MANUFACTURER – Birmingham Small Arms (BSA), Birmingham, England
STATUS – Obsolete
SERVICE – None, prototypes only
Designed in 1942, the Welgun was produced as a more compact and concealable replacement for the Sten gun by a request from the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). The design for the Welgun came from the SOE workshop in Welwyn Garden City, from which the weapon received its name. Eric Norman was one of the small arms designers at Special Operations Executive Station IX. It was this Inter Services Research Bureau at Station IX in The Frythe, a former hotel outside Welwyn Garden City, that sought a weapon more suited to the organization’s needs in early 1942.
The final prototype design was a particularly distinctive weapon. The Welgun has not much of a receiver as such. Instead there are a pair of rails on the upper surface of the trigger group that guide the bolt while it functions. There is a long guide rail across the top of the weapon as well as a section at the rear of the frame. The bolt itself is exposed through the entire movement of its cycle. The mainspring is not behind the bolt but in front of it where it pulls the bolt forward when the trigger is pulled. The body of the main spring surrounds the barrel and is covered by the barrel jacket. The rear of the spring pressed against the back of the barrel jacket and bears against a front extension that is connected to the bolt. There is now cocking handle, instead, the sides of the exposed bolt are serrated to allow the operator to securely grasp the bolt with his fingers. The safety switch on the right side of the weapon had an extension on the end of the external lever. The extension could be used to secure the bolt in both the cocked and uncocked position, the latter locking the bolt forward and preventing accidental discharged from movements of the weapon.
