It was estimated that 151,311 additional M3A1 submachine guns would be needed by 1946. It was suggested that M3A1 submachine gun production be increased to meet the number of weapons that would needed to completely replace the Thompson. This request was so the Army would not have four types of weapons for which to provide parts and maintenance. On February 22, 1945, the Ordnance committee recommended that the M3 and M3A1 submachine guns replace all Thompson model 1928, M1 and M1A1 submachine guns in current service. Ithaca produced 90,136 replacement bolt assemblies for the M3 from 1953 to 1954 under Ordnance contract DA 30-115-ORD-355. The new bolts were needed to replace those that had become worn or otherwise unserviceable. M3 submachine gun was when they were awarded a contract to manufacture spare bolt assemblies in 1953. The Ithaca Gun Company’s first involvement with the U.S. The simplified M3A1 model was only produced in 1945 and 82,281 were built by Guide Lamp before production ceased in August.
A total of 605,694 M3 models would be accepted by the Army from 1943 to the end of 1944. Marine Corps would also issue the M3 by the war’s end.Īt the peak of production, Guide was turning out a new M3 submachine gun every 2.4 minutes. The first M3 submachine guns were issued to Rangers, paratroopers, and armored crews. New M3s were being delivered to the army from Guide Lamp by the summer of 1943. The contract for the M3 bolts was awarded to Buffalo Arms at a cost of $2.58 per piece. This cost would be amended several times during the life of the Guide Lamp contract. On January 29, 1943, the Guide Lamp Division was given an order to manufacture 300,000 M3 submachine guns at an initial cost of $17.93 per unit, minus the bolt assembly. The new submachine gun was adopted by the U.S. The M3 T20 prototype had an overall score of 95 out of a possible 100 in the Aberdeen submachine gun trial, higher than any previous weapon tested. After the successful, thorough testing of the T20 prototypes, the T20 was officially adopted as the U.S. Fredrick Sampson, Chief Engineer of GM’s Inland Division, was assigned to the project. Army Ordnance R&D officer Réne Studler recruited General Motors to assist with the T20 development. The new prototype weapon was designated the T20. An additional requirement was set for an easy conversion to the 9mm cartridge that was common in Europe.
ITHACA GUN COMPANY SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP FULL
This kept the moving parts impervious to dirt, making it an extremely reliable design.Īs the project progressed, there were a few changes implemented: a low cyclic rate and a full automatic-only operation.
The bolt would slide on the two steel rods, never touching the inside of the receiver. The front of the rod/bolt assembly was secured in a steel plate, held in place by the barrel, which was simply screwed into the front of the receiver. The bolt assembly rode on two steel rods that were secured by two holes punched into the rear of the receiver. Except for a few parts, the weapon was made from simple sheet-metal stampings.
The design used no critical metals and required a minimum amount of time consuming machining. The prototype was designated as the select fire T15.
ITHACA GUN COMPANY SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP SERIES
While the Hyde-Inland submachine gun was being readied for series production, another George Hyde submachine gun design was under development. Army accepted a submachine gun design by Hyde-Inland, briefly adopted as the M2 submachine gun. After an exhaustive evaluation program, the U.S. Army tested over twenty foreign and domestic submachine gun designs in search of a suitable replacement for the Thompson. On February 6, 1941, a requirement was set by the Small Arms Development Branch, Technical Division of the Ordnance Corps for the replacement of the Thompson submachine gun. troops encountered the German’s revolutionary stamped sheet-metal MP40 maschinenpistole during World War II, the Army was searching for a new cheap, easy to manufacture submachine guns. The Ithaca Gun Company US M3A1 Submachine GunĮven before U.S.
0 kommentar(er)
