Nauty's Patent Pocket Reviews
Hudson  M3A1 “Greasegun”
Price 15,800 Yen
Full auto only
RRP M3A1: 15,800 Yen (~£90)
Magazine: 5200 Yen (~30)

The first thing that everyone should remember here is that our comments below have to be balanced against the cheaper than chips nature of this gun (even cheaper if you buy from First, Mugen, Echigoya or one of the other discount shops around).

Real-steel History Right then. This is Hudson’s GBB reworking of that old Pacific War movie standbye, the M3A1 “Greasegun”; one of the cheapest, infamous and widely used SMGs of the 1940s and 50s (though I am also informed that retooled units were in service with the US till the early 90s and the gun can still be seen in service with what, for want of a better term, we shall call the Laotian Army).

Famed for being made on a 10 dollar budget from a huge number of cheap stamped metal parts as possible the Greasegun looks/feels very much like something the cat dragged in via a hedge (through which the direction of travel was backwards) and a Cess Pit.
 
The Airsoft replica: The Hudson GBB model in that regard is VERY like the original. Almost entirely plastic (mind you we were expecting that) the gun has been put together with one simple goal in mind: make it as cheaply as possible. The body is formed out of maybe 4 pieces of ABS, with only the trigger guard, stock, mag release, mag and a few screws/switches even getting the metal treatment. Moreover, the bugger squeaks and creaks like the worst Marui gun and feels way too light in the hand without the magazine in place.

The insides: So, not a few problems of one sort or another in the body alone, what about the insides? Well this is where things take a turn for the better. The build quality of the GBB guts is a street or two ahead of the quality of the frame and begs the question of whether Maruzen actually make the innards or just license them to Hudson either way, they are as good as the Maruzen K’s and there is little that can be said other than that.

Actually though there is – if only in the method of cocking. Just like the Real Steel M3A1, you are required to lift up the Bolt cover, insert a finger and drag the whole assemble back to lock it open. After that it is just spray and pray.
 
Rate of fire is good for a few rounds but then another snag hits in that these mags cool down a heck of a lot faster than the Maruzen K jobs and if not fired in controlled bursts will soon be reduced to coughing like an inveterate smoker[1].

And on another point we have a very minor issue with the magazine itself. Aesthetically, not exactly the world’s finest it must be said. Very crude metal outer (though that fits with the real version) and, on all the guns we have, bent at quite a noticeable angle[2] where the upper and lower parts of the outer case are joined. Still not all that much of an issue and fundamentally if it does the job I don’t see that how it looks makes much of a difference really.

Firing: We have not had a chance to test the guns on the 10 meter range as it is outside, but on the 5 meter indoor job (basically the length of the shop into a BB target trap) it slightly out performed the Maruzen K (possibly due to the longer inner barrel?) and gave us no feed problems in over 30 magazine loads.

Well that is not quite true: as we mentioned above, we had a problem with the gun’s magwell and sometimes we simply could not get a magazine far enough up the well to allow BBS to be lifted out by the bolt – though that problem was relatively easily addressed, again as mentioned above. But then we get to the thing that makes all the flaws pale into insignificance: recoil.

This little darling bounces about like Scottish sailor on Burns Night. It feels just right in the hands, and the sound too, clacks and rattles and bangs so you think it will fall apart any second. Great stuff!
 
And that is as far as we go on this first glance, but I will pad out this sometime in the summer as we see what she is like in the field of battle.(You can find example target grouping from Hudson themselves here - Arnie)

Conclusion Fundamentally, this gun looks like a pile of something smelly, handles like a Lada, requires more finishing, out of the box, than Eliza Doolittle and could loosen fillings through recoil vibration. As such it is an almost perfect representation of the original M3A1. A good deal of speculation already surrounds this gun, considering the rather iffy reputation of the parent company[3] when it comes to gas guns, however I don’t think that it quite lives down some of the slating that the locals here have been doling out in fearful anticipation.

She might not be the finest gun ever produced, but fundamentally neither is it, IOHO, the worst. Another rock solid GBB SMG for considerably less than 100 quid, bargain (and I am certain all the satisfied U-type Mini Uzi owners out there will nod sagely at that comment)! You can’t go around expecting miracles at this end of the market. Even the Maruzen K has its flaws but, just like the K, the M3A1 possess just enough positive points to make it a very worthy purchase for the WWII Airsoft fan (and, we have far too little WWII hardware out there in the general sale community).
 
Though having to accept that, at first glance, the gun seems to possess a fair few superfiscial flaws, which purchasers must be aware of, we, personally, love the thing and can happily live with all these minor niggles in the first lot of guns (though, hopefully these are either not consistent throughout the run, or can be addressed by Hudson as time goes by) and, indeed, only a full season of use (rather than 3 days of testing) is going to reveal this gun in its full glory.