Does anyone know what this tool is for?

N

nutsforsmiths

Member
Bronze Supporter
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
1,448
Reaction score
1,347
Location
Western Washington
Hello,

I'm pretty sure it is a magazine loading tool of some kind. It came in a box of Thompson and MAC-10 stick magazines that I have. It doesn't seem to fit either of those. It also doesn't look like anything pitures I have seen for a Sten or Grease Gun loader either. There is a serial number of G.L. C153432. The small arm with the pointy end comes out and retracts when the lever is pulled.

Any help is appreciated!

nutsforsmiths-albums-my-photos-picture22806-20210202-112628-a.jpg
 
Register to hide this ad
The cocking handle was prone to breakage and was eliminated on the M3A1. It was replaced by a hole that was machined into the side of the bolt. You opened the ejection port cover, stuck your finger in the hole and pulled the bolt back to cock it.
 
Here's pic of a complete U.S. M3 (grease gun) submachine gun. You can see the cocking lever, identical to the picture in the OP. Most of the grease guns in WWII were the M3 models, not the M3A1 "hole in the bolt" later variant, which was not distributed until 1944, late in the war. I suspect the M3s were mostly destroyed in favor of the more reliable M3A1s, which continued in service for a fairly long time after the war, mostly in the hands of tank crews.

As a side note, the safety on both models was the ejection port cover. When closed, it pushed the bolt back a bit free of the sear, and blocked the bolt from going forward. These guns fired from the open bolt position.

John

 
Last edited:
PALADIN85020 said:
As a side note, the safety on both models was the ejection port cover. When closed, it pushed the bolt back a bit free of the sear, and blocked the bolt from going forward. These guns fired from the open bolt position.
Click to expand...
That's interesting, never knew that, but I suspected something like that after seeing the film Fury. When they give the FNG Norman a grease gun, they tell him to close the port cover whenever he's not using it.
 
Hair Trigger said:
That's interesting, never knew that, but I suspected something like that after seeing the film Fury. When they give the FNG Norman a grease gun, they tell him to close the port cover whenever he's not using it.
Click to expand...
Yup, that scene is exactly what I thought of too...
Grady, (flipping the port cover open) "Now you killin'..." (flipping the port cover closed) "...now you ain't."
 
Last edited:
We had several of them at the Laboratory Division Firearms Unit and in the gun vault. I got to shoot quite a few rounds through them. Much lighter and a fraction of the cost of a Thompson, but I prefer the Thompson.
 
The M3A1 made it to the 80s. My Combat Engineer battalion transitioned from wheeled to mechanized in 1985. We turned in out 5 ton dump trucks and were issued reconditioned M113s that were handed down from the infantry guys who were getting Bradley IFVs.

Our motor pool was issued an M88 Recovery Vehicle in place of a wrecker.

The APC drivers and TCs were issued 1911s but the motor pool guys in the M88 got M3 grease guns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BB57
Beretta 84BB
2 3
Replies
47
Views
7K
Warren Sear
Warren Sear
glshuck
New to me nickel 19 no dash, and some questions for the experts
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
glshuck
glshuck
ImDrRich
Bodyguard 2.0 issues and some potential solutions -
2 3 4
Replies
71
Views
24K
DL3
D
M
60+ YEAR COLLECTION OF FIREARM PARTS, ACCESSORIES, MILITARIA, & ARTIFACTS
Replies
9
Views
2K
Marcus von W.
M
BMCM
Briley Bushings - Might I have a word
2
Replies
23
Views
4K
44wheelman
4

Latest posts

Back
Top