M50 Reising file photo [12046]

M50 Reising Submachine Gun

Country of OriginUnited States
TypeSubmachine Gun
Caliber11.460 mm
Capacity12 rounds
Length959.000 mm
Barrel Length279.000 mm
Weight3.100 kg
Rate of Fire550 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity280 m/s

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe celebrated adventure novelist, Jack London, supposedly once muttered: "If I was King, the worse punishment I could inflict on my enemies would be to banish them to the Solomons".

It is not really surprising therefore that the Reising sub-machine gun should have gained such a poor reputation, for clearly it had never been designed or tested in such dreadful and humid conditions as those encounted by the US Marine Paratroopers and Raiders on Guadacanal.

The Reising gun was designed and developed by noted gun inventor Eugene Reising. It was paterned in 1940 and manufactured by the old gun-making firm of Harrington and Richardson of Worcester, Massachusetts.

It was introduced into service at a time when supply of Thompsons could not keep up with demand, and the M3 'Grease Gun' had not yet been invented. As such it was a wartime expedient.

The Reising came in two models-The M50 with a wooden stock and Cutts compensator (invented by Robert M. Cutts Sr and his son Robert M. Cutts Jr) which reduced the upward muzzle climb from recoil. The other model was the M55 (Paratroopers version) with a folding metal-wire shoulder stock, a shortened barrel and no compensator.

Approximately 100,000 Reising guns were manufactured between 1940 and 1942, with small numbers being supplied to both Great Britain and the Soviet Union. It was withdrawn from front line service in 1943 but continued to be used for Guard Duty at stations within the United States. ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Dec 2007

M50 Reising Submachine Gun Interactive Map

Photographs

US Marine holding M55 Reising folding-stock (left) and M50 Reising (right) submachine guns, Marine Corps Base Quantico, near Triangle, Virginia, United States, date unknownUS Marines in training at Marine Corps Base Quantico, near Triangle, Virginia, United States with M55 Reising folding-stock (left) and M50 Reising (right) submachine guns, date unknownUnited States Coast Guardsman with M50 Reising submachine gun and dog on a beach in the United States, circa 1941-1945US Marine code talkers on Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Dec 1943
See all 6 photographs of M50 Reising Submachine Gun



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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
6 Dec 2009 05:53:46 PM

American Reising Model 50 Sub-machinegun
designed by Eugene Reising in 1940.
Was used by U.S. Marines in the Pacific, it
was an ingenious design which fired from a
closed bolt, but complicated and proved unsuitable for combat.
The U.S. Secret Service used the weapon during World War II.
2. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
16 Dec 2009 05:54:14 PM

What is a Submachine gun, Machine gun and
Assault Rifle.

Submachine guns fires pistol caliber ammunition.
Example: The Heckler & Koch MP5 Submachine gun fires 9mm pistol caliber ammo.


Machine guns fire rifle caliber ammunition.
Example: The US M-60 machine gun, and its variants fire 7.62mm NATO rifle caliber ammo

Assault Rifles: fire intermediate caliber
ammunition that's between pistol and rifle
caliber ammunition, meaning they are not a
full power cartridge.

Example: The Russian Kalashnikov AK-47 fires 7.62x39 cartidge, that is much shorter than
a full power 7.62x54 cartidge used in the
Russian PK GPMG/General Purpose Machine Gun.

The US M-16 and its variants use the NATO
5.56x45 cartidge.
The M-60 GPMG/General Purpose Machine Gun and its variants fire the 7.62x51 cartidge.

The M-60 known to Vietnam Veterans as the
"Pig" was the standard General Purpose Machine Gun, but with any automatic weapon
you have to use 'short bursts' this keeps the barrel from over heating. rate of fire
550rpm / weight 23 lbs.
The M-60 has been replaced with the M-249
5.56mm SAW/Squad Automatic Weapon.
3. Anonymous says:
17 Feb 2010 11:48:16 AM

Actually the M-60 was replaced by the M-240 MG that fires the same round the M-60 did.
4. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
1 May 2010 08:54:57 PM

Once again I stand corrected, my data was
wrong. The M-240 fires the 7.62mm round. The M-249 fires the 5.56mm round.
My nephew who is serving his second tour with
the US Army carries the M-249, a weapon he
requested.
The M-249 is something I would like to have carried myself. In Vietnam, I carried the
Colt M-16 and all the ammo I could carry.
Besides my M-1911 Colt .45 Cal. Automatic,
Frag gernades and bayonet.
5. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
1 May 2010 09:24:22 PM

The M-240 7.62mm used by US Armed forces since the 1980's. Replaced the 40 year old M-60 MG but the M-60 is still in service in
limited numbers.
The M-249 5.56mm Squad Automatic Weapon(ASW)can use both linked ammunition (belt-fed) or
M-16 magazines in emergency conditions.
The M-249 has been in service since the
1980's.

6. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
2 May 2010 10:07:56 AM

Once again I stand corrected, my data was
wrong. The M-240 fires the 7.62mm round. The M-249 fires the 5.56mm round.
My nephew who is serving his second tour with
the US Army carries the M-249, a weapon he
requested.
The M-249 is something I would like to have carried myself. In Vietnam, I carried the
Colt M-16 and all the ammo I could carry.
Besides my M-1911 Colt .45 Cal. Automatic,
Frag gernades and bayonet.
7. Jay says:
18 Aug 2011 10:01:11 AM

good
8. Alan says:
30 Jul 2012 11:33:25 PM

Old news, pal!

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M50 Reising Submachine Gun Photo Gallery
US Marine holding M55 Reising folding-stock (left) and M50 Reising (right) submachine guns, Marine Corps Base Quantico, near Triangle, Virginia, United States, date unknown
See all 6 photographs of M50 Reising Submachine Gun


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