Johnny Guest
Moderator in Memoriam
stephen426 - -
An apt question, and happily, one I can answer off the top of my head.
US Submachine Gun M3 - - Dubbed the "Grease Gun" from a real similarity to the auto garage tool from the olden days prior to sealed bearings.
Both the US and Britian were inspired by the German MP38 and MP40 machine pistols, and it took a long time to manufacture a Thompson SMG. Britian went with the Sten (Shephard + Turpin + ENfield, which is worthy of a lengthy entry in its own right. The US originated the M3. Both made extensive use of sheet metal stampings and screw machines, with milling only on the bolt.
The M3 (and later M3A1) were mostly manufactured by the Guide Lamp Division of GeneralMotors, a plant with lots of expreience in metalstampings. They were cal. .45 ACP (though easily converted to 9mm, by substitution of the bolt, barrel, and magazine) and all had collapsible wire stocks. They used a heavy 30 round magazine and had a rather slow rate of fire - - around 400 -- 450 rpunds per minute. The M3 had a crank-like handle on the right side to retract the bolt, while the M3A1 simply provided a finger hole in the bolt. The "safety" was the ejection port cover which locked the bolt in place.
By the end of WWII, the M1A1 Thompson SMG was totally out of production, supplanted by the M3A1, though some TSMGs remained in US service into the Korean war.
M3A1, from ca. 1944.
Both the M3 and M3A1 were usually seen without the flash hider.
Best,
Johnny
An apt question, and happily, one I can answer off the top of my head.
US Submachine Gun M3 - - Dubbed the "Grease Gun" from a real similarity to the auto garage tool from the olden days prior to sealed bearings.
Both the US and Britian were inspired by the German MP38 and MP40 machine pistols, and it took a long time to manufacture a Thompson SMG. Britian went with the Sten (Shephard + Turpin + ENfield, which is worthy of a lengthy entry in its own right. The US originated the M3. Both made extensive use of sheet metal stampings and screw machines, with milling only on the bolt.
The M3 (and later M3A1) were mostly manufactured by the Guide Lamp Division of GeneralMotors, a plant with lots of expreience in metalstampings. They were cal. .45 ACP (though easily converted to 9mm, by substitution of the bolt, barrel, and magazine) and all had collapsible wire stocks. They used a heavy 30 round magazine and had a rather slow rate of fire - - around 400 -- 450 rpunds per minute. The M3 had a crank-like handle on the right side to retract the bolt, while the M3A1 simply provided a finger hole in the bolt. The "safety" was the ejection port cover which locked the bolt in place.
By the end of WWII, the M1A1 Thompson SMG was totally out of production, supplanted by the M3A1, though some TSMGs remained in US service into the Korean war.
M3A1, from ca. 1944.
Both the M3 and M3A1 were usually seen without the flash hider.
Best,
Johnny
