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“Grease Gun”

History
The M3A1 carbine is a BATF approved design that emulates the look and feel of the U.S. Submachine Gun, M3A1, commonly called the “Grease Gun”. The M3A1 submachine gun was a World War II low cost replacement for the expensive and difficult to manufacture M1A1 Thompson submachine gun. The M3A1 submachine gun used stampings and low cost materials in its’ construction. Similar materials and methods used in the construction of the British STEN submachine gun, the German MP-40 submachine gun, and the Russian PPSH series submachine guns. The M3A1 submachine gun cost about $35 apiece to make during World War II. The Guide Lamp Division of General Motors manufactured it in large numbers, approximately 650,000 units. The M3A1 submachine gun continued to soldier on into very recent times and can still be found in some U.S. and foreign military units.

This Vietnam War U.S. combat pilot is carrying an M3A1 Submachine Gun with the seldom seen conical flash hider attached. This dashing fellow apparently knew the value of 30 rounds of .45 ACP firepower. U.S. Air Force Photo

M3A1 Carbine
This article is really in two segments, similarities and differences between the M3A1 carbine versus the M3A1 submachine gun. The second segment is good points and bad points of the M3A1 carbine / M3A1 submachine gun design. The realization is of course that in trying to replicate the M3A1 submachine gun, good traits as well as poor ones in the original will be copied in the M3A1 carbine. Although the Valkyrie Arms M3A1 carbine looks very similar to the M3A1 submachine gun, the mechanism is quite different.

With the fake suppresser barrel attached. The M3A1 carbine has an awesome appearance. The barrel shroud is also a great place to hold the weapon with the supporting hand. An 8-inch dummy display barrel (not shown) is also available to give the carbine the Submachine Gun Appearance. Notice the Allen head set screw on the bottom of the receiver.

Here are the differences between the Valkyrie Arms M3A1 carbine and the M3A1 submachine gun.

Since the Valkyrie M3A1 carbine is a 45 ACP rifle and not a submachine gun, there are significant differences in the mechanism.

1. The mechanism is a BATF approved semiautomatic closed bolt design. Consequently, the carbine has a 16-inch barrel, and butt stock is welded in the open (fully extended) position. There are no stock guide tubes on the side of the receiver. This omission slightly detracts from the authentic military appearance of the M3A1 carbine.

2. The barrel thread of the M3A1 carbine is different to prevent 8” submachine gun barrels from being installed on the carbine. The M3A1 carbine also uses a different method of barrel attachment. The barrel is held in place by an Allen head set screw on the bottom of the receiver.

3. Separate upper and lower receivers with take down pins similar to the AR15. This is actually a simple and rugged design. It’s very easy to clean. Valkyrie Arms should be commended on this clever design. However for some reason Valkyrie used two steel take down pins that were left in the white and not finished to match the rest of the carbine.

4. Lower Receiver is blocky looking with the corners and edges not beveled like the M3A1 submachine gun; it’s milled and not a stamping like the original. This lower receiver is very robust but up close it does not quite look “G.I.”. As you can see in the photos, the finish didn’t quite match the upper receiver. It seems to be a parkerized finish over a bead blasted surface.

5. The safety is an AR-15/M16 style selector with positions for “Safe “ and “Fire”. The shooting hand cannot reach this control, right-handed shooters must use the left hand, and lefties must switch the grip or turn the carbine sideways and reach over with the right hand.

6. No oilier in the pistol grip. The screw in the pistol grip is for appearance only. This is not a problem but it would be nice to have the oilier in there.

Notice the AR-15 style upper and lower receiver. The two stainless steel take-down pins secure the upper and lower. The internals of this carbine are quite different from the M3A1 submachine gun. None of the internal parts are interchangeable.

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