Original Item. Only One Available. On October 27, 1942, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, the nation’s wartime intelligence agency, asked the National Defense Research Committee to come up with a silent, easily concealed weapon that its covert operatives could carry deep into occupied territories and use for such purposes as eliminating sentries or guard dogs. The OSS’s proposed specifications included a muzzle velocity of 1,000 feet per second and a minimum reloading time of 30 seconds. Wrestling with the challenge, the NDRC’s engineers set aside ideas for propellant weapons and, looking to the past for inspiration, decided instead to investigate the potential of crossbows.

One of their ideas, which reached prototype form in February 1943, was the “Little Joe Penetrometer” — essentially a hand-held, vertical-profile pistol crossbow. The frame was made from heat-treated aluminum; the bowstring from 50 rubber bands. A section of graphite-coated linen in the center of the bowstring was the contact point for an 8-ounce bolt with a broad-headed metal tip.

With a muzzle velocity more in the neighborhood of 170 feet per second, Little Joe failed to meet its design specification. But it was very quiet (just 72 decibels on firing) and very accurate (6-inch groups at 20 yards), with an effective range of 30 yards—at which distance the bolt would pass through a uniformed human. Despite the evident mechanical ingenuity of the Little Joe and some improved models (one of them dubbed the “Joe Louis”), U.S. special operations forces never adopted the pistol-style crossbow, suppressed pistols being more practical and efficient.

The arrow is approximately 9 1/4” long and is composed of a combination of aluminum and steel. The tip of the arrow is made of steel and is heavily oxidized as shown.

Anything related to the OSS during WWII is extremely scarce. These bolts were designed specifically for assassination, and this one is in fantastic condition. Comes ready for further research and display.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces. Other OSS functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning. This is a tremendous piece of OSS field gear not often seen outside of museums.

The OSS was dissolved a month after the end of the war. Intelligence tasks were shortly later resumed and carried over by its successors the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the independent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).