Picture of the day

"A thousand lives for the Emperor!"

Corsairs waiting to go out and get all mean and nasty.

Likely a couple of one-way Vals coming in; need something to justify all that tracer.

Photographer knew what he was doing, too. Likely shot on a Graflex and developed in D-82 to enhance contrast this much; D-19 generally wouldn't give this much although it did increase it. Kamikazes had to have SOME light to see what they were supposed to aim at.

FINE pic.
.
 
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

This pic is too epic to just let slide. It is blowing my mind why a FJ has a G33/40. I can see the M3 as a battlefield pick up, the MG42 replacing a lost or destroyed MG34 but the G33/40?

Good day Gunnutz new day new picture :)

greasegun.jpg


Cheers
Joe
 
Well a replacement rifle is a replacement rifle.

By the end of the war it didn't really matter what the front line troops had, so long as it used the same ammo that everyone else was using (or was readily avaliable IE battlefield pickup)
 
M3 ?


Sorry, I'm not convinced it is an M3 Grease Gun. I think it is an MP40

See pics below.

The telescoping wire stock of an M3 is parallell to and closer to the receiver tube, whereas a folded MP40 stock has a slight downward cant towards the front as in the pic.

Rear flip sight of MP40 is just visible on top of the receiver tube along with front sight and barrel rest bracket.

Biggest difference is the ejection port, it is way too small for an M3, plus the rather massive dust cover and distinctive dustcover hinge of the M3 is absent in the pic. An M3A1 ejection port and dustcover hinge is even bigger.

Given that all 3 Falschirmjagers are well turned out in correct mid-war smocks and the G33/40 is in use I think this pic is earlier than post D-Day.

MP40

mp40.gif


M3

62717811.jpg


M3A1

m3enaccion.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm not seeing any front sight hood on it and the way he has it gripped with his support hand makes it look more like a M3 than a MP40 due to how close his hand is to the ejection port and start of the barrel, on the MP40 you would not be able to get such a closed hand grip IMHO. Also, the way his firing hand is positioned shows that the telescopic stock is more mid gun than the MP40.

You may be correct but I think I am more correct :p
Sorry, I'm not convinced it is an M3 Grease Gun. I think it is an MP40

See pics below.

The telescoping wire stock of an M3 is parallell to and closer to the receiver tube, whereas a folded MP40 stock has a slight downward cant towards the front as in the pic.

Rear flip sight of MP40 is just visible on top of the receiver tube along with front sight and barrel rest bracket.

Biggest difference is the ejection port, it is way too small for an M3, plus the rather massive dust cover and distinctive dustcover hinge of the M3 is absent in the pic. An M3A1 ejection port and dustcover hinge is even bigger.

Given that all 3 Falschirmjagers are well turned out in correct mid-war smocks and the G33/40 is in use I think this pic is earlier than post D-Day.

MP40

mp40.gif


M3

62717811.jpg


M3A1

m3enaccion.jpg
 
They appear to be SS and they were the orphan child in weapon's procurement ruled by the Wermacht. They were issued with a wide variety of non standard and obsolete weapons. Pistol could be a Radom or Browning GP35.
 
I'm not seeing any front sight hood on it and the way he has it gripped with his support hand makes it look more like a M3 than a MP40 due to how close his hand is to the ejection port and start of the barrel, on the MP40 you would not be able to get such a closed hand grip IMHO. Also, the way his firing hand is positioned shows that the telescopic stock is more mid gun than the MP40.

You may be correct but I think I am more correct :p

I'll second that it's an MP40. By the shooters right hand you can see the pivot for the stock. He is also holding the loop of the sling under his left thumb, so that would obstruct the barrel nut. As for the front sight hood, I attribute that to the none clarity of the photo.
 
MP40. The rods of the stock are visible and they are not parallel to the main tube as they are on the M3. Backsight can also be seen in the right place for an MP40, but not for a M3.
 
" Hi Mom. Be home in a few weeks but in the mean time I'm sending a few souvenirs home"

Actually, quite true. When I was a kid out in the country most of my father's generation were vets and many were ardent "gunnutz". We had guys with a STEN, Thompson, M3 Grease Gun and an MP40 that they had managed to bring back, to say nothing of P38s and Lugers up the wazoo. We got to play with and shoot some of these pieces at a young age. My favourites were the M3 and a Mauser "Broomhandle".

I sometimes wonder what happened to all this stuff. I think a lot of it got pitched into the slough or down the sh*thole when the owners lost interest or finally moved off the farm. I know of a stone mint Inglis Browning that the owner put in his wood stove.:(

I am happy to have inherited 2 S&W revolvers and a P38 that my uncle shipped home in pieces. One S&W was his own personal issue piece that he carried from Normandy through to the end in Germany.
 
Back
Top Bottom