M3A1

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 17:42 Written by Administrator Friday, 03 July 2009 00:09

The M3A1 was a submachine gun designed in the United States by George Hyde in 1942. The submachine gun was designed as a cheaper alternative to other weapons in service such as the Thompson. The M3A1 was popularly known as the “grease gun” because of its appearance.

The M3A1 was constructed from pressed steel parts and poses very few engineering problems to its manufacturer—General Motors. Approximately 680,000 units of the grease gun were manufactured from 1943 to 45. The weapon continues to be in service as of today.

The M3A1 was chambered for .45 ACP ammunition. However subsequently, a version chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum was also developed. The submachine gun fed from a 30-round detachable box magazine and had a rate of fire of 350-450 rounds per minute. The rate of fire of the M2A1 was very low for a submachine gun.

Overall, the quality of the M3A1 was not very excellent. However, large numbers of the weapon were manufactured and thus it served its purpose of providing fire power to a large number of troops in the field.