M3A1 Conbination Tool Differences

[The Wizard]

Picked up a M3A1 combination tool the other day and didn't really notice anything diferent until I got it home and compared it to my other combination tool. The chamber brush on the new tool is shorter than the brush on my other tool. Did they make M3A1 combination tools with 7.62 mm NATO chamber brushes?

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[Bill Ricca]

There were no 7.62 brushes that I am aware of. If you can post a picture, I may be able to identify it.

There were production errors. There was also a Danish brush that was slightly shorter but fatter than US brushes. That might be what you are comparing.

[The Wizard]

I think I have a answer to the question of two different lenghts of chamber brushes on the M3A1 conbination tool. The Italians did have a variant of M3A1 combination tool for their BM59 rifles. This tool can be identified by the hex projection that acts as the pivoting piont for the blades. The brushes for these tools would be by design for the 7.62 mm NATO chamber and not the .30-06 chamber. Why the shorter brushes show up on M3A1 tools not made/modified for the BM59 is still unknown. Check your brush lenght. If you have a M1 in 7.62 mm NATO a short brush is what you want.

[LavaTech]

This tool can be identified by the hex projection that acts as the pivoting piont for the blades.

That sounds like the description of one of the South Korean bastardizations. Is the stuck case remover bass-ackwards? If the spanner end doesn't straddle the follower arm when the extraction lip is under the case rim, then I'd guess it's one of the lousy "re-worked" S. Korean units. Other signs include body & blade of different manufacture, and the tool is "loosy-goosy" with no tensioning from the rivet (body, blade, and extractor all loose).

[The Wizard]

My question is why would the South Koreans use a "hex projection" to attach bolt disassembly and stuck case arms to the tool? To my knowledge the South Koreans never used a gas plug with a hex socket on their M1's and they did not use the BM59 that does have a hex socket in its gas plug. So the South Korean connection for these tools in my book is iffy. Now this is not to say that there is no connection, anyone can do anything, but why would they do it? My original post was with rtegards to the length of the brush. And I stcik to my opinion that there are a .30-06 and a 7.62 mm NATO length brushes out there.

[Bill Ricca]

Wizard is correct. That hex is Italian. When I was doing my history on the combo tool, I was sold a bunch of tools. What I was not told was the Korean imports were mixed with others.

Thus I made the wrong identification of the hex. The hex is for a specially made lock screw.

There may be a different brush for the 7.62, but I have not yet seen one. There is the Danish also that is shape entirely different from the US.