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Post by tommygunner9 on Sept 18, 2013 23:43:21 GMT -5
I'm looking into buying an S&T M3A1 Grease Gun. This gun comes in a dark, OD green finish, while the ICS one is all black. I know all the differences between the M3 and M3A1 and everything, just which is the correct color for the M3A1? And is black correct for the M3?
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Post by halfnelson on Sept 19, 2013 5:12:45 GMT -5
Black is not correct for any blued, anodized or parkerized weapon during WW2. The real M3/M3A1 is a green-greyish color due to the parkerizing. From what I've seen the Ares and Snow Wolf greasers seem to have the most accurate finish. S&T is just a rebrand of one of those two (Ares if the battery is housed in the magazine and Snow Wolf if it's in the pistol grip.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Nov 22, 2013 12:45:29 GMT -5
The finish on any gun (especially those from WW2) are always a hotly debated discussion. It's like asking "which khaki shade is right". Like material in uniforms there are many factors and many factories producing the items. In the case of the Grease gun they were mostly parkerized and typically were some variation of a soft, dull, dark grey. When brand new they came out of the factory in a dark finish not unlike an automotive primer grey. With exposure to packing grease, cleaning solvents and the elements and age this took on a greenish tint. Different metals and levels of hardness within the same metals will react and age differently. The result is a rifle like the Garand will have widely varied metal looks and what appears to be vastly different wear characteristics on the same gun. The grease gun was a very simplictically stamped product which provided a fairly uniform look and finish throughout the same gun. There is an excellent tutorial on the Regiments site: www.theregiment.us by Grendle in the forum discussing his efforts to detail and finish the Greaser in a very thorough way and his greaser ended up looking spectacular. I followed many of the steps on mine and have been very pleased with the results. Following WW2 and Korea the M3 stayed in the US inventory for many many decades and were still seen mounted in Bradly fighting vehicles in the first gulf war! The US Army arsenal maintenance facility refinished the grease guns creating a darker almost black finish and that creates additional confusion.
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