Posted on 07/13/2020 5:55:57 AM PDT by w1n1
The M3 'grease gun’ was a rude, crude, effective submachine gun that saw service from the Korean War through the late 1990s.
The M3 "grease gun" was one of the simplest, ugliest, and cheapest personal weapons ever fielded by the U.S. military. But, as one U.S. Marine combat veteran recalled, what this crude submachine gun lacked in looks, it more than made up for that with brutal effectiveness.
"The first time I went to use my rifle, it went 'click', so I busted it over a rock and picked up a dead Marine's grease gun," said USMC Korean War veteran Don Campbell. "I was lethal with the grease gun. It worked really well on the enemy." Campbell made his remarks at a machine gun shoot after firing a grease gun for the first time since he served in combat over 60 years ago.
The original M3 submachine gun was commissioned shortly before the U.S. entered World War II as a replacement for the Thompson M1928 submachine gun. The Thompson, although a popular and effective weapon, was not well suited to the demands of wartime high-volume manufacturing.
THE GREASE GUN is a compact weapon with an overall length of 29.8 inches with the stock extended and 22.8 inches with the stock collapsed. The barrel is 8 inches long. The 8.15-pound empty weight of the gun is brought up to 10.25 pounds once a loaded magazine of 30 .45 ACP rounds is inserted.
The M3 is blowback operated and fires from an open bolt. An external cocking handle is used to retract the bolt. The weapon fires fully automatic only at a listed cyclic rate of 450 rounds per minute. The ejection port cover doubles as a safety by locking the bolt in place when closed. The 30-round box magazine is a double-column, singlefeed design based on the STEN. Read the rest of M3 grease gun here.
FWIW, from the Korean War era until about 1965 the M3 was part of the OEM (Original Equipment, Manufacturer) Kit of the Jeeps, fuel trucks & other military vehicles.
(I think that it is “interesting” that hardly anyone ever stole a M3, when they were OEM.= CHUCKLE.)
Yours, TMN78247
FWIW, from the Korean War era until about 1965 the M3 was part of the OEM (Original Equipment, Manufacturer) Kit of the Jeeps, fuel trucks & other military vehicles.
(I think that it is “interesting” that hardly anyone ever stole a M3, when they were OEM.= CHUCKLE.)
Yours, TMN78247
Supplement that with a few cases of grenades.
You need a big foxhole! Just put it on a grassy knoll in your back yard.
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M3
Sten
Insurance
A good file and a few springs to chose from makes “all work and no play,” a fiction. Jack is not a dull boy.
So Bob Newhart plays himself? John Wayne made a whole film career out of that.
I inherited 3 boxes of US Army issue 9mm dated 1964 and was puzzled as to which weapon they used that required 9mm. Did some research and learned that the grease gun was also made in 9mm. It’s a hotter round than current +P 9mm handgun ammo so I traded it in to a gun store.
The first USAF unit I was assigned to...a small 40 man stateside detachment..had two grease guns. Also, two M1911’s and M1 carbines for the rest of the men. Then along came LBJ and took them away and sent them to Vietnam.
Steve got all blowed up.
War is hell.
The M3 was not designed strictly as a replacement for the Thompson.
Before the M3 existed, the War Dept adopted the M2 to replace the Thompson. It was manufactured in the traditional manner, out of of forgings and machined steel, with walnut furniture. Relatively unknown outside collector circles and among Ordnance historians, it was produced only in small numbers because the military establishment realized compactness and inexpensive mass production were becoming more important in arming and equipping a rapidly expanding army, and for the types of engagements foreseen before World War Two, where submachine guns might be of use.
The Thompson was very heavy, quite awkward, and costly to make, but it was the only submachine gun for which a domestic manufacturing base already existed. So it ended up being produced in significant numbers.
Small Arms Review published at least one scholarly article on the M2, in the 1990s as I recall.
The M2 article.
http://smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=4151
An article on the M42, another lesser-known submachine gun of American make.
Cool, not too many know of the M2.
Unless, you’re WWII vet.
“Cool, not too many know of the M2.
Unless, you’re WWII vet.” [w1n1, post 34]
Not me. Just a dabbler in arms history.
Too young to lend a hand in World War Two; active duty 1975 -2000.
I’d imagine few even among those who served in the early 1940s encountered the M2. Less than a thousand made, never issued, never saw action.
Holy crap. What magic did you do to get the blogpimp to respond on one of the articles he posted? I’ve never seen w1n1 actually participate in any discussion before, just nonstop posts from some triple-translated website!
“...What magic did you do to get the blogpimp to respond...?...I’ve never seen w1n1 actually participate in any discussion before...” [Svartalfiar, post 36]
Beats me.
I credit Small Arms Review. They’ve published many articles on weapons and related topics that might seem obscure to the typical American gun enthusiast. Better-sourced than the average gun periodical pieces. Writing - dare I say it - is better too.
I’ve been privileged to poke about it the records and archives of a number of defense-related office and organizations. Sometimes it’s more of a curse, though. We’d do well to remember that Army Ordnance is the oldest bureaucracy in the country; it also created the first research & development laboratory. Lots of records to sift through.
Finding what’s needed in official records is a dark art. Better illumination is always hoped for but isn’t likely to occur.
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