The Reising (RISE-ing) sub machinegun was named after its designer, Eugene G. Reising. Reising had at one time worked with John Browning where he contributed to the final design of the Colt Automatic Pistol, better known as the M1911. He also had successful designs for repeating and semi auto rifles for various gun makers, such as Marlin, Mossberg, Savage and Stevens.
Reising anticipated the need for a simple to produce sub machinegun and had tried to get the Army to accept his design in 1941. The Army was not interested, but the Marines were. Harrington and Richardson (H&R) was contracted to make the weapons, first the selective fire Model 50 and the paratroop Model 55. Later they also made the semi auto only Model 60.
Unfortunately, the sub machinegun did not fair well in actual combat for a number of reasons and was replaced by other weapons by the Marines by 1943. It was delegated to non combat roles and then declared obsolete shortly after the war. Police departments, however, did use the weapons for a time after the war.
There were three models of Reising sub machineguns made, two were selective fire, one was semi auto only.
Model 50: The original model with a full-length wood stock and Cutts compensator on a 11 inch barrel chambered in .45 ACP. The partially ribbed barrel had a right hand twist with a 1:16 rate and 8 grooves. The sight radius of the weapon was about 18 ½ inches. Overall length was about 36 inches with an empty gun weight of around 6 ¾ lbs. The weapon used either a 12 or 20 round magazine. This was a selective fire weapon, capable of a full auto fire rating at 450-600 rounds per minute or semi auto fire. It was reported that the REAL full auto rate was nearer to 750-850 rounds per minute. Unlike most sub guns, the Reising fires from a closed bolt.
Model 55: A slightly shorter variant of the Model 50. Designed for use by paratroops, tank crews and others that needed shorter weapons, the Model 55 had a wire shoulder stock and a pistol grip type wood stock, a similar setup that was seen on the paratrooper’s version of the M-1 Carbine later in the war. It had the same barrel as the Model 50, except no Cutts compensator, which made the barrel length 10 ½ inches. Essentially, the elimination of the compensator made for a shorter barrel, but it had the same sight radius as the Model 50. The Model 55 weighed in at 6 ¼ lbs and used the same magazines as the Model 50. Other data for the Model 55 are the same as the Model 50.
Model 60: This model was made between 1944-46 and was the semi auto civilian model of the Reising. Unlike the Models 50/55, it has a 18 ¼ “ barrel length with no compensator attached. It sports a full-length walnut stock. The sight radius of the Model 60 is 26 inches in length and the weapon weighs in at nearly 8lbs.
