Eugene Reising

Eugene Gustavus Reising (November 26, 1884 – February 21, 1967)[1][2] was an American inventor who designed the M50 Reising submachine gun in 1938.[3][4] Reising was a ranked competitive target shooter. An ordnance engineer, Reising was the recipient of more than 60 firearm patents. Following his work with Harrington & Richardson, he designed semi-automatic rifles for Mossberg & Sons, Marlin, Savage, and Stevens.

Eugene Reising
Performing a pistol demonstration in 1911
Born
Eugene Gustavus Reising

(1884-11-26)November 26, 1884
Port Jervis, New York U.S.
DiedFebruary 21, 1967(1967-02-21) (aged 82)
Worcester, Massachusetts U.S.
OccupationFirearms designer
Spouses
  • Frances Rose Reising
  • Alice V. Fohlin

Biography

Of Swedish ancestry from a family that came to Delaware in 1635, Reising was born at Port Jervis, New York.[5][6] He was the son of a railroad engineer who died when Eugene Reising was an infant. Reising attended Lehigh University for three years, then worked as a cowboy in Texas and Mexico for a few years. On returning to the U.S. he went to work for Colt, testing and selling guns. He worked with John M. Browning on the development of the Colt Model 1911 pistol.[7]

In 1911, Reising served in Company A of the Connecticut National Guard, winning a championship in expert riflemanship and giving demonstrations of the rapid reloading of semi-automatic pistols.[8][9] In the same year he demonstrated a 9.8-mm version of the Colt pistol which was adopted as the M1911 to authorities of three Balkan countries, but two years later he was fired from the company for using a Luger pistol at a target shooting competition.[10]

In October 1925, Reising was indicted for violating the Sullivan Act after supplying pistols and Maxim Silencers to a member of the Cowboy Tessler gang, a group who were captured after a string of robberies and a gun battle with police in New York.[11] He pled guilty to unlawful possession of firearms and was sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment on Welfare Island.[12][13]

In 1938, Reising began work on a new submachine gun. He submitted his design to Harrington and Richardson, and in March 1941, they started manufacturing it as the Model 50.[14] Approximately 100,000 of these were made, and many were used in World War II.[3]

His wife, Frances Rose Reising, died in Hartford on April 26, 1947.[15] He remarried, to Alice V. Fohlin.[5]

Eugene Reising died in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 20, 1967.[3][5]

References
  1. "GB613504A – Improvements in automatic firearms". Google Patents. January 27, 1943. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  2. "Persons born 26 November 1884 in the Social Security Death Master File". Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  3. "Eugene G. Reising, Inventor Of a Submachine Gun, Dies". The New York Times. February 22, 1967.
  4. "US2224928A – Firearm". Google Patents. April 26, 1938. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  5. "Eugene Reising Dies; Designed Submachine Gun". Hartford Courant. February 22, 1967. p. 43. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Jeo, R. Ted. "The Little Submachine Gun that...didn't". Surplus Rifle. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  7. "Latest Submachine Gun is Designed for Mass Production". Popular Science. April 1941. p. 73. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Modern Mechanix.
  8. "Court Martial by Major Edward Lamb". Hartford Courant. January 13, 1911. p. 2. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Spills 21 Leaden Death Pills Into a Target in 28 Seconds". Times Leader. Camp Perry, Ohio. August 22, 1911. p. 12. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ASOAC-EDITION-119-ALBERT.pdf
  11. "$470,000 Bail Holds Five Holdup Gangsters". New York Daily News. October 23, 1925. p. 163. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "4 in Cowboy Gang Up for Pleading". New York Daily News. October 28, 1925. p. 2. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Reising, Gunmaker, Faces New Charge". Rutland Herald. Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press. May 9, 1927. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Ankony, Robert (July 2008). "The U.S. .45 Model 50 and 55 Reising Submachine Gun and Model 60 Semiautomatic Rifle". Small Arms Review. pp. 64–67. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  15. "Mrs. Eugene Reising". Hartford Courant. April 27, 1947. p. 36. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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