37mm Antitank Gun M3 & M3A1
Official wording
U.S. 37mm Antitank Gun, M3 and M3A1, produced by various U.S. Government contractors prior to 1946.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESMade or imported as stated: “produced by various U.S. Government contractors prior to 1946”
- ATF REQUIRESMade 1945 or earlier (ATF’s dates)ATF: “prior to 1946”
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 88 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “37 mm gun M3” ↗, action: towed anti-tank gun, vertical sliding-block breech, not semi-automatic (recorded as Other)
- 2. Wikipedia, “37 mm gun M3” ↗, years: infobox production date 1940–1943; first production guns delivered July 1940, 'Production continued until October 1943'; M3A1 adopted 5 March 1942
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 1 change · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passYears: 1940–1945 → 1940–1943. Wikipedia: production July 1940 – October 1943
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “M-3 Antitank Gun 37mm Towed.jpg” by The original uploader was Chitrapa at English Wikipedia., Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “37 mm gun M3”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The 37 mm gun M3 is the first dedicated anti-tank gun fielded by United States forces in numbers. Introduced in 1940, it became the standard anti-tank gun of the U.S. infantry with its size enabling it to be pulled by a jeep. However, the continuing improvement of German tanks quickly rendered the 37 mm ineffective and, by 1943, it was being gradually replaced in the European and Mediterranean theaters by the more powerful British-developed 57 mm gun M1. In the Pacific, where the Japanese tank threat was less significant, the M3 remained in service until the end of the war, but some 57mm guns were issued.