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Strange 9mm Grease Gun ?


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This is a Guide Lamp 9mm that was made for OSS not SAS. They were the same dimensions as the 45 and had the magazine well adapter put in to use STEN mags. These were marked 9mm from the factory and not very common to see in the states. I would love to have that for the collection but there is no way to import it. Would love to know the story behind it and what happened to the rest of the parts.

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I seem to recall that years and years ago I saw either an ad for, or article on, the OSS Guide Lamp 9mm. It might have been in Small Arms of the World too, which is not at my residence right now. Probably not an ad, since they weren't a "kit", right?

The Sten mag adaptor was interesting. I always wondered why they went that route but it likely made $$ sense.

I wonder if Rock Island Arsenal Museum has one. THAT place is amazing. Multiples of many models of weapons.

Cheers,

Ron

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What exactly is the story behind the 9mm kits? What all was needed to convert?

 

Only because I think I've read somewhere (can't remember where or when) that 9mm kits were made and issued for conversion if you were going to be behind the lines where resupplying with .45s wasn't an option. That way you could use German ammo. Anything to this?

 

Andrew

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Add the magazine adapter, swap out the barrel and bolt then you have a 9mm M3 or M3A1. Yes the concept was to use behind the lines where 45 wasn't as easy to find as 9mm. The magazine well was the same on the 45 vs 9mm marked ones and they both used the same adapter to make it work.
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The OSS & SOE had some peculiar notions. For example the SOE developed the WELLGUN SMG as well as an interesting remanufacture of the PO8 into a SMG

Our OSS adopted the UD42s that never made it to the Dutch East Indies, later they did the 9mm M3s

 

Just a side bar, pretty sure Indianapolis Ordinance offers reproduction magazine well inserts as well as 9mm barrels currently

 

Seen just one of the OSS M3s. Was in a small private museum in Canada with a .32 Welrod. Pretty crazy, little town in SK, guns were just sitting there on pegs. One was free to pick them up and play with them. Not even a curator. Just a jar full of funny money at the door to make a free will donation. Different times indeed, nothing behind glass.

 

When I was much younger I had the pleasure of chatting up a couple European theater OSS vets. The one claimed that the 9mm M3s and kits were actually developed for air dropping to partisan groups on the continent. Makes some sense.

One of my late cousins in Norway that was a partisan leader carried a 28' TSMg during the war with a 1914 Konigsberg 1911. I know in the 70s he still had both out at the farm south of Trondheim. Allegedly the Brits had smuggled in some Thompsons for them. Again makes sense as .45 ACP was military standard in Norway.

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