Owen submachine gun Country Australia Type Submachine gun Manufacturer Lysaght Introduction 1939 Specifications Weight 4.21 kg (9.37 lb) Length 806 mm (32 in) Barrel length 247 mm (9.75 in) Cartridge 9x19mm Parabellum Action Blowback Rate of fire 700 round/min Muzzle velocity 420 m/s (1250 ft/s) Feed system 32 round detachable box

The Owen Gun, which was known officially as the Owen Machine Carbine, was an Australian submachine gun designed by Evelyn (Evo) Owen in 1939. The Owen was the only Australian-designed service firearm of World War II and was the main submachine gun used by the Australian Army during the war.

The Owen went into production at the Lysaght factory at Port Kembla. Between March 1942 and February 1943, Lysaght produced 28,000 Owen Guns. However, the initial batch of ammunition turned out to be the wrong type and 10,000 of the guns could not be supplied with ammunition. Once again government intervention overrode military bureaucracy, and took the ammunition through the final production stages, and into the hands of Australian troops at that time fighting Japanese forces in New Guinea. Approximately 50,000 Owens were produced from 1941 to 1945.

The Owen was used later used by Australian troops in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. It remained a standard weapon of the Australian Army until the early 1960s, when it was replaced by the F1 submachine gun.