I love the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun, especially the M1A1 model. Do you guys think we should’ve replaced the Thompson with the Grease Gun? Personally I hate the Army for doing that.
*Thompson
*Operation- Selective fire (fully and semi-automatic)
*Caliber - .45 (11.4 mm)
*Muzzle velocity- 280 mps (920 fps)
*Ammunition- .45 ACP, 230 gr bullet, 5 gr charge
*Capacity- Thompson (M1928A1): 50-round drum & 20- and 30-round detachable box magazine.
*M1 and M1A1: 20-and 30-round detachable box magazine
*Weight - 4.9 kg (11 lbs)
*Overall length- 85.6 cm (33.7 in)
*Rate of fire- 600 to 725 rpm
*Effective range- 50m (55yds)
*Grease Gun
*Operation - Fully Automatic, Blowback
*Caliber - .45 (11.4 mm)
*Muzzle velocity- 280 mps (920 fps)
*Ammunition- .45 ACP, 230 gr bullet, 5 gr charge
*Capacity - 30-round detachable box magazine
*Weight - 8 lbs
*Overall length- 2ft 5.8in, stock extended
1ft 10.8in, stock retracted
*Rate of fire- 350-450 rpm
*Effective range- 50m (55yds)
I have some friends that moved away along time ago and they tested the thompson and said they loved it
Hi guys,
Do you know comparison of the cost of Thompson and GG?
You may hate the Army but some fellows were thinking dollars - big dollars!
Thompson was a beautiful SMG. Grease Gn - something little bit better than Sten.
BTW - Ukrainians are currently selling Thompsons in 11.43 and 9mm versions for about $2000. Brand new - still covered with grease - surplus from soviet Land Lease - hidden for that many years…
Lancer44
Edited:
I wrote “little big better” and changed it to “little bit better”.
[SIZE=2]Firing a Thompson in 9mm? I’m sure it would be cheaper, but It just wouldn’t feel the same. Does anyone know what the troops thought of the M3A1 Grease Gun? I’ve only seen a few pictures of airborne units with it.
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http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/grease.htm
this might help some thought the man that made this used a grease gun during Veitnam.
The Thompson was a weapon of a previous age, heavily machined from solid metal. Therefore expensive and heavy, even in its stripped down M1A1 version.
The grease gun was an exceptionally clever bit of design, but looked odd to soldiers brought up on heavily machined designs. But, there are extremely good reasons why it became the standard and the Thompson was designated limited standard".
Does anyone know how long the Grease Gun served to?
Its still in service to my knowlege.
[b]
Thats what I have read too. But I have not seen any modern American troops with the M3. Issued to tankers maybe? Anyone know?[/b]
They remained in limited use with U.S. military into the 1990s, to include service in the 1991 Gulf War (e.g. drivers in the 19th Engineer Battalion, which was attached to the U.S. 1st Armored Division, deployed with the M3A1 as an alternate arm) and as defensive weapon for the crews of M88A1 ARV, until replaced by the M4 Carbine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_Grease_Gun
Maybe they have gone out of official service, but I’m sure a few unofficial ones remain?
Edit: To fix quote tags
Here are some pics I took from a local museum:
if you read the link i posted at the bottom it says “The M3A1 is still in use in our armed forces today.”
Off-topic:
M3 Grease Guns issued to Philippine Marine Corps Battallion Special Operations Platoons:
nice i like the camo
Interesting photo of Thompsons in German hands.
From “Die Wehrmacht” by J. Pillmot.
And because ww2admin show us nice photo of BAR maybe you’ll like to see Polish BAR:
Photo is from Warsaw Uprising.
MPW site.
Lancer44
Great pictures. I always thought that the Germans used captured American and British weapons, but I only had confirmation on Germans using the PPSH and SVT40s.
Maybe they have gone out of official service, but I’m sure a few unofficial ones remain?
i’m sure that there may be some left in some of the older M60A3 tanks out there…lol…personally i’d rather have one of those intead of an M4.just gotta keep up the operating rod springs.
the story on the ukranian thompsons is that they got shipped over inside of M3 stewart light tanks and other lend lease vehicles.since the russians had no ammo for them as gerneral issue,they just stacked them somewhere for the duration…alot of guns and parts hitting the market right now from this supply.
I’ve read the German troops liked certain Allied weapons, and the often poached the M1 Carbine because is was light and semi-auto, in keeping with their close assault tactics.
The German use of " Beutewaffen" was extremely widespread, particularly in non front-line units, the Germans giving their own model numbers to Allied weaponry.
So they dumped thier weapons and borrowed some from the allies.