One of my bosses drove trucks in VN and carried one
“One of my bosses drove trucks in VN and carried one”
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Handy weapon to have when a fellow was in dangerous areas. Had a relatively long life, too, from the 40s-90s, so I suspect more than few guys have stories to tell of it’s use.
I was a tank commander on a M48A3 tank with the 77th Armor in Vietnam on the DMZ. OEM equipment was 2 M3A1 SMG’s per tank. That was one of the finest and most reliable weapons I ever used. I dropped it in mud with the ejection port cover open, to see if it would still work. I scooped the mud out of the chamber with my little finger so that rounds could enter it. I did nothing else. The thing went thru two magazines of continuous 30 round bursts, ejecting mud along with cartridge cases. It was practically self cleaning!!
The bolt ran along two guide rods that were located in holes at the back of the stamped and welded receiver. That contributed to it’s smoothness and controllability. It was ridiculously easy to maintain and repair. I think that penny for penny, it was one of the best SMG’s ever designed.
The only weakness was the mag. I cured that by pressing two mag springs together and stuffing them into the magazine tube. It NEVER failed to run perfectly with that setup. Zero stoppages.