I thought you might like to see some accessories associated with the WWII-era Thompson submachine guns. Some of these are becoming scarce and have become collector's items in themselves.

If you are interested in more pictures of various Thompsons, they can be found in the "pictures & albums" section of the forum.

Happy New Year, everyone!

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Thanks John.... I just lost another keyboard from drooling on it.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

Who made the gun? Colt? Savage? AOC Bridgeport? AOC West Hurley?

They just look right with a 20-rounder. The 30s ruin the balance.

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I always take precautions

That one's a West Hurley example.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

The 30 rounder balanced the power.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

I Have This Old Gun: Colt Navy Thompson

AmericanRifleman.org I Have This Old Gun: Colt Navy Thompson

I have seen one with the Federal Labs case with spaces for magazines.
Makes quite a portable package.

A Thompson was the first FA firearm I shot. M3 "Grease Gun" was next.
Shot quite a few more since then.

Made money into quick noise? Yes, I have!"

A really nice gun and enjoyable to shoot. Amazing photos!!

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

My grandfather had a decommissioned original when I was growing up. Found out he sold it about a year ago and about broke my heart. Never knew about the oiler in the stock, thanks for posting!

These days this is the only one I have to remember it by:

This was my rig for years.



West Hurley "FBI"case.







Key to keeping them running is spare parts...



Note the different style oiler (left of brush) and the special bore brush on the original spare parts bag. Also a set of military controls and military forearm round it out.

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Dave

My father, an officer with the 443rd AAA was so overloaded with gear; the Thompson and gear included, when he landed in No. Africa 12/44 that he gave serious thought to hiring a caddy.

Neat stuff! You need a 50 round drum carrier.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

Yeah, they packed a load.

Attached Images

	Thompson, 503rd Demolition.jpg (108.9 KB, 144 views)
	Thompson, sicily tommy.jpg (71.0 KB, 131 views)

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I always take precautions

I bought an Auto Ordnance 1927A1 when I was nineteen. I just sold it this last year - thing was picky with ammo, prone to jamming, and required two adult males to get the bolt back. It was fun while it lasted, but eventually I outgrew the novelty (and the ability to afford a full box of .45ACP with a single drum).

If I ever venture into Class III territory it'd be one of the guns I'd want.

Still got a five-cell pouch of 20-rounders in the gun safe, though. Got too good a deal on that to let it go with the gun.

I live in a NON class 3 State, so no Tommy Gun for me, but I always dream that if I do move to a friendly State I would put in the paperwork before I unpack the boxes! Nice stuff!!

Chief38

Wasn't there a bayonet and a 100 round drum magazine for a Thompson?

I have a 1927A-1, as well. Mine shoots like a dream, no jamming problems, or anything. The drum may have been your problem as they are a little cranky. Yes, the bolt is a bugger, and it's heavy, but I love to just sit and look at mine. The one thing about all that dead weight, it makes mine accurate as hell!

The standard Thompsons never utilized a bayonet, although I recall there were some special purpose models that might have.

And yes, 100-round magazines were made; they were big, heavy and slow to reload.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

The bayonet was only for the 1923 Military Model, which really didn't take off. It was chambered in 45 Remington Thompson, which was a larger more powerful cartridge than the 45 ACP. They were trying to make the gun better, but that would have added another cartridge to the Army inventory, and they didn't want that.

Yes, there was a 100 round drum.

Originally there were XX (20 round) stick mags, L (50) and C (100) drum mags and a special stick for the 45 shot cartridges. I believe it was an 18 round.

Along came WW2. They used the XX and the L mags. Cs were too heavy, when loaded. They modified the gun, as the original was very labor intensive and expensive to make. The new guns would not accept the drum, so they came up with a new stick, the XXX (30 round).

Much later in its life, Auto Ordnance redesigned the drum's internals, and came up with what they called the XL (even though it only held 39, not 40). Then when the assault weapons ban came in, they redesigned the XL to only hold ten, and it became the X drum.

This is a pic of one of the guns used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and it has both an L and a C drum in the picture.

More than you wanted to know, probably.

Attached Images

	Thompson, 1923 Military Model, 45 Rem Thompson.jpg (11.5 KB, 62 views)
	St Valentines Massacre guns 2.jpg (60.8 KB, 98 views)

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I always take precautions

In my younger days, I had my own M1/A1 but loved the family 1928/A1 so much I could just kiss it. Even firing it sometimes.

Attached Images

Copy1.jpg (31.0 KB, 57 views)

very very nice...my dept.had one up until a few years ago...the new chief found it offensive...the local junkyard chopped it up

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

No doubt he's a member of the IACP? They are a very anti gun group. I've known police chiefs who would disarm their force if they could have gotten away with it. One said there was just too much liability associated with carrying a gun. Kinda makes ya wonder, don't it?

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Even older, even crankier....

My first gun shop job was for a Class 3 dealer. Back in the dealer sample days we were buying surplus M1A1's for $150 plus the stamp. My first job was loading ammo for the ***'s, but I did get to put several down range. He also ordered two 1928's from Auto Ordnance.

That one was really at the SVM?? The local PD in Springfield MO had one that was captured from one of Bonnie & Clyde's gang.

yep...you called it...he hates a pursuit as well

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

There's lots of sub-machineguns in the world.

There's only one that epitomizes the word "sub-machinegun" and thats a Thompson M1921, M1928, or the "Navy Model" 1928.

I knew a fella who wanted one so bad he bought an Auto-Ordnance repro and replaced the 16 inch barrel with a 10 inch. Then he bought as many accessories as he could find. He had a 50 round drum, 5 20 round mags, and three 30 round mags. Plus he had the military issue "carriers" for them. And the horizontal and vertical foregrips so he could bounce back and forth from "Sgt Rock" to "Al Capone". And an original Thompson WWII sling, a rare item then.

It was only semi-auto but it was cool. Visions of "Bataan", "Back To Bataan", "Guadalcanal Diary", and every other WWII and gangster flick with Thompsons ran in his head.

Then he got into Cowboy Action Shooting and sold it all.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

So they tell me.

The very bottom picture on this page.
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Then look at this page.
The St. Valentine Massacre guns today

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I always take precautions

Glad to see some other folks are interested in these on here. Savage 1928A1 from my collection.

He should be arrested for destroying a piece of history.

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

If you are interested in Thompsons you may want to take a look at this website - MachineGunBoards.com Forums

I have been a moderator on that forum for a number of years and the membership is one of the best. They freely offer information and help to those interested in Thompsons.

Page there specifically about accessories - Reproduction Thompson Accessories Reference Guide - MachineGunBoards.com Forums

I also recommend those interested in Thompsons to join the Thompson Collectors Association - http://thetca.net/default.aspx

You are free to join the TCA without a sponsor.

Thanks for the great information! It was interesting to read the scoop on the reproductions - very good to know. All of my Thompson accessories which were pictured in the OP are originals, obtained way before repros became available. It's easy to spot some of the repros, but as your site pointed out, some of them are pretty close to the originals. Good info!

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -