Owen Machine Carbine Mk I
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Barrel
- 247 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.21 kg
- Introduced
- 1942
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I was an Australian-designed submachine gun developed by Evelyn Ernest Owen and adopted by the Australian Army in 1942. Distinguished by its top-mounted 33-round magazine, offset iron sights, and a separate compartment isolating the bolt from the receiver, the Owen earned a legendary reputation in the South West Pacific theatre for unmatched reliability in mud, sand, and jungle conditions. Roughly 50,000 were manufactured by John Lysaght's Port Kembla works between 1942 and 1945.
Evelyn Owen was a 24-year-old self-taught tinkerer who designed the gun as a teenager and demonstrated it in his backyard in 1939; the Australian Army initially rejected it, but his neighbour - a Lysaght's executive - championed it through trials where it ran flawlessly while a Thompson and a Sten choked on mud. Soldiers in New Guinea regularly buried Owens in mud or dunked them in rivers as test demonstrations.
Sometimes called the 'Digger's Darling' by Australian troops. The top-mounted magazine combined with offset sights allowed soldiers to fire from the prone position with a low silhouette. The bolt was housed in a sealed compartment separated from the chamber by a small bulkhead, preventing dirt ingress through the cocking-handle slot - a key reason for its legendary reliability in jungle warfare. Remained in Australian service through Korea and Vietnam before being replaced by the F1 SMG in 1963.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- John Lysaght (Australia) Ltd, Port Kembla
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Country
- Australia
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1942 to 1945
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 247 mm
- Overall length
- 806 mm
- Height
- 254 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.21 kg
- Weight, loaded
- 4.72 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 33
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 421 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 660 J
- Effective range
- 120 m
- Maximum range
- 200 m
- Rate of fire
- 700 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Open bolt
Top mounted magazine
Offset iron sights
Quick change barrel- Separate bolt compartment
Fixed wooden stock
Vertical foregrip
Bayonet lug
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 201 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 4.21 kg | 3.18 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 200 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 806 mm | 723 mm | Longer than about 70% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 202 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 247 mm | 213 mm | Longer than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 204 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 33 | 32 | Holds more rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I
How much does the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I weigh?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I weighs 4.21 kg (9.28 lb) empty and 4.72 kg (10.41 lb) loaded.
What caliber is the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I hold?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I holds 33 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I is 806 mm (31.7 in) long overall, with a 247 mm (9.72 in) barrel.
Who makes the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I is made by John Lysaght (Australia) Ltd, Port Kembla (Australia). It was designed by Evelyn Ernest Owen.
When was the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I introduced?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I was introduced in 1942 and discontinued in 1945.
How does the Owen Machine Carbine Mk I operate?
The Owen Machine Carbine Mk I uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Australian Army
- 1942
- New Zealand Army
- 1944
- British Army (Pacific theatre)
- 1943
- Royal Australian Air Force
- 1942
Provenance
Confidence in this record
82%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/owen-mk-i' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "owen-mk-i", "name": "Owen Machine Carbine Mk I", "manufacturer": { "id": "john-lysaght", "name": "John Lysaght (Australia) Ltd, Port Kembla", "countryCode": "AU", "foundedYear": 1857, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-05-04 12:38:54", "updatedAt": "2026-05-04 12:38:54", "version": "aee18447afec3faf245a2101b6a657dab99b7a36de31ae4e33b4ba7e7b8329ed" }, "category": { "id": "submachine-gun", "name": "Submachine Gun", "description": "Automatic firearms chambered in pistol calibers" }, "country_of_origin": "AU", "year_introduced": 1942, "barrel_length_mm": 247, "weight_empty_g": 4210, "action_type": "blowback"}