M3 Grease Gun or Swiss Army Knive?

[Robert Luland]

I screwed this up

[Robert Luland]

Good day lads, I was reading the American Rifleman (The NRA journal) a couple of weeks ago at my kids ball game when I came across this article in the question and answer category. I figured you’d get a kick out of this tid bit of knowledge. When I went to get a file picture of the gun I found the second article. I mean any backyard tractor technologist could appreciate this. Enjoy, Bob L

I have heard that the M3 submachine gun (“grease gun”) was made by the American Can Company. Given its stamped and welded sheet metal construction, this doesn’t seem unreasonable. Is this true or a tall tale?

I’ve also heard this claim but it is firmly in the “tall tale” category. The M3 submachine guns-and the later M3A1 variant – were manufactured for the U.S. Government during World War II solely by the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. The M3A1 submachine gun was briefly put back into production under the U.S. Government contract in the mid -1950’s by the Ithaca Gun Company. No other entities, including can companies, made the crude but reliable “grease gun” for the U.S. Government.
This is reminiscent of another tall tale (or “urban legend” to use the current vernacular) that continues to pop up from time to time- the claim that the M16 rifle was manufactured by the Mattel Toy Company during the Vietnam War. Like the “can company M3”, it simply didn’t happen.
-Bruce N. Canfield-
The following additional information is courtesy of Bob Caulkins "I carried a grease gun in Vietnam while I served with the First Marine Division (66-68). There are several neat things about the gun that don't appear in the description and I'd like to tell you about them. The gun had a built-in oiler in the base of the grip. After turning the gun over, the knob seen in the illustration is unscrewed revealing an oil reservoir and an oil applicator. The wire stock was a masterpiece of American ingenuity. It was a wrench for removing the barrel, the barrel had two grooves machined into it into which the wire stock was placed and then turned to loosen the barrel. One of the stock rods was threaded at the forward end to take a bore brush and drilled out to take a cleaning patch, and finally, there was a small "L" shaped piece of steel welded to the butt of the stock, as seen in the illustration, that functioned as a magazine loader. Trying to thumb load 30 rounds into the mag was a chore. This twenty-eight dollar, or so, piece of stamped, welded and machined metal was a beauty, on the several occasions when I needed it, it never failed me. "
Among the different types of submachine guns used by the Chinese Communist forces during the first year of the Korea War was their .45 cal Type 36 copy of the M3A1
The M3A1 is still in use in our armed forces today. Not a bad record for a gun that hasn't been manufactured for over 40 years!

[motorhead1]

Another contribution by the Guide division.
http://www.mouseguns.com/blast/lib.htm