Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
Noted errors/additional information:
The Owen gun’s depiction in some films, shows, games and other media is inaccurate, due to them showing parkerized Owens. In reality, Owen guns were painted to be to suit whatever environment soldiers were fighting in. It was only after the war when they got the style you see in games like Enlisted, due to them being stripped on their original camos.
According to one source, Vincent took the gun to his house before talking to Evelyn Owen’s father about it, who reportedly ranted about his son’s lack of responsibility for leaving a firearm laying around outside.
The gun also appears in the VR game “Hotdogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”
The main reason the military weren’t keen to adopt the Owen gun wasn’t just due to senior officers preferring the Sten or seeing no need to SMGs, but also because they didn’t want to ruin delivery of an official SMG for Australia by bringing in outside competition.
Although they only produced 50,000 Owens throughout 1941-1944, orders were placed by one general McArthur for Lysaght and Lithgow Small Arms Factory to produce an extra 60,000 of them to be used by his soldiers in the Pacific, but this order was never fulfilled due to Australia not having the resources needed to produce such an amount.
Forgottenweapons.com actually says that multiple variants were made, but by the time Vietnam rolled around, most Owens had a mixture of parts from different models due to cannibalization.
Sources used:
guns.fandom.com/wiki/Owen_gun
guns.fandom.com/wiki/Evelyn_Owen
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242458
forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/owen-smg
warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/australias-owen-gun
https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/owen-submachine-gun
imfdb.org/wiki/Owen_Submachine_Gun
gunivore.com/ammunition/9mm-bullet-9x19mm-parabellum-definitive-guide
koreanwaronline.com/arms/owen.htm
thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/02/03/evelyn-owens-homebuilt-22-smg
thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/02/03/made-in-australia-the-owen-submachine-gun
Videos referenced:
youtube.com/watch?v=mmAigxjQbtE
youtube.com/watch?v=O1aZuAbgjGY
youtube.com/watch?v=g_3AoDf7CeE
britishpathe.com/video/owen-gun-issue-title-is-account-rendered/query/Wet
Other images used:
deviantart.com/marcusburns1977/art/Owen-Gun-799989710
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1040139
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C256325
forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/prototypeowens.jpg
gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2-5.png
gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/1-7.png
forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Owen-diagram.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen_MkI_1942.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen-gun_400.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen_Mk1-44.jpg
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242458
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/027530
imfdb.org/wiki/File:DangerClose_poster.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:TheRailwayMan.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Kokodaabc.jpeg
imfdb.org/images/4/40/LongTan.jpg
imfdb.org/images/2/20/CB_AU_DVD_cover.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Wog_logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Heroes_%26_Generals_Logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Dayofinfamy.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:RS2_logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Codvanguardcover1.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Enlisted_Logo.jpg
charlieintel.com/best-vanguard-owen-gun-loadout-2/168396
Noted errors/additional information:
The Owen gun’s depiction in some films, shows, games and other media is inaccurate, due to them showing parkerized Owens. In reality, Owen guns were painted to be to suit whatever environment soldiers were fighting in. It was only after the war when they got the style you see in games like Enlisted, due to them being stripped on their original camos.
According to one source, Vincent took the gun to his house before talking to Evelyn Owen’s father about it, who reportedly ranted about his son’s lack of responsibility for leaving a firearm laying around outside.
The gun also appears in the VR game “Hotdogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”
The main reason the military weren’t keen to adopt the Owen gun wasn’t just due to senior officers preferring the Sten or seeing no need to SMGs, but also because they didn’t want to ruin delivery of an official SMG for Australia by bringing in outside competition.
Although they only produced 50,000 Owens throughout 1941-1944, orders were placed by one general McArthur for Lysaght and Lithgow Small Arms Factory to produce an extra 60,000 of them to be used by his soldiers in the Pacific, but this order was never fulfilled due to Australia not having the resources needed to produce such an amount.
Forgottenweapons.com actually says that multiple variants were made, but by the time Vietnam rolled around, most Owens had a mixture of parts from different models due to cannibalization.
Sources used:
guns.fandom.com/wiki/Owen_gun
guns.fandom.com/wiki/Evelyn_Owen
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242458
forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/owen-smg
warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/australias-owen-gun
https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/owen-submachine-gun
imfdb.org/wiki/Owen_Submachine_Gun
gunivore.com/ammunition/9mm-bullet-9x19mm-parabellum-definitive-guide
koreanwaronline.com/arms/owen.htm
thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/02/03/evelyn-owens-homebuilt-22-smg
thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/02/03/made-in-australia-the-owen-submachine-gun
Videos referenced:
youtube.com/watch?v=mmAigxjQbtE
youtube.com/watch?v=O1aZuAbgjGY
youtube.com/watch?v=g_3AoDf7CeE
britishpathe.com/video/owen-gun-issue-title-is-account-rendered/query/Wet
Other images used:
deviantart.com/marcusburns1977/art/Owen-Gun-799989710
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1040139
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C256325
forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/prototypeowens.jpg
gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2-5.png
gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/1-7.png
forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Owen-diagram.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen_MkI_1942.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen-gun_400.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Owen_Mk1-44.jpg
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C242458
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/027530
imfdb.org/wiki/File:DangerClose_poster.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:TheRailwayMan.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Kokodaabc.jpeg
imfdb.org/images/4/40/LongTan.jpg
imfdb.org/images/2/20/CB_AU_DVD_cover.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Wog_logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Heroes_%26_Generals_Logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Dayofinfamy.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:RS2_logo.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Codvanguardcover1.jpg
imfdb.org/wiki/File:Enlisted_Logo.jpg
charlieintel.com/best-vanguard-owen-gun-loadout-2/168396
