Often overlooked…the rounded edges were a design choice as it reduced cuts from sharpe edges. Very important given that risk of infection from even minor wounds in the tropics
Owen received 10,000 pounds for his design. After failed business ventures in a sawmill after the war he died from alcoholism in 1949. The gun that Owen designed and made was a rather crude home made firearm. A next door neighbour of Owen's, Vincent Wardell who was a supervisor at Lysaght in Newcastle NSW and a engineer Freddie Kunzler who also worked at Lysaght developed the gun to it's final design. Lysaght was allowed a 4% profit margin for manufacture. They were not payed by the Government until 1949 with inflation they made a 1.5% profit margin on the manufacture. The Thompson ran out at 300% profit. Major difference.
I can bet when Australia decide to adopt the Steyr Aug as their Main Rifle a few of those folks who decided maybe bear the Owen SMG, 'cause nearly the same ergonomics.
FW is of the opinion that the Finish Suomi 31 was the best SMG of WW2. From a technical standpoint this is probably true. However, I would argue that the Owen was definitely the best SMG of the Pacific theatre, due to to its reliability.
The F1 was ok to me no where as good as the Owen if I had a stoppage it was with the F1 I don't remember one with the Owen Oh only when the mag was empty
Well it's always going to be a subjective call, and the Pps41 is an iconic weapon for a reason. The idea of the Tu-2Sh is mind bending too. But I stand by the Owen.
