The M3 "Grease Gun": 46 (Weapon)

Very good

Interesting, would have liked more on the post war use.

Following on the success of the Thompson SMG, it was hard to get soldiers to like this cheaper weapon, but it was well used and has an interesting story behind it. This book is well written and covers most of the bases for this gun, including the development the preceding types that didn’t succeed as the Thompson replacement that the M3 would eventually become. These include the Reising, the UD M42, and the Hyde M2. All these weapons are interesting in themselves and could probably use one of these books covering the lot of them, as they did see some limited production and service. We get in depth into the M3, it’s flaws and fixes, and troop opinions on it. In fact there’s lots of first hand accounts in the Combat chapter, which is great to see, however there’s almost so many of them there isn’t a ton of actual general performance text. Also something I was looking for more solid information on was when troops actually received them first and who, and when they would be first seeing action. It’s pointed that on D-Day was the first action, but who was equipped with them and how many and so on would be great information to have. Most of this chapter is devoted to WWII even though it would only enter in the last year of fighting, but there’s also a couple pages on Korea, Vietnam and after conflicts, although they are less in depth. The final chapters does give a good compassion to other stamped SMGs of the time, the Sten, MP-40, Sterling and PPS 43. Overall good read on this overlooked gun

Came on time. Reading pleasure/knowledge enhancement

いや、英語力に自信が無い私であるにも関わらず、こういった洋書を購入しなければならないのは、M３SMGの解説本は、案外、少ないのです。 日本では自衛隊の装備だった時期もありましたが、国内でしっかりとした歴史資料はあまり無いように思っておりましたので、今回、購入しました。 あくまでも技術史の参考資料・歴史資料として見ると、非常に価値の高い内容だと思います。 と、同時にこのような道具が開発された経緯やその用途を考えると、私は、とても複雑な気持ちになります。 （レビューの表題にも書きましたが、本レビューの投稿後、内容を大幅に削除修正しました。）

Leroy Thompson lends his substantial expertise in weaponry to this Osprey Weapons title, The M3 "Grease Gun". This title looks at the wartime submachine gun known for it's ease of manufacture and low cost. The author does a good job of giving the reader an introduction to the development cycle during WWII when the US had the venerable Thompson in production, but sought a weapon that could be produced more quickly and cheaply than the Thompson which required a lot of labor intensive machining operations. The book looks at the various entrants in the competition for the contract. The winning design and the weapon that eventually became the "Grease Gun" was designed by George Hyde. After various improvements and modifications, the M# was adopted and produced in quantity. After spending some time with the mechanics of the full-auto firearm, Leroy Thompson gives the reader an exposition of the SMG's characteristics, from trigger control to magazine capacity. The author provides a number of first-person accounts of the M3 in combat as well as opinions of soldiers - both good and bad. The author chronicles its use in the US military in various capacities until the 1990's in some instances. The author ends with a brief comparison of wartime SMG designs and their various characteristics, showing the M3 in the mainstream of weapons design. I thought it was a good book, giving both the "specs" as well as the opinions of men who carried and used the weapon. Five stars.

Interesting book with good information and photos.