jim c 351 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 As a retired person with too much time on his hands, I found myself reading old posts on the M3 forum. I stumbled upon a friendly debate that took place over a year ago . It involved the M3 vs the HK MP5. It jogged my memory of something that took place at our anual subgun match this past sept. An experienced husband and wife team are H&K fanatics. The wife shoots the compact MP 5. She didn't do well in semi match with a time of 173 sec. She was hitting the plates but the little 9 wasn't putting them down. Something went wrong in the FA match and she ended with a DNF. She was too upset to talk about it, so I don't know what happened. I would hate to lose a lady shooter, so I offered to let her shoot my M3 in the Vintage class. She accepted and handled the M3 really well. Her M3 time of 119 sec. was better than 2 of her husbands 3 times with the MP5. Her last words to her husband as she left the club were,-"I want a grease gun. Like the Army training film said "you can count on this gun to get you out of a tight spot". It came thru last Sept. Jim C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNGUY45 Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Yep, We had 2 in every M60 tank, I carried the M3/M3a1 on MANY E/W German Border Foot Patrols. always felt more secure than just carrying the ol' .45. even with only 5 rds in the Mag. Pete A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougStump Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 In the first gulf war the tankers were still using the M3A1 in the tanks. I got to fondle a couple of them. The grease gun that is. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 My only experience with the M3 was in the Army (cavalry), where the members of our tank sections were still issued the M3 and M3A1. We tried to fire them for familiarization annually. They were not reliable, being prone to stoppages and failures to feed. I wouldn't own one today. I was supposed to carry one, but nearly always managed to wrangle an M1911A1 out of the arms room instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim c 351 Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 My only experience with the M3 was in the Army (cavalry), where the members of our tank sections were still issued the M3 and M3A1. We tried to fire them for familiarization annually. They were not reliable, being prone to stoppages and failures to feed. I wouldn't own one today. I was supposed to carry one, but nearly always managed to wrangle an M1911A1 out of the arms room instead. TSMGguy, Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the M3. Since I was not present , I can't comment on what went wrong. I bought my M3 in 2007 and shoot about 200 to 300 rds once a month , April thru Nov. I shoot mostly lead reloads out of the gun, mostly round nose, but sometimes SWC. In addition, I frequently let others shoot it if they use quality factory ammo. Its the only SMG I own that I can't remember ever having a failure of any kind, and without having done anything more than cleaning it. A dozen different mags were used. A M1 Savage is next best. With this gun I had some Crosby mags fall out when shooting. The 28A1 Bridgeport will give problems when least expected, as recently as this past summer. The Reising is pretty dependable now, but it took a few years working the bugs out. My Uzi wasn't worth a shit until I had a semi feed ramp installed. Would I take a 1911 into combat instead of my M3? Only if I was drunk out of my mind. I guess you have proof that soldiers can screw up anything. If I may quote the Army training film--"easy to carry, rugged, and dependable, the submachine gun, 45 caliber,M3 is all that a soldier could ask for in a weapon of this type.--in the tight spots thats better than an extra right arm". Thanks for your story. Jim C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hammer Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Never had a stoppage with my M3, never. But I wouldn't trade my Thompson against it. For me the greasegun has too low a firing rate, ka-chug...ka-chucg...ka-chug...I don't understand the reasoning behind the the slow rate other than the military wanting the rounds to last longer. The slow rate actually throws off the accuracy for me. Has anyone out there successfully increased the firing rate on an M3, and if so how did you you acheive it? Mike Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNGUY45 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 jim c, I think alot of the army units used a limited number of guns for "fam fire" thus keeping the rest clean, without wear. At least that was my experience in the 3rd, and 11th Cav in 1979-1983. We would line up, load up, shoot 1 mag at a 55 gal. drum at 30 meters, clear it, and hand it to the next guy. Ours always seemed to work. Our .45s were another story, I could shake the one I was issued in Germany, and it rattled, well, like a rattle. I had to aim at the bottom of the target to hit any where on the scoring rings. I would complain to the armorer, but they never did anything to it..... It's who you know.... Just my experience, YMMV. Pete A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNGUY45 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Mike Hammer, I was told you could put M219 springs(cut down) into the Grease guns, and that it would increase the rate of fire, but I've never tried it. Could just be an old army tale.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim c 351 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Never had a stoppage with my M3, never. But I wouldn't trade my Thompson against it. For me the greasegun has too low a firing rate, ka-chug...ka-chucg...ka-chug...I don't understand the reasoning behind the the slow rate other than the military wanting the rounds to last longer. The slow rate actually throws off the accuracy for me. Has anyone out there successfully increased the firing rate on an M3, and if so how did you you acheive it? Mike Hammer Mike, I have to admit that when I first fired the grease gun in 1963 I felt the same as you. The M3 fired way to slow. It seemed like I could fire a M1 carbine faster. Back in 63 we were just shooting for familiarization at a silhouette target of maybe just for kicks at a hillside. Back then I thought the FA M14 was the cats pajamas. It made a lot of noise and raised a lot of dust. But since owning my own M3 I've come to realize that the US Army did not design a 400 RPM gun by accident. It was the Army's goal. Naturally not wasting ammo was one reason. That why the TSMG has a selector. To reduce wasting ammo. But shooting a steel plate match taught me that hitting every target in the shorted possible time is more important than making noise and raising dust. The M3 does that for me. If I were to use a paper plate for a target and do a 20 rd burst at 25 yds, I'll always put more holes in the target with the M3 than with the Thompson. Perhaps that not the same for you. Speed up the M3? For me Hell No. Jim C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglewalk Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) I used the Grease gun once against VC/NVA suckers, when a few of us tankers dismounted and swept thru a remote village with our ACAV comrades on foot. (about 5 miles west of Hill 29) They were running from us after we kind of surprised them by some of us being on foot. Of course the enemy could hear our diesel engines of our M-48a3 tanks & M113 ACAVs a long ways off. They went to ground, as a routine as we passed, but this time a bunch of us dismounted and walked thru the vill while our armored vehicles skirted the village area. Six to seven of them took a few shots at us as they popped out of no-where and darted out of the area. I was carrying a Grease gun from our tank, and my issue 1911-45. I quickly pulled the M3 up to my shoulder & opened up on one of them just as he went over a 5 foot dike. It was dry season and my rounds sure kicked up a lot of dust & debri, and I thought I got him. (about a 100 yd shot) When we got up to where they were, we found a tunnel hole, and that's where most of these guys probably went....Our demolition man commenced to place wonderful shape charges atop the tunnel entrance, and layed the explosives out in different directions as to which way they went underground. Gunguy45, I never heard of using M219 springs in the M-3s ;........ we had the M73 coax machine gun in Viet nam,.....but what we did,(they did it before I got there), was to put two magazine springs in one magazine, because the one little ole mag/spring alone had a hard time pushing the 45 ammo up after the mags layed around a week or two loaded. The one spring, after being depressed for any long period, lost its strength. Yes, the mag had less capacity, but at least they functioned when needed. ....I always felt the Grease gun's rate of fire was just right, especially when walking the rounds into the target area. ...I wish I had a M3 now.....but I do have one of Valerie Johnson's M3a1 sa Grease guns. You can almost fire it as fast as the fa, and the feel to the shoulder & hands are nearly the same. I have mine suppressed, and it is quite interesting to shoot, especially thru the 'Jungle Walk' course at Knob Creek.......bobh (Tank A-15, 1st Pla, A Trp, 1/1 Cav, 68-69) Edited January 22, 2011 by junglewalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edo Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hello! Glad to hear more good things about the M-3. Would you be willing to share your hand load recipe for the 45 ACP's you use in your trusty Grease Gun? I have all the stuff I need to start re-loading. Thanks for any help... Edo in Virginia My only experience with the M3 was in the Army (cavalry), where the members of our tank sections were still issued the M3 and M3A1. We tried to fire them for familiarization annually. They were not reliable, being prone to stoppages and failures to feed. I wouldn't own one today. I was supposed to carry one, but nearly always managed to wrangle an M1911A1 out of the arms room instead. TSMGguy, Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the M3. Since I was not present , I can't comment on what went wrong. I bought my M3 in 2007 and shoot about 200 to 300 rds once a month , April thru Nov. I shoot mostly lead reloads out of the gun, mostly round nose, but sometimes SWC. In addition, I frequently let others shoot it if they use quality factory ammo. Its the only SMG I own that I can't remember ever having a failure of any kind, and without having done anything more than cleaning it. A dozen different mags were used. A M1 Savage is next best. With this gun I had some Crosby mags fall out when shooting. The 28A1 Bridgeport will give problems when least expected, as recently as this past summer. The Reising is pretty dependable now, but it took a few years working the bugs out. My Uzi wasn't worth a shit until I had a semi feed ramp installed. Would I take a 1911 into combat instead of my M3? Only if I was drunk out of my mind. I guess you have proof that soldiers can screw up anything. If I may quote the Army training film--"easy to carry, rugged, and dependable, the submachine gun, 45 caliber,M3 is all that a soldier could ask for in a weapon of this type.--in the tight spots thats better than an extra right arm". Thanks for your story. Jim C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim c 351 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Edo, Hi, glad to hear from another GG shooter. I use 230 gr lead bullets that I either cast myself or buy at gun shows. 5.5 gr of Unique Powder and CCI primers. Cases are whatever is on hand. Jim C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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