Welrod pistol

Welrod pistol

A Welrod 9 mm pistol (below a suppressed Sten

gun) on display at the Imperial War Museum in
London.

Type Bolt action suppressed

pistol

Place of origin United Kingdom

The Welrod was a British bolt action, magazine fed, suppressed pistol devised during World War II at
the Inter-Services Research Bureau (later Station IX), based near Welwyn Garden City, UK, for use
by irregular forces and resistance groups. Approximately 2,800 were made.


History
It was used primarily by the British SOE but was also used by the American OSS. The Welrod,
also known as the "Assassin's Pistol", was extremely quiet for a gun, producing a
sound of around 73 dB when fired. Examples were made in 9mm and .32 ACP, with
magazine of six and eight rounds respectively.[2]

The Welrod took the form of a 1.25-inch-diameter (32 mm) cylinder about 12 inches
long.[3] The rear of the cylinder contained the bolt, the middle the ported barrel and
expansion chamber of the suppressor, and the front the baffles and wipes of the
suppressor. There was a knurled knob at the rear that served as the bolt handle,
and the magazine was also the grip. Removing the magazine/grip made the weapon
easier to conceal.

Welrod on display at the US Air Force Museum.

The Welrod was provided with sights marked with fluorescent paint for use in low light conditions.
Although it had a maximum range of 23 metres it was intended for use far closer—up to point blank.
The muzzle end of the gun was cut away so that it could be fired in direct contact with the target. This
would reduce the sound levels even further and remove the chance of missing. [4]

The ported barrel of the Welrod served two purposes: it released the powder gases gradually into the
rear of the suppressor, reducing the sound of firing, and it reduced the velocity of the bullet to
subsonic speeds (especially important in the 9 mm version since the standard 9 mm loading is
supersonic). The baffles and wipes that follow the barrel serve to further slow the gases of firing,
releasing them over a longer period of time and avoiding the sharp explosion that occurs when high
pressure powder gases are suddenly released to the atmosphere.

The Welrod used a bolt-action design because it was simple, reliable and quiet. The bolt-action has
only the noise of the firing pin hitting the primer, and the bolt can be cycled quietly.

The Welrod was a "sanitized" weapon, meaning that it had no markings indicating its manufacturer or
country of origin; all it was marked with was a serial number and some inscrutable symbols and
letters. The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) confirmed that they manufactured some
Welrod pistols, but that they put no markings at all on them, so it is likely that any markings were
added by the British military after delivery.

The Welrod was widely used in Denmark during World War II, and is reported to have been used
during the 1982 Falklands War, throughout The Troubles in Northern Ireland and during operation
Desert Storm by British Special Forces.[5]

Operation
The pistol is manually operated using a rotary bolt, locking with two lugs. Loading is performed with a
pull/push action using the round knurled knob to the rear of the weapon. The trigger is single stage
with a simple safety at the back of the magazine housing. The detachable single stack magazine
contains 6 or 8 rounds (depending on calibre) and serves as a pistol grip with the bottom part
enclosed into the rubber cover.

Name
The name Welrod comes from the custom that all the clandestine equipment devised at Station IX in
Welwyn had names starting with Wel, e.g., Welbike, Welman. A document was produced towards the
end of World War II to ensure that the right persons were properly credited for their inventions at
Station IX. This document reveals that the inventor of the Welrod was Major Hugh Reeves who was
also responsible for the Sleeve gun (similar to the Welrod, though single shot and intended to be
concealed up a sleeve) and several other important inventions.[6]

Literary Reference
A "Welrod 9" figures prominently in the Kate Atkinson detective novel One Good Turn, where the shy
Martin Canning recognizes a hidden Welrod and shows surprising facility with the specialized
weapon.

See also
 Insurgency weapon
References
1. ^ [1] This site has a recording of a Welrod firing
2. ^ [2] See table for magazine capacity
3. ^ http://www.timelapse.dk/thesilencer.php
4. ^ Wolfgang Michel: Britische Schalldämpferwaffen 1939-1945: Entwicklung, Technik, Wirkung. ISBN
978-3-8370-2149-3.
5. ^ http://www.timelapse.dk/misinformation.php
6. ^ Fredric Boyce and Douglas Everett SOE The Scientific Secrets

External links
 Welrod Silenced Gun
 A Danish site with research into the production and use of the Welrod
 Welrod silenced pistol (Great Britain) at World Guns

Devices created at Station IX

 Sleeve gun
Weapons
 Welrod
 Motorised Submersible Canoe
 Welbike
Vehicles
 Welfreighter
 Welman submarine
Other  Welbum
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