CIA Deer Gun

I thought this was an interesting pistol. The original OSS Liberator pistol built during WWII was chambered in 45 ACP while the CIA Deer gun made for Vietnam was chambered in 9mm.

Found it here where all sorts of fire arms for sale at James Julia.

Details below:

CIA DEER GUN CLANDESTINE SINGLE SHOT PISTOL. SN NSN. Cal.9mm. 1-7/8" blued steel bbl. Single shot. Manufactured around 1964 as an updated version of the famous Liberator pistols which were dropped behind enemy lines in WWII. The "Deer" gun was designed to be dropped in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war. The guns never made it to Vietnam and the CIA denies their existence. It is rumored that the guns were destroyed and only a handful survived. The frame is one piece cast aluminum with raised checkering on the grip area which was hollow to house a few extra rounds of ammunition. A groove runs down a ramp on top for sighting. The barrel unscrews for loading and removing the empty casing. A cocking knob was pulled until cocked. The aluminum trigger featured no trigger guard. Included with the pistol are a set of orig engineering drawings which may be orig blueprints. Copies of the orig instructions are also included, which show how to use the gun against enemy with a hammer and sickle on his sleeve.

OSS LIBERATOR PISTOL. SN NSN. Cal. 45 ACP. Small, compact single shot pistol manufactured in 1942 by the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. The pistols are made of stamped sheet metal, spot welded together with a 4" stepped smooth bore bbl, crude fixed sights with a simple striker firing mechanism that has a heavy zinc striker head. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services) was the clandestine predecessor to today's CIA and the primary American agency running agents and disinformation programs against the Axis powers during the war. They came up with the idea to produce a cheap but effective single shot pistol to drop behind the lines to partisans to be used to obtain better quality weapons from the enemy. In May of 1942 the Government signed a contract with General Motors for 1 million of these pistols which General Motors was able to complete in just about four weeks at a cost of $1.72 each. The pistols were then packaged in a waxed, waterproof carton with a cartoon-like wordless instruction sheet, 10-rds of ammunition and a small dowel to be used as an ejector for the empty cases. Most of the entire production was shipped to England and the Pacific but little is known of their actual use. It is reported that most of the pieces shipped to England were never used and after the war were melted down for scrap. Obviously any that were dropped behind enemy lines were probably all lost and with the destruction of the shipments to England, very few survive today, especially complete units.