SHOOTING THE GREASE GUN

[Golddollar]

Didn't they make a 9x19 conversion kit for the M3A1?

Rather than rely on an aging memory, I consulted my firearms library for documentation. In one of my books about military weapons, it was stated that the original M3 design contemplated being able to convert the M3 submachine gun from .45 ACP to 9mm Luger by swapping out the barrel and bolt and adding an adaptor to the magazine.

 

[ACP230]

I've shot a few M3s. One of my favorite subguns to use.
I prefer FA weapons with a slow rate of fire, shot in short
bursts.

The words, "So ugly they are cute," come to mind when the
M3 or M3A1 is discussed.

 

[Golddollar]

The words, "So ugly they are cute," come to mind when the
M3 or M3A1 is discussed.

Same thing with my .455 Webley.

 

[Yorkie Man]

When I started at the police department in the 80's we still had a grease gun, a Reising and a Thompson from the Civil Defense era. I fired all three and I remember the grease gun being the most enjoyable. The Reising was lighter than the Thompson which was also slow.
From civilian law enforcement point of view all three are obsolete because you can't control where all of the rounds go, there aren't any cities in the USA that have free fire zones for the police.

We also had one of the USAS 12 full auto shotguns, totally worthless.

 

[Tu_S]

IIRC, you could increase the rate of fire by replacing the recoil springs.

The stock could be removed and be used as a magazine loader. It could also be used as a cleaning rod and a wrench for the barrel nut.

The M3s I shot were quite accurate at 50 yards. It was easy to shoot single shots.

I was a 45b20 Small Arms Repairman for the Army 1969 to 1972.

During 2020 and the Covid shutdown/stay at home stage, watched a lot of YouTube and discovered the Forgotten Weapons channel. Don't know everything about every gun made, but for the ones I do know about, Ian McCollum gets it right, or when he's wrong, will edit the video and put subtitles into them to correct things.

He does have a video for the M3 where he mentions the loading tool and barrel wrench on the M3A1.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivr4QdhVtU&t=1067s[/ame]

 

[usmc2427765]

In 1968, the "grease gun" was still a T/O weapon on the M48A3 USMC tank.

 

[old tanker]

There was a second production run of M3A1 grease guns during the Korean war. Ithaca made about 50,000 of them. Twenty plus years of Armor units, I saw plenty of grease guns. They were BII, part of the vehicle issue for tanks and recovery vehicles. M48's, M60's, Sheridans, M88's and M578's all had two. In all that time I have only seen two Ithacas. One was in a National Guard arms room in Wisconsin and the other Kent Lomont had for sale at Knob Creek twenty some years ago.

Finally retired in the mid Nineties after fifty years in service, I'd say Guide Lamp did a pretty good job and Uncle Sam got his fifteen bucks worth.

After making First Sergeant and trading a tank for jeep I had the Armorer assign me one whenever we were in the field.

 

[7shooter]

A Viet Nam vet told me they would take advantage of the M16s rising on full auto by putting the rifle on it's side and shooting from behind cover.

 

[Smoke]

The Maintenance Crews all had them when I was in Germany in 1988.

We had a Machinist/Welder in our unit (Smart guy, he made the Army train him in an actual Trade that he could use after the Army) who had to fabricate spare parts for a couple of them. He said he could make one for about fifty bucks.

 

[Gene L]

A Viet Nam vet told me they would take advantage of the M16s rising on full auto by putting the rifle on it's side and shooting from behind cover.

Shooting from behind cover: Yes. Shooting on its side: no

 

[poledorus]

I was introduced to the Grease Gun in 1987, when I led an M60 tank platoon. As described, the gun was slow and rocked violently, climbing all the way. Short bursts definitely required for control. I found that hip shooting with the wire stock wedged against my side helped control the gun. Also, holding the gun at a slight angle with the ejection port facing down-to-the-right helped keep the odd hot brass from winging into your face. In one case, a spent case ripped by the ejection process sliced the forehead of a fellow LT. All in all, carrying the M3 was totally 'tacticool.' But one definitely needed considerable practice to master. Would still carry one today.

 

[Smoke]

A Viet Nam vet told me they would take advantage of the M16s rising on full auto by putting the rifle on it's side and shooting from behind cover.

M16s don't rise unless you are REALLY limpwristing it

 

[ironhead7544]

The M16A1 rifle on full auto will rise up and to the right when fired.

 

[Smoke]

The M16A1 rifle on full auto will rise up and to the right when fired.

Not one time ever have I seen an A1 do that.

Not even in BRM when one of the instructors placed the butt stock on his tortugas and do a full auto mag dump to prove the recoil wasn't that bad.

 

[Retired W4]

I've owned and own many Class III weapons over the years. The little Greasegun is still my favorite. It's always a crowd pleaser at MG events. People always ask to shoot it. Here's me at one of these events with mine, suppressed of course! I just love this little guy. Sorry, couldn't get the video to download.

I want to shoot it Ken. Please.

 

[clang444]

The Maintenance Crews all had them when I was in Germany in 1988.

We had a Machinist/Welder in our unit (Smart guy, he made the Army train him in an actual Trade that he could use after the Army) who had to fabricate spare parts for a couple of them. He said he could make one for about fifty bucks.

In 1985 our unit in Germany went Mechanized (M113s). Drivers and TCs got 1911s, but the guys in the motor pool that operated the M88 got got M3s. Maybe the Army thought only motor pool guys knew how to handle a grease gun...

: )

 

[Murdock]

Didn't they make a 9x19 conversion kit for the M3A1?

There was an article in the old Machinegun News about 1995 or so by Frank Iannammico (sp?) About his personal M3A1. He had a 9x19 conversion unit for it, and it used Sten magazines. He gave a little bit of history on the conversion units but I don't recall who made them, or how many were made.

 

[biku324]

My BIL was 11E in VN 67-68 and mostly drove M-113 APCs. He had an M3, not sure if it was A1. He never needed it.

In the batch of Garands, M1 & M2 carbines, and BARs that came back from the Philippines in '19 was a batch of M3s. I'm sure they were destroyed.

 

[OldOutlaw]

There was a second production run of M3A1 grease guns during the Korean war. Ithaca made about 50,000 of them. Twenty plus years of Armor units, I saw plenty of grease guns. They were BII, part of the vehicle issue for tanks and recovery vehicles. M48's, M60's, Sheridans, M88's and M578's all had two. In all that time I have only seen two Ithacas. One was in a National Guard arms room in Wisconsin and the other Kent Lomont had for sale at Knob Creek twenty some years ago.

Finally retired in the mid Nineties after fifty years in service, I'd say Guide Lamp did a pretty good job and Uncle Sam got his fifteen bucks worth.

After making First Sergeant and trading a tank for jeep I had the Armorer assign me one whenever we were in the field.

We were issued the M3A1 in our M48 tanks in 1963. I really
did like getting to the range with one. Good times.

 

[max503]

Found some images in the attached link showing the M3 used in a tank turret with a porthole "periscope" mount and the 90-degree barrel attachment. In that application the weapon could be used against troops swarming the tank without crew members having to open the hatch or expose themselves.
Krummlauf grease: The bent-barrel SMG meant to shoot from inside a tank (VIDEO) :: Guns.com

Years ago I recall seeing photos of the M3 being used during house-to-house combat during WW2, shooting around corners of buildings.

Also noted some errors in my earlier post. Manufacturer was Guide Lamp Company (not Signal Lamp Company) and the magazines were 30-round capacity (not 20-round). It seems that a half-century has had some effect on my memory!

That is the darnedest thing I've ever seen. Without the pictures I wouldn't have believed it.