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Is it possible to modify an M3A1 to an M3?


zavrit
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I've searched through all of the pages and didn't see an answer to my question. Maybe I missed a thread on this?

 

Question: Can an M3A1 be converted to an M3 by just changing the bolt and the ejector/charging handle assembly? I know the dust cover and ejection port will not be correct. Is it as simple as that to use a functioning M3 charging handle on an M3A1?

 

This will be a post sample built in the near future and I've always liked the M3 model. Watched "Hell is For Heroes" and "Dirty Dozen" quite a bit as a kid and always liked the M3 model.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Dan

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There's no accounting for taste, I know. I was issued both back in the day but preferred the M3A1 because of its simplified cocking. The cocking handles on our old M3s would occasionally bind, a problem that the M3A1s didn't have. Granted, the guns were already over thirty years old, but IMHO the M3A1 was the better, more reliable design.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What a great question. Now here's something for thought...

 

I had Joe Jones manufacture a custom integral suppressor for my M3. He had previously made one for "Machine Gun Mike" (youTube) and we both thought it would work seamlessly in the M3. It did not. There was, as it turned out, a headspace or bolt face clearance difference between the two models. I don't know the exact issue, but I did have to ship my gun to Joe so he could hand tune the trunnion mating.

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There shouldnt be any difference in the trunnion area between an M3 and M3A1 as the barrels will swap between the two and the bolt faces are identical. The only difference in the bolt (besides the finger cut out) is the ejector slot on the bottom is full length instead of stopping short.

 

You could have some tolerance stacking-front plate thickness, firing pin difference, rim spot face difference, placement of the trunnion prior to welding being off.

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