (it didnt clog with mud and the mag didnt catch on bushes as much) it became very popular amongst both Australian and American troops in the paccific(more so than the tompson) it became so popular that the Aussies had to post guards at their armourys and ammo dumps to stop the yanks from 'souveniering' our owen guns during the night, didn't stop em trying though
It was also the preferred SMG of the (NZ) Southern Independent Commando due to it's reliability. The NZ government order was for a version in .38 (I'm not sure why) but in praise of the Owen, the unit's official history states...
"The Owen gun was as simple as a toy, and it could stand plenty of the mud which was unavoidable. Besides this, it was lighter and more accurate [than the Thompson]; its ·38 calibre was more than sufficient for jungle distances."
@imagifyer thats total bullshit...americans used the thompson to great effect. i guarantee you the thompson is a better weapon AND it's chamered in ass kicking .45 cal!
@imagifyer i have a funny story aswell. my mates grandfather before he died, told us that he served in the royal hussars and at one point was stationed in north africa/middle east during the war. the locals then started stealing fuel from the british dumps so the gurkhas who were stationed with the hussars were sent to find them and bring them to justice, anyways my mates gramps woke up one morning to find the gurkhas had skinned the locals who were stealing fuel. not funny at all really.
@imagifyer The gun did have good grades for reliablity and the u.s did order some. The statement that more popular than the Thompson in the pacific is anecdotal at best. Most of the U.S. troops were not in the same battle-space as the Australians. There were 50,000 Owen guns built for the war and there have over almost 600,000 M1928's were built during the war, that's not counting how many thompson m1's and m1a1's were produced and issued near the end. More popular in New Guinea, perhaps.
@88pie88 yeah they did. They ordered thousands of them towards the end of the war because it was a much more reliable weapon than the Thompson in the difficult conditions in South east Asia. They didn't really use it much though because the war ended too soon.
@landcruiser151 it wasn't ever used by the UK, Australia served in vietnam without british support, we were the sole producers and operators of the Owen
This gun was ahead of its time!! This amazing SMG was one of the best SMG's of ww2. The look of the gun also looked and performed great,very reliable and simple
@fpvshitsonhsv, The sad thing is Evelyn got paid SFA to what he should have been paid, & to think with all the BS+RedTape (how we love that) it took nearly 3 yrs before the troops got their hands on it; they prefered the Owen over all others...they hated the Sten & Austen, more suited for Europe but not PNG!
Built by Lysaght industries in Sydney, Owen died in 48 or 49, he was 38yrs old...drank himself to death. He had a sawmill but he didn't have a business mind but he could invent! RIP: E.O
this gun didn't get the attention it deserved, it turned out to be more reliable than other allied sub machinguns in service at the time, but the british had a superiority complex against australians and refused to adopt it.
@ect301fps, It was also due in part to some of the pompus bastards in our ADF that insisted that it had to be British made! My next door neighbour was up in PNG during the war, he said the Sten & the Austen were crap...they either went back to the .303 or got a Tommy BUT when the Owen arrived on the scene it changed everything for the infantrymen.
I also learned 10yrs back from a bloke that was in 1armour, that they made 5 types of the Owen, the mark1's were the best...so he said.
and I thought that the sten machine gun was weird for the position of the cartridge , the owen won first prize, on the top? I wonder how it feel to use the sights....
nice photo's australian troop. If you want to check out an airsoft version of the OMC then check out scoutthe doggie on here and look at rare ww2 guns as I had one custom made for a ww2 australian look.
The mag had no spring!!!! That's so interesting and simple. I wonder how it compairs with the sten and mp 40...looks like Owen was the aussie Kalashnikov...
I think they used the Austen SMG but i don't think they made it. I think the British did. The Aussies made an airplane in WWII though! It was called the "Boomerang".
only the first prototype the third which is what we used in the wars had a top feeding cartridge
had no spring the bullets would fall into the chamber instead of being pushed in so it never ever jammed it was impossible since it was top loader it was ideal for jungle warfare because the cartridge wasnt stuck in in the mud like all the others. the owen was considered much more superior to the thompson, type 100, bren or the phss
Parts kit were about 200.00 but now on gun broker I seen ONE go for 800.00, neat old weopon , If any more are hiden away in other countrys if they come to the U.S. now they have to come with no barrels
Sub machine guns are for fairly close range fighting. That`s why it was as you say "Lord and master of the Jungle guns." But with mostly longer range fighting in Korea it is no surprise. That`s not what it was designed for. The Japanese were invading through the Pacific and it did it`s job. Horses for courses. A higher calibre sub machine gun at long range wouldn`t be too fun either due to the lower accuracy being compounded over distance.
I did an Australian history subject at the University of Wollongong in 2003 or 2004 with one "Timothy Owen," grandson of the inventor of this weapon. Isn't there a story that this weapon won a test day where several different kinds of rifle were being tested for service in WWII? The Owen gun was the only gun that passed the test, but because of a prior business deal, an inferior rifle was instead issued to the troops (US troops was it?)
The U.S. made their own guns. they didnt need other counry's weapons. The Owen gun was replaced a more accurate smg, i forget the name.....of the replacement gun..
??? u.s. troops used the austen and own in large numbers in the pacific.. i think about 7000-- or more ownes were issued to american troops...
it was the prefered jungle fighting weapon.. although it was.. and is .. from expreience not very east to shoot accuratly. and definalty not accurate like the tommy gun.. but then the tommy will conk out with alittle bit of dust in it too..
My (long gone) mum was a Wollongong girl and knew the Owen boys before WWII. She said she went out with one for a short while, and said they (the boys) were always blowing up chook houses and getting into similar mischief.
Thanks! You know, i' am not really sure what the officilal name is. It is in XWW2 for BF2 and also in Forgotten Hope. Im not sure what the name is tho, i just call it the 'xww2 theme" I can send it to you if you would like
the Owen Gun is the Australian AK if i move to america i plan on getting a smith to make one.
XxANZMFxSTUDIOSxX 4 days ago
should have chosen the 1st prototype
jmantime 1 month ago
I was crap with the SLR have only just learnt recently that I am left eye dominate.Not good for a rightarm shooter. The M16 I was ok but not the SLR. The army did not test for eye dominance in 65, thats why I missed a lot to the right. Ihave been told that with a telescopic sight it makes no difference. I am not a shooter now anyway
18tangles 1 month ago
@18tangles I was pretty crap with the SLR too! But we still had No.4 Lee Enfields, being rather 3rd echelon. I was pretty damn good with that, but being some of the last people to use them, we were encouraged to shoot off ammunition just to try and get rid of it. Some ammunition we used was WW2 stuff, most was from the 1950s.
harryfaber 1 month ago
@harryfaber They sold thousands of rounds to the Indians it may have been millions Australian ammo was pretty good in those days.
18tangles 1 month ago
Could anyone tell me how cost effective the Owen was when compared to the similar sten gun?
JKJ1900 1 month ago
I had one in Vietnam in 66 could take the butt off and carry it in my bag when I went into town.My bayonet was different than the one shown in the final model, mine was a cut down .303 great steel. I think the author is wrong the Owen was withdrawn partway through Vietnam When I went back second tour 68 I did not see one.And I went back to the same unit.I had an SLR then & when I went to Saigon or Points north They let me carry a pistol..
18tangles 1 month ago
Can you upload the army instructional vid?? where it was sunk in mud, thrown in water, buried in sand and still fired
topgunexcel 2 months ago
I got to fire one in the 70's. Because the power of our 9mm ammo was reduced so that the 9mm browning didn't blow-up, it made the owen obsolete over night. To fire it was like smooth as silk, easy to aim on it's side-on sights (like the F1 sub machine gun). And easy to operate at all stages.
TheDerbvankillenu 2 months ago
@TheDerbvankillenu The ammo I had in 66 was 1943 so no danger of blowing up. On the way over on the Vernon Sturdee we dumped hundreds of owens into the sea somewhere north of New Guinea. Mine was on the way out bore just about shot out.
18tangles 1 month ago
Owen was in the 2/17th Bat as was my dad.My father said he was something of a loner, not particularly popular & some even said he was a bit of a nutter,(not my dad).But they said it was a bit strange when he was shipped back to OZ.The Owen was better than both the Sten & Thompson.It had a greater range, more accurate & more importantly didn't have to be mollycoddled.It was also one of the cheapest weapons to produce in materials & man hours. Dad didn't know him personally, the opinions hearsay
kanakaken 3 months ago
Back in the 80's, a friend of mine managed to build a replica of an Owen gun using the odd combination of an extremely heavily modified Sten Mk V, a forward grip from a Spitfire Thompson, and a modified Chauchat buttstock.
When I first saw it a few years ago, I thought he'd finally gone senile, but it's a pretty spot on replica (sights and pistol grips are wrong, but that's about it) and to this day it's still the strangest gun I've ever seen.
Thatevilmidget 3 months ago
Hi i was in the ares in the 80/s just missed out. a lot of the older gus swore by it we had the submachine gun 9/mm f1 to give it its full name an aus built version of the pom sterling but whith the mag upright sight on side evidintly the old digs wanted the same set up a good toy but would not want tocarry one for real slr the go and the first owen was 45 but not standard aus caliber
edgiee27 4 months ago
@edgiee27 I remember we had them in the navy into the early 90's.
KG84C 4 months ago
@KG84C I think you had a F1 in the 90s I was still in the Army in 85 and the Owen had long gone.
18tangles 1 month ago
@18tangles Yes, my bad F1, think before posting, Think they were more a development of the Sterling. I vaguely recall the L1A1 bayonet was interchangeable, but that's many years back now. Us techs did not get to use them a real lot, just the SLR.
KG84C 1 month ago
butt ugly
PooPusher007 5 months ago
I shove dicks in boy cops
Airsoft2924 6 months ago
The sights are offset to the left. Much like the Bren .303 LMG of British design. The Owen was an excellent and robust machine pistol. It was heavy though. Odd looking as it was it was undeniably reliable to no end and represents an excellent collectible to anyone who is fortunate enough to snag one on E-bay. LOL. Just kidding. Excellent vintage SMG.
brianl890 7 months ago
Where are the sights?????????
TheKray11 7 months ago
the only thing crapper than a holden comodore
PooPusher007 8 months ago
Imagine if Mr. Owen displayed such determination and technical achievement now. Instead of merely annoying the Army bureaucracy into doing what it should have, he would go to gaol for a very long time. Much longer than a murderer by the way. Still, Australia isn't what it was!!
rmjackaman 8 months ago
If you think about it, having the mag on top makes perfect sense. If you hit the dirt, the bottom mag would raise the gun, not to mention that the mag is relatively fragile. Take the Sten, people hold the mag when carrying it ( I believe because there's isn't another comfortable position ) and doing so jams the gun when fired from the hip.
southwestsearch 8 months ago
I never knew we had australian guns even though im australian
xdloner 8 months ago
@xdloner There are a bunch. Look up AICW, its a beast.
anurism1 8 months ago
How do you compare the Owen gun to the UZI?
dafranx 10 months ago
Comment removed
Twirlyhead 10 months ago
I never seen a gun like that having a magazine on top, in my entire life. That is so beautiful and I think it's genius. Why can't all guns like the UZI have magazines on top, rather than the bottom? Does the Owen gun jams a little, none, or a lot?
dafranx 10 months ago
@dafranx mine never jammed and I had 43 ammo in 66. When I received 64 ammo you could notice the difference.
18tangles 1 month ago
@18tangles The Owens gun never jam, because the magazine is on the top, instead of the bottom like conventional assault guns.
dafranx 1 month ago
@dafranx I know I had one in 66 in Nam. even with 23 yr old ammo.
18tangles 1 month ago
how do you aim? there is a magazine in front of me
HellsingHellsingBR 10 months ago 2
@HellsingHellsingBR The sight is on the side of the weapon
WWIIAustrailianTroop 10 months ago
@WWIIAustrailianTroop doesnt it get inaccurate?
HellsingHellsingBR 9 months ago
@HellsingHellsingBR
The sights are offset. The top-mounted magazine was seen on a few guns in that time; the main advantage is you have gravity working with you for feeding.
chitoryu12 9 months ago
@chitoryu12 does that makes much of a difference? then why most guns have their magazines below?
HellsingHellsingBR 9 months ago
@HellsingHellsingBR
It's not a massive difference, but it helps. Putting the magazine on the bottom is simple logistics; put it where it gets in the way the least.
chitoryu12 9 months ago
@HellsingHellsingBR it was designed as a spraying weapon to create confusion, it was definitely not for accuracy aiming not required :P
mirkthirteen 4 months ago
The digger at 2:32 seems oblivious to the fact that his mates have gone duck hunting ...
Twirlyhead 10 months ago
One extremely ugly (but very effective) gun.
TroubleMan21C 10 months ago
I know it was a good, effective design - but it looks even more like a piece of bad plumbing than the Sten.
Twirlyhead 10 months ago
The picture of the guy in the jungle loading bullets into the Owens Clip is my grandfather.
covey40k 11 months ago
god that owen gun is ugly though...man it's ugly
maciverandy 11 months ago
Lanchester ftw
wrich1162 1 year ago
i enjoyed this vid n just letting u know (if u dont know) the owen gun was created in wollongong nsw australia and even tested on port kembla beach port kembla is just south of wollongong its a very nice place as i live here and my grandfather was friends with evelyn owen
kidFROM2505 1 year ago
I want one of these guns. I want to try to make a pseudo-Owen out of a Sten/Sterling hybrid.
pullnshoot25 1 year ago
@landcruiser151 FYI I think you will find that the Brits did indeed use the Owen during the Malayn conflict .
AUSsMLE 1 year ago
i was disapointed when i found out this is one of few Aussie made guns......
13GTC 1 year ago
I like the owen, but still, I love the Thompson M1928A1 more.
1stmdcap17 1 year ago
@1stmdcap17 The Thompson does have a little bit cooler design, i agree there.
WWIIAustrailianTroop 1 year ago
@WWIIAustrailianTroop The tommy-gun looks cooler... but looks don't count when you've been up to your neck in a PNG swamp for 36 hours and you suddenly need your weapon to work NOW!!
andieslandies 1 year ago
@WWIIAustrailianTroop Thompsons 45 cal is a big round,stop any banzi crazed Japanese,9 mm easier to hold on target,carries further,but doesn't have the brute knock down of the 45
bv141a 1 year ago
I've never read any complaints about this gun, everyone loved it. But there must be something, anything that can be said was not as good as the X3 or it wouldn't have been decommissioned...surely?
tonee127 1 year ago
my grandfather has a very funny story about the owen. seeing as it was so effective in jungle fighting (it didnt clog with mud and the mag didnt catch on bushes as much) it became very popular amongst both Australian and American troops in the paccific(more so than the tompson) it became so popular that the Aussies had to post guards at their armourys and ammo dumps to stop the yanks from 'souveniering' our owen guns during the night, didn't stop em trying though
imagifyer 1 year ago 11
@imagifyer Thats an interesting story! Thanks
-Matt
WWIIAustrailianTroop 1 year ago
It was also the preferred SMG of the (NZ) Southern Independent Commando due to it's reliability. The NZ government order was for a version in .38 (I'm not sure why) but in praise of the Owen, the unit's official history states...
"The Owen gun was as simple as a toy, and it could stand plenty of the mud which was unavoidable. Besides this, it was lighter and more accurate [than the Thompson]; its ·38 calibre was more than sufficient for jungle distances."
camfairweather 5 months ago
@WWIIAustrailianTroop It's "Australian Army", not "Australain Army" in the intro, makes it look a bit bogan.
KG84C 4 months ago
@imagifyer really?
didnt know that.
thats so awesome
MAKER6450 8 months ago
@imagifyer thats total bullshit...americans used the thompson to great effect. i guarantee you the thompson is a better weapon AND it's chamered in ass kicking .45 cal!
maciverandy 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@maciverandy Why would he make it up retard?!
Ultimatepanzer 7 months ago
@imagifyer i have a funny story aswell. my mates grandfather before he died, told us that he served in the royal hussars and at one point was stationed in north africa/middle east during the war. the locals then started stealing fuel from the british dumps so the gurkhas who were stationed with the hussars were sent to find them and bring them to justice, anyways my mates gramps woke up one morning to find the gurkhas had skinned the locals who were stealing fuel. not funny at all really.
tommothedog 7 months ago
@imagifyer Racist much?
TheKray11 7 months ago
@imagifyer The gun did have good grades for reliablity and the u.s did order some. The statement that more popular than the Thompson in the pacific is anecdotal at best. Most of the U.S. troops were not in the same battle-space as the Australians. There were 50,000 Owen guns built for the war and there have over almost 600,000 M1928's were built during the war, that's not counting how many thompson m1's and m1a1's were produced and issued near the end. More popular in New Guinea, perhaps.
SergeantDizzle00 7 months ago
@imagifyer americans didnt use the owen.
88pie88 6 months ago
@88pie88 yeah they did. They ordered thousands of them towards the end of the war because it was a much more reliable weapon than the Thompson in the difficult conditions in South east Asia. They didn't really use it much though because the war ended too soon.
OfficialArma 5 months ago
@imagifyer well the yanks did try to take our owen my grandfather and other diggers used to snatch there sausages when the supply ships came
kilo12ification 4 months ago
true, the Brits never used the Owen, only Australia did
imagifyer 1 year ago
pretty snazy gun
t1t296 1 year ago
the owen was used by the UK in Vietnam could you imaging some private designing a gun today it couldn't happen
landcruiser151 1 year ago
@landcruiser151 the UK was in vietnam? :S
ahoyhoy79 1 year ago
@landcruiser151 it wasn't ever used by the UK, Australia served in vietnam without british support, we were the sole producers and operators of the Owen
imagifyer 1 year ago
damn this is an awesome gun i didnt even know about it till a few days ago. its look wicked with the bayonet!!
rippinreffers 1 year ago
Its like, Half Tommy, Half Bren.XD
aphsknight74 1 year ago
seems like a crappy gun for aiming
bleushift 1 year ago
@bleushift It's sights are off to the side of the magazine like the Bren gun.
Tux3d0 1 year ago
plus if ur laying in the gras enemy close the magazine sticks out
hmmm what would that be?
bleushift 1 year ago
this was like the australian sten. but much better and nice to aim and reliable. evelyn owen is with others inventors one of the best.best of best.
kjsh987 2 years ago
This gun was ahead of its time!! This amazing SMG was one of the best SMG's of ww2. The look of the gun also looked and performed great,very reliable and simple
fpvshitsonhsv 2 years ago
@fpvshitsonhsv, The sad thing is Evelyn got paid SFA to what he should have been paid, & to think with all the BS+RedTape (how we love that) it took nearly 3 yrs before the troops got their hands on it; they prefered the Owen over all others...they hated the Sten & Austen, more suited for Europe but not PNG!
Built by Lysaght industries in Sydney, Owen died in 48 or 49, he was 38yrs old...drank himself to death. He had a sawmill but he didn't have a business mind but he could invent! RIP: E.O
anzac2404 2 years ago
Very true yes it was the gun of choice by far!
fpvshitsonhsv 2 years ago
Comment removed
shotfirer1972 1 year ago
@shotfirer1972 Wow thats very interesting! I would love to see them, far from where i live though lol
WWIIAustrailianTroop 1 year ago
@WWIIAustrailianTroop, WTF....I just got in here to send a reply to Shotfirer1972 & some suck-hole has pulled the pin on it....What The?!
I don't what the big deal about his comment was, certainly didn't offend me but yeah, it would have been great to see, thanks for the info.
Cheers to all:
anzac2404 1 year ago
hope they add this to CoD7 :)
DALLASMCMANUS 2 years ago
wow nice gun but it reminds me of the american tommy gun
8000jk 2 years ago
maybye they will put this gun in cod7 seeing how it was in vietnam 2
spyrodude12 2 years ago
@spyrodude12 That all repends on if they have the Australian Forces in or or not.
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
@spyrodude12 Go away with your ugly call of duty
Tux3d0 1 year ago
@Tux3d0 make me
spyrodude12 1 year ago
this gun didn't get the attention it deserved, it turned out to be more reliable than other allied sub machinguns in service at the time, but the british had a superiority complex against australians and refused to adopt it.
ect301fps 2 years ago
@ect301fps, It was also due in part to some of the pompus bastards in our ADF that insisted that it had to be British made! My next door neighbour was up in PNG during the war, he said the Sten & the Austen were crap...they either went back to the .303 or got a Tommy BUT when the Owen arrived on the scene it changed everything for the infantrymen.
I also learned 10yrs back from a bloke that was in 1armour, that they made 5 types of the Owen, the mark1's were the best...so he said.
Cheers
anzac2404 2 years ago
When you consider that Oz is on the bottom of the globe you can understand why the Diggers put the magazine on the wrong side of the gun.
1196raplee 2 years ago
and I thought that the sten machine gun was weird for the position of the cartridge , the owen won first prize, on the top? I wonder how it feel to use the sights....
pairostrike 2 years ago
nice photo's australian troop. If you want to check out an airsoft version of the OMC then check out scoutthe doggie on here and look at rare ww2 guns as I had one custom made for a ww2 australian look.
jarrodfinn1 2 years ago
okay. thanks =)
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
LOL song from last of mohicans.. great movie
ErickAvanaq 2 years ago
yeah :)
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
nice song u have chosen... and one strange gun...
egermanicus 2 years ago
my favorite gun :)
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
The mag had no spring!!!! That's so interesting and simple. I wonder how it compairs with the sten and mp 40...looks like Owen was the aussie Kalashnikov...
grabac9 2 years ago
very basic weopon
MAKER6450 2 years ago
very basic but very accurate, very tough and very deadly
irishgodfatherchris 2 years ago
and very rare!
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
what other guns have aussies made?
MAKER6450 2 years ago
I think they used the Austen SMG but i don't think they made it. I think the British did. The Aussies made an airplane in WWII though! It was called the "Boomerang".
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
Did we the the water cooled vickers machine gun too??
hort87 2 years ago
there not rare, you can make one with common tools. they were used in vietnam also.
88pie88 2 years ago
....and thats very true.
MAKER6450 2 years ago
it looks like a tommy gun
whowantsabighug 2 years ago
only the first prototype the third which is what we used in the wars had a top feeding cartridge
had no spring the bullets would fall into the chamber instead of being pushed in so it never ever jammed it was impossible since it was top loader it was ideal for jungle warfare because the cartridge wasnt stuck in in the mud like all the others. the owen was considered much more superior to the thompson, type 100, bren or the phss
AlienFirefox 2 years ago
That weapon I have read had only 3 moving parts , great weapon
1776rep 2 years ago
where can i get one lol
krashdown102 2 years ago
Parts kit were about 200.00 but now on gun broker I seen ONE go for 800.00, neat old weopon , If any more are hiden away in other countrys if they come to the U.S. now they have to come with no barrels
1776rep 2 years ago
From my humble opinion, the best damn SMG of WWII
lonewanderer77 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
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AmericanGIProduction 2 years ago
Lord & master of the Jungle guns that was (:
How ever from what I read it sucked in Korea : /
ForgottenFriend88 2 years ago
Sub machine guns are for fairly close range fighting. That`s why it was as you say "Lord and master of the Jungle guns." But with mostly longer range fighting in Korea it is no surprise. That`s not what it was designed for. The Japanese were invading through the Pacific and it did it`s job. Horses for courses. A higher calibre sub machine gun at long range wouldn`t be too fun either due to the lower accuracy being compounded over distance.
malgoajoe 2 years ago
I have always loved british and british commonwealth nation weapons. The SMLE IMO was the toughest bolt action rifle ever made.
evan9201 2 years ago
I did an Australian history subject at the University of Wollongong in 2003 or 2004 with one "Timothy Owen," grandson of the inventor of this weapon. Isn't there a story that this weapon won a test day where several different kinds of rifle were being tested for service in WWII? The Owen gun was the only gun that passed the test, but because of a prior business deal, an inferior rifle was instead issued to the troops (US troops was it?)
KaneMortlock 2 years ago
The U.S. made their own guns. they didnt need other counry's weapons. The Owen gun was replaced a more accurate smg, i forget the name.....of the replacement gun..
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
it was Lithgow arms f1 smg,made from slr grips and some other parts,difficult to control without lots of practice.
friedmeat 2 years ago
??? u.s. troops used the austen and own in large numbers in the pacific.. i think about 7000-- or more ownes were issued to american troops...
it was the prefered jungle fighting weapon.. although it was.. and is .. from expreience not very east to shoot accuratly. and definalty not accurate like the tommy gun.. but then the tommy will conk out with alittle bit of dust in it too..
jiggaboohoo 2 years ago
I think the owen replaced the austin SMG, basicly a sten but made a little different.
evan9201 2 years ago
My (long gone) mum was a Wollongong girl and knew the Owen boys before WWII. She said she went out with one for a short while, and said they (the boys) were always blowing up chook houses and getting into similar mischief.
slowfinger65 2 years ago
wow! intersting story! :) thats cool info
WWIIAustrailianTroop 2 years ago
haha lmao, great story....they were checky buggers and i think thats what made them so damn great.
RESPECT.
MAKER6450 2 years ago
nice gun! well australian soldiers!
what is the name from the song?
is from forgetten hope 42 ?
MaxPayne719 3 years ago
Thanks! You know, i' am not really sure what the officilal name is. It is in XWW2 for BF2 and also in Forgotten Hope. Im not sure what the name is tho, i just call it the 'xww2 theme" I can send it to you if you would like
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
it looks like a paintball gun!
WPANZER7 3 years ago
lol
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
nice vid
slayerrat 3 years ago 3
Thanks man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
yeah man...great vid (:
Lenin924 3 years ago
thank you
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
This is great!
FLPatrick 3 years ago 6
thanks!
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
you always make great video. i enjoyed this one.got to know a little about the rigle. you also picked a great song to go with the video. great work.
wizart49 3 years ago 5
Thank you so much :D
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago
Very educational video! Nice pictures....
waffenss088 3 years ago 5
Thanks man!!
WWIIAustrailianTroop 3 years ago