Originally posted by funked:
Mav is the grease gun still in use? My dad talks about those with great reverence, and they were old when he was using them (circa 1970).
Funked,
The grease gun is still in limited use. It was issued as a side arm for Armor crewmen. There aren't too many but the Guard Armor units still using the M60 version of tanks still have it in their TOE (Table of Organization and Equipment) I think the M1 crews are being issued the CAR 16 instead of the grease gun as that would eliminate the need for .45 ammo. Nothing else in the "normal" military inventory needs .45's. This is outside of the "special ops" folks who still may be using the old 45 as a special tactical weapon.
I never had a problem with the grease gun as far as jamming or mangling rounds. The problem cited by another person (can't recall who now darnit) sounds like a simple case of a bad magazine. That can happen with ANY magazine fed weapon of the lips of the mag are bent or damaged. Pulling on the magazine as a handle instead of the magazine well can also pull the magazine out of alignment with the receiver and interfere with feeding. You'll only hold the barrel during firing once. It heats up REAL fast and is only about 8" long.
The grease gun fires from an open bolt so the mechanism is extremely simple. The firing pin is actually a small protruding bump welded on the face of the bolt, like a bb. As the bolt goes forward the bump hits the primer and it goes bang.
There are two main variants of the gun. The M-3 and M3A1. The difference is the cocking handle on the M3A1. The M3 has a notch cut into the bolt that you place your finger into and pull the bolt back until it locks. It was very hard for a soldier to do with gloves and the lever solved that problem.
The cover over the ejection port was also the safety. With the cover closed a small welded on piece of steel protruded into the path of the bolt to stop it from traveling forward. Very simple but effective. The damn thing could go off if the seer was tripped and the cover was holding the bolt so it's a REAL good idea to pull the mag or make sure the weapon is pointing in a safe direction before opening the cover.
The M3 was designed (if you can call it a design) to be very simple and cheap. It is so cheap the rear sight is a small tab welded to the top with a hole drilled through it to look through. Most had the hole off center too!
The front sight is a small piece of steel welded vertically to the top of the receiver behind where the barrel screws in. It was very reliable and fun to shoot. Shooting from the shoulder tended to turn it into an anti aircraft gun if you didn't watch it. The wire stock wasn't much of a cheek rest and only the first shot could really be called an aimed shot.
There was a quite noticeable delay from pulling the trigger and the actual slamming of the bolt forward. Since it was a straight blow back design the bolt is VERY heavy and the spring pressure on release really jolts the gun. It is for short range only. Anything past 30 to 50 yards is a spray and pray situation.
Rate of fire is not fast compared to a 9mm gun. Instead pf a BRAAAAAT, you get a chug chug chug kind of fire. I "think" it's about 200 rounds per minute. It's been a while since I was actively working with it.
Mav
