M-3 Grease Gun .45

I owned an M3 for many years but the M3A1 is a better gun. That gun looks simple but the design is ingenious and very good. The idea of having the bolt ride on rods (later used on the AR-18) is an excellent one, effectively eliminating any problems from dirt getting into the action. Having the ejection port cover double as a safety is also a great idea.

In addition, the M3A1 has the neat idea of eliminating the operating handle by just having a hole in the bolt. And it has some other good features, like the extendible stock that doubles as a magazine loader and also has a threaded hole in one arm to take a wire brush or a slotted tip for barrel cleaning.

The M3 was OK, but not as good, its main problem being the cocking arm which was complex and tended to bend if any pressure was put on it; the hole in the bolt was a much better design. Also, its stock didn't have the mag loader.

Incidentally, the "grease gun" was the first gun to be made from two stamped halves welded together, and that is where Bill Ruger got the idea for making his .22 pistol that way.

Jim
 
I am not sure any M3's were made in 9mm Para, but conversion kits were. They used STEN magazines with an adaptor. Supposedly they were for the French resistance, but I doubt they were ever used; all the pictures I have seen and information I have indicates the FFI got STEN's, BREN's, British revolvers and No. 4 or Mk III rifles, and those are the guns that show in liberation period pictures.

Jim
 
Another "experimental" item for the M3 was a curved barrel, for shooting around corners (or from inside a tank)! And, it worked! Only a handful made, and I doubt ever used in combat. M3 conversion kits were made in some numbers, it is a simple swap of barrel, bolt and mag. Again, like the Liberator pistol, they don't appear to have been used as intended, to arm the French Resistance.

The history of combat weapons is full of neat, interesting, and sometimes even practical designs that by the time they got produced, were never used because of changes in the war situation. Sometimes they fade into a few pages in books, and once in a while, they become the basis for post war development leading to the next generation.

The cocking system on the M3 is kind of wonky. It always made me think of a backwards grasshopper leg. And, when things go just right, in the wrong way, it can wind up jammed. The finger slot works much better, although it kind of put me off when I first saw it, when I actually got to use one, I found that it is easy, and it don't get any simpler. The springs on the grease gun are not very strong. They don't need to be. But there is a drawback to this, I already mentioned. A sharp jerk on the gun can cause the bolt to move back some, if the cover is open.

While it looks like a cheap piece of junk, the grease gun is actually a well thought out, effective weapon, within its range limitations. The M3A1 eliminated the few trouble spots the M3 had, except for that pesky tab on the barrel nut locking spring. Replacing that spring involves cutting off the old rivets and riveting on a new one. Not a tought job, but a pain nonetheless. It could have been designed better, but that would have made the gun a bit more complex. And, it doesn't happen all that often, really.
 
I've seen several 9mm conversion kits for the Grease Gun - museum holdings.

Only a few parts had to be changed.

I can't remember if the kit included a new bolt or not, but I think it would have to have given the difference in case head diameter.

Supposedly there was some consideration given to producing the Grease Gun in 7.62 Tokarev for the Russians via lend lease, but given that the Russians were doing quite well producing small arms, especially submachine guns, I doubt that they would have been interested.
 
I am not sure any M3's were made in 9mm Para, but conversion kits were.
Click to expand...

I have seen at least one 9mm "grease gun" and even had a chance to buy it. A gentleman had it and a .45 grease gun in his table at a small gun show in Gainesville, FL, in 1965, during the halcyon days prior to the GCA of 68. They had both been dewatted by "plugging" the barrels with lead. I was offered the pair for the (then) princely sum of $100.00.

Apparently the 9mm was known as the "T20" (or some such), and, indeed, consisted of a replacement barrel, a lighter bolt and an adaptor to allow it to use Sten mags.

At any rate, I was a poor college student at the time and didn't 100 cents, much less 100 dollars, and, even then, I knew it was a no-no to reactivate the weapon without the tax stamp.:D
 
Amen. The M3A1 is one of my favorite SMGs. As Jim Keenan mentioned, the M3A1 is ingenious with its simplicity and the extra do-dads (integrated mag-assist-loader, cleaning rod fixture). Mags are super durable, but the feed lips will chew up your thumbs if you don't have a mag loader.

Such a fun firearm. If you get a chance to shoot one, do it.
 
Yesterday police in Newburgh NY [highest crime rate in NY state] caught a BG with a Sten gun !! That was a surprise ,you don't see many of those these days. The British SMG in WWII, reliable , durable and low cost to make.
Cost is significant during wartime and the M3 was much cheaper to make than the Thompson. Sheet metal parts can be made by any company that makes sheet metal propducts. A few years ago History Channel had an interesting film made by the Danish resistance .They were making SMGs in a toy factory right under the noses of the Germans !! :p
 
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