Sunday, April 19, 2020

My Personal Favorite

My personal favorite submachine gun.  The grease gun.  Specifically, the M3A1.  Very simple gun, it was something that could be made in any competent machine shop and cost the Army about $20.00.



I was issued one as a tank commander.  Well, actually, there were two assigned to the tank.  One in the loader's area and one in the commander's area.

3 comments:

mostly cajun said...

I loved it - two of them assigned to every tank when I was a tank commander.

As an instructor at Fort Knox, I'd find myself on the firing line when we familiarized armor trainees on these little gems. There was often ammo left over after the trainees had fired the prescribed course of fire.

Oh, what to do?

Silhouette targets at 75 meters were easy. Two and three-round bursts were easy. Loading mags was a pain, even when you knew how to use the 'thumb' on the wire buttstock to help, but then, that's what trainees were there for.

Rivrdog said...

Did the M-3 take the same stick magazine as the Tommy Gun?

Sabre22 said...

I don't believe they did They had some issues with the magazine but nothing I could said the Magazines were interchangeable. I got to fire one once as a track driver. in Hohenfels in late 1976. i t was raining the NCOIC unwrapped the M-3A1 and a Magazine handed it to us we loaded about 25 rounds fired one time and put it away. It was fun but definitely NOT enough time with it.