And the M3 continued use as the personal weapon of armored vehicle crewmen into the 1980s, right along with the M1911. The primary reasons for moving away from the .45ACP round were both bull-crap: NATO standardization with 9mm and women had trouble with the size of the 1911. Utter BS - 9mm ball ammo is worthless as a defensive round and the Beretta chosen to replace the 1911 was still a handful for the women who never should have been there to begin with.
Hated it: heavy, slow rate of fire, limited range. Carried one for a short period because it looked cool but quickly reclaimed my M-14.
Same weight but far more effective and better reach.
One thing caught my eye:
To load the gun the soldier simply inserted his finger in the hole and pulled the bolt back by hand."
...and when the weapon is hot from firing several mags through it??? Does this part heat up?