The Smith & Wesson Model 1940 Light Rifle

摘要

By 1939, it was becoming apparent to the world that another war in Europe was imminent. American firearm companies Auto-Ordnance, Colt and Smith & Wesson (S&W) were anticipating a worldwide demand for weapons. At Smith & Wesson, Edward S. Pomeroy, the chief of the company's Research and Development Department, was assigned the task of designing a new carbine chambered for the 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. On 28 June, 1939, the project was completed. At that time, use of the 9mm cartridge was limited in the U.S. However, it was quite popular in Europe. The American Equities Corporation, representing Smith & Wesson, wrote to the British military attache in Washington, D.C., to inform them of S&W's new 9mm carbine. The military attache forwarded the documents to the Director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office in London. After a study of the information provided, the British Ordnance Board stated: "If the carbine could be redesigned into a machine carbine (submachine gun), it would then be worthy of further consideration." The Ordnance Board suggested that drawings and a sample of the carbine be obtained. Smith & Wesson shipped a tool room model and drawings of a Model 1939 prototype to the British War Office in London, along with a promise that the weapon could be put into immediate production.