View source for Owen gun

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Owen gun
| image              = CompletedOwenGun1942.png
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Photograph of the Owen gun, 1942
| origin             = Australia
| type               = [[Submachine gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          = YES
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1942–1971
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| wars               = {{plainlist|
*[[World War II]]
*[[Indonesian National Revolution]]
*[[Malayan Emergency]]
*[[Korean War]]
*[[Vietnam War]]
*[[Laotian Civil War]]
*[[Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C216965|title=CAPTURED INDONESIAN INFILTRATOR WITH HIS AUSTRALIAN WORLD WAR 2 9MM OWEN MACHINE CARBINE|website=awm.gov.au}}</ref>
*[[Sino-Vietnamese War]]<ref name="浴火重生——对越自卫反击战对我国轻武器发展的">{{cite web|title=浴火重生——对越自卫反击战对我国轻武器发展的|url= https://m.fx361.com/news/2014/0923/3130795.html |date=23 Sep 2014|access-date=5 Aug 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213100317/https://m.fx361.com/news/2014/0923/3130795.html|archive-date=February 13, 2023}}</ref>
*[[Rhodesian Bush War]]}}
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = Private [[Evelyn Owen]]<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| design_date        = 1931–1938
| manufacturer       = [[Lysaght (Australian company)|Lysaght’s Works]]<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 1942–1944
| number             = 45,000<ref name=Jane's1977>{{cite book |last= Archer|first= Dennis|year= 1977|title= Jane's Infantry Weapons 1977|page= 67|isbn= 978-0-354-00549-4}}</ref>
| variants           = <!-- General specifications -->
| spec_label         = 
| weight             = {{convert|4.23|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} without magazine<ref name=Jane's1977/><br/>
{{convert|4.86|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} loaded<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| length             = {{convert|813|mm|in|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| part_length        = {{convert|250|mm|in|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}<ref name=Jane's1977/>
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = [[9×19mm Parabellum]]
| cartridge_weight   = 
| caliber            = 
| barrels            = 
| action             = [[Blowback (arms)|Blowback]], open bolt
| rate               = 700 rounds/min<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| velocity           = {{convert|366|m/s|ft/s|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| range              = {{convert|123|m|yd}}
| max_range          = {{convert|200|m|yd}}<ref name=Jane's1977/>
| feed               = 33-round [[detachable magazine]]<ref name=AWMmag>{{cite web |title=Owen Mk 2/3 Submachine Gun Magazine |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C308145 |website=awm.gov.au |publisher=Australian War Memorial |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref>
| sights             = [[Iron sights]]
}}

The '''Owen gun''', known officially as the '''Owen machine carbine''', was an Australian [[submachine gun]] that was designed by [[Evelyn Owen]] in 1938. The Owen was the only entirely Australian-designed and constructed service submachine gun of [[World War II]]. It was used by the [[Australian Army]] from 1942 until 1971.

==History==
[[File:Evelyn Owen.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Evelyn Owen]], {{circa|1941}}]]
The Owen gun was created by [[Australian Army]] private [[Evelyn Owen]] in 1931, who finalised the design in 1938, when he was around 23.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Private Evelyn Ernest Owen|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P8479|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Australian War Memorial|language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326222615/https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P8479|archive-date=March 26, 2023}}</ref> Owen submitted the design to the Australian military, but was rejected, as they were waiting for the British [[Sten]] to finish development.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Huard|first=Paul|date=2019-04-20|title=Meet the Owen: The Weirdest Submachine Gun to Fire a Shot|url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-owen-weirdest-submachine-gun-fire-shot-53492|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=The National Interest|language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222011034/https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-owen-weirdest-submachine-gun-fire-shot-53492|archive-date=December 22, 2022}}</ref> By May 1940, Owen had enlisted in the [[Second Australian Imperial Force]], and was set to deploy to the Middle East, but after speaking about his design to the manager of a local plant of [[Lysaght (Australian company)|Lysaght]], who had an interest in the design, Owen was transferred to the Central Inventions Board.<ref name=":0" /> In June 1941, Owen was discharged from the army and began to manufacture the Owen gun. After conducting tests in September that year, the Owen was found to be more accurate and reliable than competing designs such as the Sten and [[Thompson submachine gun|Thompson]].<ref name=":0" />

===Production and use===
[[File:Owen Guns Christmas Parade.jpg|left|thumb|Owen guns on a truck during a Christmas parade in Sydney, 1942]]
The Owen went into production at the [[Lysaght (Australian company)|John Lysaght]] factories at Port Kembla and Newcastle. Between March 1942 and February 1943, Lysaght's produced 28,000 Owen guns. However, the initial batch of ammunition turned out to be the wrong type and 10,000 guns could not be supplied with ammunition. Once again the government overrode military bureaucracy, and took the ammunition through the final production stages and into the hands of Australian troops, at that time fighting [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]ese forces in [[New Guinea]]. Approximately 45,000 Owens were produced from 1942 to 1944.<ref name=ownbrd>{{cite journal|last=Bardwell|first=James O.|title=The Owen Gun|journal=Machine Guns News|year=1995|issue=4}}</ref> Contemporary sources vary as to the cost of production during wartime, with some suggesting that the basic cost was as little as [[Australian pound|A£]]8 (US$24); a 1945 issue of ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' claimed that the Owen cost US$30 (A£12).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=p98DAAAAMBAJ&dq=true&pg=PA75 "Submachine Gun Becomes Pistol by Detaching Butt."] ''Popular Mechanics'', November 1945, p. 75.</ref>
[[File:Owen Gun (AWM 018320).jpg|thumb|Australian soldiers armed with Owen guns in [[New Britain]], April 1945]]

The Owen gun proved popular with soldiers in the Pacific.<ref name=":1" /> New Zealanders fighting in the [[Guadalcanal]] and [[Solomon Islands]] campaigns swapped their [[Thompson submachine guns|Thompsons]] for Owens, as they found Owen guns to be more reliable.<ref>{{cite book|last=Larsen|first=Colin R.|chapter-url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2IP-Comm-t1-body1-d13.html|chapter=Chapter XII – Guadalcanal|title=Pacific Commandos: New Zealanders and Fijians in Action. A History of Southern Independent Commando and First Commando Fiji Guerrillas|publisher=Reed Publishing|year=1946|location=Wellington|pages=93–103|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517062644/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2IP-Comm-t1-body1-d13.html|archive-date= May 17, 2023}}</ref> During the gun's life, its reliability earned it the nickname "[[Digger (soldier)|Digger]]'s Darling" by Australian troops,<ref name="qldgovt">{{cite web|title=The 'Digger's Darling'|url=https://www.defenceindustries.qld.gov.au/defence-industries/about-us-diq/defence-trivia.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027144907/http://www.defenceindustries.qld.gov.au/defence-industries/about-us-diq/defence-trivia.html|archive-date=27 October 2018|access-date=9 September 2018|publisher=Queensland Government}}</ref> and many of the Australian soldiers who had used the Owen came back to personally thank the Lysaght team as they believed the Owen had saved their lives.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Boleyn|first=Doug|date=January 2017|title=Nomination of OWEN SUBMACHINE GUN for an Engineering Heritage National Marker|url=https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nomination-title/HRP.Owen%20Gun.Nomination.V1.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-10|website=Engineering Heritage Sydney|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112004105/https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nomination-title/HRP.Owen%20Gun.Nomination.V1.pdf|archive-date= November 12, 2022}}</ref> General [[Douglas MacArthur]] considered equipping American troops in the Pacific with the Owen.<ref name=":1" /> 

The Owen was later used by Australian troops in the [[Korean War|Korean]] and [[Vietnam War]]s,<ref name=":1" /> particularly the scouts in infantry [[Section (military unit)|section]]s. It remained a standard weapon of the Australian Army until 1971,<ref name=":1" /> when it was replaced by the [[F1 SMG|F1 submachine gun]] and, later, the [[M16 rifle|M16]].<ref name=qldgovt/>

==Design==
The Owen has a simple blowback design, firing from an open bolt. It was designed to be fired either from the shoulder or the hip. It is easily recognisable, owing to its unconventional appearance, including the top-mounted magazine, and the side-mounted sight required to allow the firer to aim past it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bishop|first=Chris|title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II|publisher=Barnes & Noble|year=1998|pages=250}}</ref> The placement of the magazine allows gravity to assist the magazine spring in pushing cartridges down to the breech, which improves feeding reliability. Another unusual feature is the separate compartment inside the receiver, which isolates the small-diameter bolt from its retracting handle by means of a small bulkhead. This prevents dirt and mud from jamming the bolt, and makes the Owen a highly reliable weapon. The top-mounted magazine meant that if mud entered the weapon, it would either fall out on its own, or be pushed out by the magazine spring.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mellor|first=David|title=Australia in the War of 1939-1945|publisher=Australian War Memorial|year=1958|series=4|volume=5: The Role of Science and Industry|pages=329–330}}</ref> When tested, the Owen gun was able to continue firing despite being dipped in mud and drenched with sand, while a [[Sten|Sten gun]] and a [[Thompson submachine gun|Thompson]] also tested stopped functioning at once.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haycock|first1=R.G.|last2=Ross|first2=A.T.|date=1987|title=The Australian Owen Gun Scandal, 1940–45|journal=War & Society|volume=5|issue=2|pages=43, 48|doi=10.1179/106980487790305076 }}</ref> In jungle warfare, where both mud and sand were frequent problems, the Owen gun was highly regarded by the soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barber|first1=Graeme|title=Owen and Austen – The WW 2 'Aussie' Machine Carbine Story|url=http://gunshows.co.nz/wordpress/167/|website=Mainland Arms|access-date=24 July 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125133434/https://www.gunshows.co.nz/wordpress/167/|archive-date= January 25, 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Field stripped Owen.jpg|thumb|A [[Field strip|field stripped]] Owen.]]
To facilitate cleaning, the ejector was built into the magazine, rather than the body of the gun. This allowed the barrel to be removed rapidly, by pulling up a spring-loaded plunger in front of the magazine housing. After removing the barrel, the bolt and return spring are removed in a forward direction, completely dismantling the gun. Like the Sten, the Owen had a non-folding wire buttstock, but also had pistol grips like the [[Austen submachine gun|Austen]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Forgotten Weapons|title=The Diggers' Dismay: Austen Mk I SMG|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf6XALbTnik |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/qf6XALbTnik |archive-date=2021-12-21|url-status=live|website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Two horseshoe magazines were constructed in the field, of 60 and 72 rounds. Little information exists as to the success of these experiments.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-weapons/omc.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110313002538/http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-weapons/omc.htm |title= History of the Owen Machine Carbine (OMC) |publisher= diggerhistory.info |archive-date= 13 March 2011 |access-date= 19 November 2012}}</ref>

In 2004, an underground weapons factory was seized in [[Melbourne|Melbourne, Australia]], yielding, among other things, three [[suppressor|suppressed]] copies of the Owen submachine gun and parts to make six more. These had magazines inserted underneath rather than overhead, and were suspected of having been built for sale to local [[Gangs in Australia|gangs]] involved in the [[illegal drug trade]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/22/1090464799535.html |title=Submachine-guns found in weapons factory |author=Brendan Nicholson, Daniel Ziffer |date=23 July 2004 | location=Melbourne | work=The Age}}</ref>

During [[Operation Ironside (2021)|Operation Ironside]] in 2021, an Owen submachine gun, magazines and ammunition suited for the firearm were found alongside a plastic fuel can containing petrol in a parkland on Gleeson Crescent at Rostrevor by STAR Group and Dog Operations Unit officers of the [[South Australia Police]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/police-find-machine-gun-in-rostrevor-park/news-story/9e421f80b16d6f7369d5811cd786e516|title=Machine gun found in park at Rostrevor|access-date=Jan 24, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/sa-police-test-owen-gun-found-as-part-of-operation-ironside-20210609-p57zkt.html|title=SA Police test Owen gun found as part of Operation Ironside|date=Jun 9, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/operation-ironside-south-australia-arrests-details-revealed/fcef74cb-16ec-4058-88d1-ef457c1f6375|title=Military machine gun among weapons seized in SA Ironside bust|date=Jun 9, 2021}}</ref>

==Users==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
*{{AUS}}<ref name="mcnab2002">{{cite book |last=McNab |first=Chris|title=20th Century Military Uniforms |year=2002 |edition=2nd |publisher=Grange Books |location=Kent |isbn=978-1-84013-476-6}}</ref>
*{{IDN}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Australia's adversaries: Relations with Indonesia during the confrontation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804085058/https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/conflicts/australian-involvement-south-east-asian-conflicts/indonesian-confrontation-5|url=https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/conflicts/australian-involvement-south-east-asian-conflicts/indonesian-confrontation-5|archive-date=4 August 2017|website=anzacportal.dva.gov.au|publisher=[[Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia)|Department of Veterans' Affairs]]}}</ref>
*{{LAO}}<ref>Kenneth Conboy and Simon McCouaig, ''The War in Laos 1960-75'', Men-at-arms series 217, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1989, {{ISBN|9780850459388}}, p. 36.</ref>
*{{NLD}}<ref>{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Scarlata |title=Small Arms of the Koninlijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, Part 2 |publisher=Shotgun News |date=20 April 2009|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Small+arms+of+the+Koninlijk+Nederlands-Indisch+Leger%3A+Part+2-from...-a0198849501|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218142828/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Small+arms+of+the+Koninlijk+Nederlands-Indisch+Leger%3a+Part+2-from...-a0198849501|archive-date= December 18, 2022}}</ref>
*{{flag|New Zealand}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Owen submachine gun|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/57783|website=collections.tepapa.govt.nz|publisher=[[Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523041451/https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/57783|archive-date=May 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>''This is the SAS: A Pictorial History of the Special Air Service Regiment'', 1982, p.41{{ISBN|0853685223}}</ref>
*{{flag|Rhodesia}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Owen Gun|url=http://www.nazarian.no/wep.asp?id=594&group_id=4&country_id=268&lang=0|url-status=live|website=Nazarian's Gun Recognition Guide|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922092517/http://www.nazarian.no/wep.asp?id=594&group_id=4&country_id=268&lang=0|archive-date=September 22, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Diamond|first=Jon|title=Australia's Owen Gun|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/12/australias-owen-gun/|url-status=live|website=Warfare History Network|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523041958/https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/12/australias-owen-gun/|archive-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>
*{{GBR}}<ref>{{cite web|title= The Malyan Emergency 1948-1960|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212402|website=iwm.org.uk|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729100009/https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212402|archive-date=July 29, 2022}}</ref>

==Engineering heritage award==
The gun received an Engineering Heritage National Marker from [[Engineers Australia]] as part of its [[Engineers Australia#Engineering Heritage Recognition Program|Engineering Heritage Recognition Program]].<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/owen-submachine-gun
| title = Overland Telegraph, Adelaide to Darwin, 1872-
| publisher = Engineers Australia
| access-date = 2020-05-07
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322180456/https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/owen-submachine-gun
|archive-date=March 22, 2023
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''The Owen gun'', 1991, Wayne Wardman {{ISBN|978-0731603657}}
* ''The Owen gun files: An Australian wartime controversy'', 1994, Kevin Smith {{ISBN|978-0908031542}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Owen gun}}

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_3AoDf7CeE Local Boy Saves Nation: The Australian Owen SMG]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20230404063659/https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2021/10/29/owen-guns/ Service Tests of Modern Sub Machine Guns’ (1941) and other Historic Films on the Owen Gun (1940s)] Hunter Living Histories, University of Newcastle
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMSRMTPGm8 Kokoda SMG prototypes]

{{WW2 Brit Comm Infantry Guns}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen Submachine Gun}}
[[Category:Simple blowback firearms]]
[[Category:Submachine guns of Australia]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Australia]]
[[Category:World War II submachine guns]]
[[Category:9mm Parabellum submachine guns]]
[[Category:Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942]]