I Have This Old Gun: U.S. M3A1 Grease Gun

at the outset of America's entry into World War two the government decided that the Thompson submachine gun was heavy it was hard to produce it was expensive had a lot of moving parts and decided we need an all-metal very simple foolproof submachine gun so they called in General Motors the inland division and a gentleman named George Hyde and another gentleman named Samson and they decided to develop this submachine gun in response to the Army's requirements the grease gun offered not only low cost but it could be manufactured using modern techniques very quickly and it was simple but even though we introduced something that was simplified it still wasn't quite simple enough and so this very simple and inexpensive submachine gun was made even simpler with the introduction of the m3 a1 and the m3a1 grease gun looks almost just like the m3 grease gun with one notable exception and that exception has to do with the way that the bolt is cocked back for firing [Music] during World War two the m3 grease gun serves and the configuration that we best know which is the configuration that is equipped with a crank handle on the right side of the weapon the crank handle which is used to pull the bolt back to the rear firing position because it is after all an open bolt direct low back submachine gun well the experience of combat demonstrated that that sheet metal crank handle was a bit of a weak point if a soldier or a marine dropped the weapon on that crank handle and broke it off suddenly the operator has no means of cocking the bolt and so this very simple and inexpensive submachine gun was made even simpler with the introduction of the m3 a1 and the m3a1 grease gun looks almost just like the m3 grease gun with one notable exception because on the m3 a one that crank handle from the m3 has been deleted as unnecessary a superfluous part and instead they compensated for it by simply machining a finger hole into the side of the bolt so that the operator had only to stick his index finger into the bolt and pull it to the rear you go into the Korean War and the m3 in particular the m3 a1 is the standard-issue submachine gun of US forces and that's where ethica best known for its double and pump-action shotguns became a submachine gun manufacturer and if the co was given a contract during the war the manufacturer of the m3 a one after the Korean War the m3 a1 is our standard submachine gun and it's being used by mainly army units although there are some Marines who who had m3a1 grease guns in Vietnam and there are stories of these being used in different units National Guard units all the way up into the 1990s the m3 submachine gun today is a prized collector's firearm anyone who goes down the route of collecting US military firearms from the second world war from the Korean War or from beyond they would always like to add a grease gun to their collection so if you ever have the opportunity to see one in person or - let's hope fire one they provide an experience that is unsurpassed an experience that will automatically take you back to fighting on the plains of Western Europe in 1945 or fighting in the streets of Seoul in 1950 or maybe even writing as a tank crewman in the desert in Saudi Arabia in 1991 the grease gun covered that really impressive spread of American military history and all of that for just under $21 quite a bargain surprisingly there are very few grease guns legally registered under the National Firearms Act so they're a lot more expensive than you might think that's all the time that we have for this week if you like this show and you're not an NRA member you need to join now go to American Rifleman I'm mark Keefe and I'll see you next week right here on American Rifleman television you

Channel: NRApubs

Views: 102,963

Rating: 4.8553247 out of 5

Keywords: ARTV, American Rifleman TV, U.S. M3A1 Grease Gun, M3A1 Grease Gun, Submachine Gun, Military Gun, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Mark Keefe

Id: M5DK-l-C4aI

Length: 5min 2sec (302 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 23 2018