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M3 Submachine Gun
M3/M3A1 "Grease Gun"
Although there have been quantum leaps in submachine gun construction and design since the early 1940s (when the M3/M3A1 was designed), the M3/M3A1 is still an excellent example of its type. Due to the large .45 ACP round the M3/M3A1 fires and its simple construction with stamped/pressed steel, it is very reliable, extremely simple to operate, compact, has .45 caliber knockdown power, has relatively high controllability on full-auto due to the low cyclic rate, simplicity of fixing and maintaining it, cheap manufacturing costs, and ease of sound suppression and/or conversion to 9x19mm, all of which appealed to many in the early special forces and paratrooper communities. The compact size, reliability, and stopping power of this weapon kept it in service with the U.S. for decades after WW2 (particularly among armored vehicle crews up until the introduction of the M4 Carbine), and it is still used in some countries into the 21st century.
The original design of the M3 featured a crank-type cocking lever. In practice, it quickly became clear that it was fragile and prone to breakage, incapacitating the gun. As a result, some of the M3s were equipped by field gunsmiths with full-fledged charging handles as on other submachine guns, instead of the original levers. However, since the M3 bolt was so lightly-sprung that it could be pulled back with one finger, it was decided to simply equip it with a cocking notch, which was done on the subsequent M3A1, with production starting in December 1944.
Specifications
(1942 - 1994)
Type: Submachine Gun
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Caliber: .45 ACP
Weight: 8.15 lbs (3.70 kg) (M3), 7.95 lbs (3.61 kg) (M3A1)
Length: 29.8 in (75.7 cm) stock extended / 22.8 in (57.9 cm) stock collapsed
Barrel Length: 8 in (20.3 cm)
Capacity: 30-round detachable box magazine
Fire Modes: Full-Auto only (450 RPM)
The M3 Submachine Gun and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battleground | 101st Airborne troopers | M3 | 1949 | |
| The Most Wanted Man (L'Ennemi public No 1) | Fallone's henchmen | M3 | 1953 | |
| China Gate | Gene Barry | Sergeant Brock | M3 | 1957 |
| Nat "King" Cole | Goldie | |||
| Five Gates to Hell | Dolores Michaels | Athena Roberts | M3 | 1959 |
| Patricia Owens | Joy | |||
| Neville Brand | Chen Pamok | |||
| Ken Scott | Dr. John Richter | |||
| Nancy Kulp | Sister Susette | |||
| Nobu McCarthy | Chioko | |||
| Benson Fong | Gung Sa | |||
| John Morley | Dr. Jacques Minelle | |||
| Shirley Knight | Sister Maria | |||
| Greta Chi | Yvette | |||
| Vietnamesse guerillas | ||||
| Hell Is for Heroes | Steve McQueen | Reese | M3 | 1962 |
| The Black Seagull (Chyornaya chayka) | Aleksei Loktev | Ramon | M3 | 1962 |
| Anatoli Adoskin | Antonio | |||
| Cuban seamen | ||||
| The Testament of Dr. Mabuse | Gangsters and security guards | M3A1 | 1962 | |
| Dr. Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard | A British police constable | M3A1 | 1963 | |
| Battle of the Bulge | George Montgomery | Sgt. Duquesne | M3 | 1965 |
| None But the Brave | Sammy Jackson | Cpl. Craddock | M3 | 1965 |
| Brad Dexter | Sgt. Bleeker | |||
| Pierrot Goes Wild (Pierrot le Fou) | OAS members | 1965 | ||
| Is Paris Burning? | A French Resistance fighter | M3 | 1966 | |
| Wake Up and Die (Svegliati e uccidi) | An Italian criminal | 1966 | ||
| What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? | US Army soldier | 1966 | ||
| The Dirty Dozen | Lee Marvin | Major Reisman | M3; with and without "jungle-taped" magazines | 1967 |
| Stuart Cooper | Roscoe Lever | |||
| Al Mancini | Tassos Bravos | |||
| Richard Jaeckel | Sgt. Clyde Bowren | |||
| Telly Savalas | Archer Maggot | |||
| Donald Sutherland | Pinkley | |||
| Ben Carruthers | Glenn Gilpin | |||
| Charles Bronson | Joseph Wladislaw | |||
| Jim Brown | Jefferson | |||
| John Cassavetes | Victor Franko | |||
| German soldier | ||||
| Sorrel Flower (Fleur d'oseille) | Bob Sissa | "The Musician" | 1967 | |
| Operation Kid Brother | Neil Connery | Dr. Neil Connery | M3 | 1967 |
| THANATOS guards, Allied Intelligence agents | ||||
| Dark of the Sun | Kenneth More | Doc Wreid | 1968 | |
| Peter Carsten | Lt. Henlein | |||
| Olivier Despax | Lt. Surrier | |||
| Machine Gun McCain | Gangsters | 1969 | ||
| Five for Hell | Aldo Canti | Nick Amadori | M3 | 1969 |
| Salvatore Borghese | Al Siracusa | M3; With "jungle-taped" magazines | ||
| Samson Burke | Sgt. McCarthy | M3 | ||
| Luciano Rossi | Johnny White | M3 | ||
| The Mechanic | Bodyguards | M3 | 1972 | |
| Gang War in Naples | Vincenzo Falanga | Pietravalle's henchman | M3 | 1972 |
| The Mechanic | bodyguards | 1972 | ||
| The Violent Professionals | Bruno Corazzari | The blond robber | M3 | 1973 |
| Bruno Boschetti | The bearded robber | |||
| We Want the Colonels (Vogliamo i colonnelli) | Paramilitaries, carabiniers | M3 | 1973 | |
| No Way Out | Grunwald's henchman | 1973 | ||
| Rabid Dogs | Don Backy | "Blade" | M3 | 1974 |
| Emergency Squad (Squadra volante) | Gastone Moschin | Marsigliese | M3 | 1974 |
| Gambling City | Criminals | M3 | 1975 | |
| The Eagle Has Landed | Army Ranger | 1976 | ||
| The Muthers | Rosanne Katon | Anggie | M3 | 1976 |
| Pirates | ||||
| Sky Riders | Terrorists | 1976 | ||
| Greek Army | ||||
| A Special Cop in Action (Italia a mano armata) | Marcello Monti | Torri | M3 | 1976 |
| Death Force | Leon Isaac Kennedy | McGee | 1978 | |
| soldiers | ||||
| Go Tell the Spartans | Burt Lancaster | MAJ Asa Barker | M3 | 1978 |
| G.I. Samurai | Shin'ichi Chiba | Lt. Yoshiaki Iba | 1979 | |
| jsdf members | ||||
| From Hell to Victory | US Army soldiers | 1979 | ||
| Sailor Suit and Machine Gun | Tsunehiko Watase | Makoto Sakuma | Flashpaper replica | 1981 |
| Yuki Kazamatsuri | Mayumi Sandaiji | |||
| Hiroko Yakushimaru | Izumi Hoshi | |||
| Yakuza | ||||
| Across the Gobi and the Khingan (Govi Khyangand tulaldsan ni) | Valeriy Lushchevskiy | Temirkhanov | M3A1 | 1981 |
| Oasis of the Zombies | Eduardo Fajardo | Colonel Kurt Meitzell | 1982 | |
| Partisans | ||||
| Attack Force Z | Mel Gibson | Cpt. P.G. Kelly | M3A1; With suppressor | 1982 |
| Sam Neill | Sgt. D.J. Costello | |||
| John Phillip Law | Lt. J.A. Veitch | |||
| Chris Haywood | Able Seaman A.D. Bird | |||
| John Waters | Ted King | |||
| Never Say Never Again | U.S. Navy SEALs | 1983 | ||
| Jungle Warriors | Nina van Pallandt | Joanna Quinn | M3; With suppressor | 1984 |
| Emilio Messina | Mastranga's bodyguard | |||
| The Vengeance of the Winged Serpent (La vengeance du serpent à plumes) | Mexican soldiers | M3; fitted with perforated barrel shroud | 1984 | |
| Commando Leopard | Rebels | 1985 | ||
| Order No. 027 (Myung ryoung-027 ho) | North Korean commandos, South Korean soldiers | M3A1 | 1986 | |
| The Sicilian | Christopher Lambert | Salvatore Giuliano | M3 | 1987 |
| John Turturro | Aspanu Pisciotta | |||
| Carabiniers, soldiers, outlaws | ||||
| Equalizer 2000 | A rebel | M3A1 | 1987 | |
| The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission | Alex Cord | Dravko Demchuk | M3 | 1988 |
| Operation Corned Beef | Zargas' henchman | With muzzle device | 1991 | |
| Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah | American troops | Replica | 1991 | |
| Last Action Hero | Thug | M3A1 | 1993 | |
| Dead Presidents | Bokeem Woodbine | Cleon | M3A1 | 1995 |
| Seven Years in Tibet | Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers | M3A1 | 1997 | |
| Payback | Jeff Imada | Chow's bodyguard | M3 | 1999 |
| Chow's thug | ||||
| Ticker | Terrorists | M3A1 | 2001 | |
| Blow | guards | 2001 | ||
| Sniper 3 | Seen on wall | 2004 | ||
| Smokin' Aces | Kevin Durand | Jeeves Tremor | 2006 | |
| Chris Pine | Darwin Tremor | |||
| Assembly (Ji jie hao) | Communist soldier | M3 | 2007 | |
| Street Kings | Common | Coates | M3A1 | 2008 |
| Inglorious Basterds | American soldier | 2009 | ||
| Red and White (Merah Putih) | Dutch soldier | M3 | 2009 | |
| Brother's War | U.S. Army Soldier | 2009 | ||
| The Marine 2 | Arms Dealers | 2009 | ||
| Black Dynamite | Tommy Davison | Cream Corn | M3 | 2009 |
| Elephant White | M3A1, said to be used by Charles Bronson in The Dirty Dozen | 2010 | ||
| Sinners and Saints | Johnny Strong | Detective Riley | 2010 | |
| There Be Dragons | Spanish Nationalist soldiers | 2011 | ||
| Captain America: The First Avenger | Kenneth Choi | Jim Morita | . | 2011 |
| Gangster Squad | Holt McCallany | Karl Lockwood | 2013 | |
| Fury | Logan Lerman | Norman Ellison | M3A1 | 2014 |
| Colonia | Chilean soldiers | M3A1 | 2015 | |
| Hacksaw Ridge | Vince Vaughn | Sergeant Howell | M3 | 2016 |
| Operation Chromite | Kim Sun-a | Kim Hwa-young | M3 | 2016 |
| The Foreigner | Pirates | M3 | 2017 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Company | Chris O'Donnell | Jack McAuliffe | 2007 | |
| Band of Brothers | Craig Heaney | Pvt. Roy Cobb | 2001 | |
| Band of Brothers | Donnie Wahlberg | Sgt. C. Carwood Lipton | 2001 | |
| Tour of Duty | Stan Foster | Sgt. Marvin Johnson | 1987 - 1989 | |
| Front Without Mercy (Front ohne Gnade) | US Army soldiers | Ep.12 | 1984 | |
| Garrison's Gorillas | Horst Ebersberg | Dutch Resistance Member | 1967 - 1968 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | "Submachine Gun" | 1998 | ||
| Fallout 2 | 1998 | |||
| Day of Defeat | 2000 | |||
| Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix | muzzle brake | 2002 | ||
| BloodRayne | "Greaser SMG" | long barrel | 2002 | |
| Forgotten Hope | 2003 | |||
| Vietcong | 2003 | |||
| Shellshock Nam '67 | "The Greaser" | 2004 | ||
| Call of Duty: Finest Hour | "Grease Gun" | 2004 | ||
| Call of Duty 2 | multiplayer mode only | 2005 | ||
| Condemned: Criminal Origins | "Submachine Gun" | with the barrel and sights of a Carl Gustav M/45 | 2005 | |
| Elite Warriors Vietnam | 2005 | |||
| Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood | 2005 | |||
| Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 | 2006 | |||
| The Suffering: Ties That Bind | w/ custom flash suppressor | 2006 | ||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | "M3 Grease Gun" | M3 variant | 2007 | |
| Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway | 2008 | |||
| 7.62 High Calibre | w/ various attachments | 2008 | ||
| Grand Theft Auto IV | Unusable | 2008 | ||
| Mafia II | 2010 | |||
| Fallout: New Vegas | "9mm SMG" | 2010 | ||
| Project Reality: Falklands | "PAM1" | Used by Argentinian faction | 2012 | |
| Project Reality: Vietnam | Incorrectly ejects rifle casings | 2012 | ||
| State of Decay | "M3" | added in Breakdown DLC | 2013 | |
| Project Reality: Normandy | "Greasegun" | 2013 | ||
| Company of Heroes 2 | Added with Western Front Armies add-on (2014) | 2013 | ||
| Sniper Elite III | "Patriot Weapons Pack" DLC | 2014 | ||
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | M3 Grease Gun | M9 flash hider and barrel extension | M3 | 2014 |
| Mafia III | 2016 | |||
| Day of Infamy | 2016 | |||
| Heroes & Generals | M3 variant | 2016 | ||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | "M3 Greasegun" | With or without integral suppressor | 2016 | |
| "Lil' Greasy" | Miniaturized, stockless, with ambidextrous charging handle | |||
| Call of Duty: WWII | "Grease Gun" | 2017 | ||
| Sniper Elite 4 | "Silent Warfare Weapons Pack" DLC | 2017 | ||
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | 2017 | |||
| Post Scriptum | 2018 | |||
| Strange Brigade | "Audley A40 Exemplar" | 2018 | ||
| Battlefield V | "M3 Grease Gun" | added in the 5.2 patch of the "War in the Pacific" (2019) | 2018 | |
| Insurgency: Sandstorm | "Grease Gun" | added in the 1.7 "Nightfall" update (2020) | 2018 | |
| Vigor | "Grease Gun" | 2018 | ||
| State of Decay 2 | 2018 | |||
| Enlisted | "M3" | 2021 | ||
| "M3 Field Modification" | ||||
| "M3 with suppresor" | ||||
| "M3A1" |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro | Bank Security | 1979 | |
| The Cockpit | American motorcyclist | Ep. 3 "Knight of the Iron Dragon" | 1993 |
| Burn-Up W | Outlaw | 1996 | |
| Najica Blitz Tactics | Fuyuki | 2001 | |
| Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage | Washimine-gumi wakashus | 2003 | |
| Desert Punk | 2004 | ||
| Stella Women's Academy, High School Division Class C³ | Rin Haruna | M3A1, airsoft | 2013 |
FM PAM
The FM PAM (Pistola Ametrelladora Modelo) series of submachine guns are Argentinian copies of the M3A1 "Grease Gun" chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Produced by Fábrica Militar de Armas Portátiles (FMAP or FM) in Rosario, the PAM 1 was essentially a rechambered copy of the M3A1 using thinner steel; problems with overheating and controllability led to the PAM 2, which added a grip safety to the magazine housing.
The PAM series of submachine guns is featured in the following films:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Boys of War | Argentinian soldiers | 1984 | ||
| An Ungentlemanly Act | Argentinian soldiers | 1992 | ||
| Blessed by Fire | Argentinian soldiers | 2005 |