Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive U.S. WWII Harrington & Richardson Reising Model 50 .45 caliber display submachine gun assembled from original components on a permanently non-firing dummy receiver. It is complete with an original parkerized 12 round magazine and a particularly desirable U.S.M.C. marked khaki web sling manufactured by BOYT and dated 1943. The Reising is one of the more distinctive American submachine gun designs of WWII and is closely associated with early wartime use by the United States Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard.

The .45 Reising submachine gun was manufactured by Harrington & Richardson (H&R) Arms Company in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, and was designed and patented by Eugene Reising in 1940. The three versions of the weapon were the Model 50, the folding stock Model 55, and the semiautomatic Model 60 rifle. Over 100,000 Reisings were ordered during World War II, and were initially used by the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard, though some were shipped to Canadian, Soviet, and other allied forces to fight the Axis powers.

This is a very rare Reising Model 50 non-firing display submachine gun, built from original parts and reassembled onto a beautiful inert BATF compliant non-firing dummy receiver. This receiver was made using the front 1" barrel bushing of an original receiver, combined with an 8" long solid steel dummy receiver rear, which is completely inert and was never part of a functional weapon. As such this is 100% legal to own without a license of any kind.

It is finished in the correct gray "parkerized" phosphate finish, and comes complete with an original sling and 12 round parkerized magazine, which will be deactivated where required. It has the correct and intact rear sight present, as well as the sliding safety / fire selector on the rear right, though it moves back and forth easily as there is nothing for it to interface with anymore. The trigger is present but does not move back and forth much at all.

It has the correct 14 fin barrel, though we do not know if it was deactivated when the display gun was assembled, as we cannot see the chamber. We can however see that it still does have rifling present, though it is worn and shows past oxidation. The wooden stock is in lovely condition, and it really looks fantastic, possibly being an unissued arsenal replacement. 

Condition is very good, looking like a gun that saw some use during the war, but then was relegated to second line service, as with almost all of the Reising M50s. There is even still a portion of the original receiver markings on the barrel bushing, though it is just MOD. There are proof markings present on the top of the barrel, and the magazine retains full markings as well.

The display gun comes with a very desirable original khaki web sling, stamped U.S.M.C. and marked by the maker:

BOYT
-43-

The sling has the correct brass end tabs and blued keeper, and the snap has a visible Klikit logo, completely consistent with known examples of these rare slings. It shows some light oxidation on the steel slider, and there is also some staining to the webbing.

Condition overall is very good. The combination of service wear to the original components and the excellent stock gives the display gun the appearance of a weapon that saw wartime or subsequent service before being withdrawn and eventually converted into a display piece. The original Model 50 components, 14 fin barrel, marked magazine, and especially the 1943 dated U.S.M.C. BOYT sling make this a particularly strong display example.

For the collector of U.S. WWII small arms, Marine Corps equipment, or non-firing display weapons, this Reising Model 50 has considerable appeal. We have handled very few examples, and the combination of an original component set, correct Model 50 configuration, original magazine, and clearly marked U.S.M.C. / BOYT / -43- sling makes this an especially attractive representation of one of America's less commonly encountered WWII submachine guns.

The Reising submachine gun was innovative for its time, and in comparison to its main rival, the famous Thompson Model 1928 submachine gun, it possessed similar firepower, better accuracy, excellent balance, a lighter weight, plus a much lower cost and greater ease of manufacture. But the poor combat performance of the Reising contrasted with favorable combat and law enforcement use of the Thompson forever mired the weapon in controversy. Reising was an assistant to firearm inventor John M. Browning, and in this role, he contributed to the final design of the US .45 Colt M1911 pistol. Reising then designed a number of commercial rifles and pistols on his own, when in 1938, he turned his attention to designing a submachine gun as threats of war rapidly grew in Europe.

Two years later he submitted his completed design to the Harrington & Richardson Arms Company (H&R) in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was accepted, and in March 1941, H&R started manufacturing the Model 50 submachine gun. Months later, production began on the Model 55 (identical to the Model 50 other than having a folding wire buttstock, no compensator, and a barrel half an inch shorter); and the Model 60 semiautomatic rifle that also resembled a Model 50, but had a 7.75 inch longer barrel without cooling fins or compensator.

After the outbreak of WWII, shortages of the Thompson Machine Gun in the Pacific led to the USMC to look for alternatives, and the much cheaper Model 50 Reising proved to be an attractive alternative, on paper at least. Unfortunately, the tighter tolerances of the design caused it to quickly develop issues when used in jungle warfare in the Pacific Theater. The weapon did not deal well with dirt or moisture, and need to be kept very clean to function correctly. Another serious issue was that H&R's manufacturing tolerances were still not up to the level of interchangeable parts, with many components still hand fit at the factory. Marines would usually clean their weapons as a group, where parts might be swapped at times. This wouldn't work with the Reising, leading to increased cleaning times.

Further issues resulted from the magazine design, which was originally a 20 round "staggered" column "single feed" design, which also did not handle dirt well, or any type of damage to the feed lips. The solution was to replace it with a 12 round single stack design, which while functional, seriously reduced the amount of ammunition the Marines could carry.

When the M1 Carbine Arrived in the field, it quickly proved itself superior to the needs in the Pacific Theater when compared to the M50 Reising, as well as the Thompson M1928A1. It was made the primary weapon, and the Reising was withdrawn from Fleet Marine Service in 1943, and assigned to stateside guard and ship detachment duties, where the issues with dirt would be much less of a liability. They were also sent to countries as Lend-Lease and used in areas unlikely to deal with the dirt and corrosion issues. When their service was finished most were scrapped, which has resulted in Reising Submachine guns of any type being very rare.