Welrod

Welrod
general information
Developer / Manufacturer:	Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA)
Manufacturer country:	United Kingdom
Weapon Category:	gun
Furnishing
Overall length:	approx. 305 mm
Weight: (unloaded)	0.91 kg
Barrel length :	127 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber :	9 mm Parabellum , .32 ACP
Possible magazine fillings :	5 cartridges
Visor :	Rear sight and front sight
Charging principle:	manually
Lists on the subject

The Welrod is a pistol that was developed for the British War Office during World War II and issued to special forces .

A total of 2,800 examples of this special weapon were made. Other weapons , mostly converted or equipped with an external silencer , were used in parallel.

The weapon is equipped with an integrated internal silencer and is repeated manually. The handle consisted essentially of the magazine, the breech was based on a simple rifle for bird hunting. While the soundproofing of the first version consisted of a number of perforated rubber discs, the opening of which was smaller than the caliber used, the system was reduced and simplified in the second version.

When using sub-sonic ammunition, the Welrod pistol is said to have been almost noiseless and barely audible from a short distance, especially when there was ambient noise. The range is given in the few available sources as 12 to 15 m.

Welrod pistols were primarily used in Denmark during World War II and were also used by British Special Forces during the Falklands War in 1982, during riots in Northern Ireland and in Operation Desert Storm. In addition, weapons were found in the weapons depots of stay-behind organizations .

Others

The name Welrod is derived from the development site, Station IX in Welwyn . All projects that were created there start with Wel , for example the one-man submarine Welman or the compact motor scooter Welbike , which was specially designed to be dropped in containers by parachute.

Web links

Commons : Welrod  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Welrod, detailed model and development history (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ " Several, now retired, SAS (Special Air Service) operators report that the Welrod was in use during the Falklands, in Northern Ireland, and even as late as in the 1991 Gulf. "( Timelapse.Dk )
2. ↑ The shadow warriors of NATO. ( Memento from January 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Documentary by Ulrich Stoll, ZDF Info March 25, 2014, 9.45 p.m. (description of the Welrod from around 1:50 p.m.).
3. ↑ Wolfgang Michel: British silencer weapons 1939-1945: development, technology, effect. BOD, ISBN 978-3-8370-2149-3 .