Had one. Sold it. Bought a newer Commando model as a replacement.

It'll be following me back to Indian Territory after this weekend. Dunno when I'll get to it, but I expect to work it over pretty good.

If you want a piece of history, either buy an original or rent one at the nearest convenient range. If you want an overweight novelty that comes up as a compromise in most respects to the one your dad, granddad, great-granddad (maybe) carried, go ahead with the AO/Kahr.

But go in realizing that it's probably not going to be 100% out of the box. I spent a neat grand on mine...I'm looking at better than half-again that figure to get it where I want it. On the upside, I'll have a neat toy to take to reenactments and historical displays when I'm done.

All depends on what you want. If you buy an AO/Kahr wanting an AO/Kahr you'll probably love it. If you buy one hoping for a street-legal version of a Colt or an original Auto Ordnance you'll probably find the new wears off pretty quick.

Not practical in the least. But cool nonetheless.

And having seen that gold thing upthread...gah.

The semi-autos just ain't as much fun as the real full-auto thing.

Own a 1927a1 Commando (T1C)...made by Auto Ordnance/Thompson.

Never had a problem...20 round / 30 round stick mags or the 50 round drum...






...people line up at the range just to ask to hold it !!

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SHOOTER13

Also own an Auto-Ordnance 1911a1 WWII clone...Model PKZSE

Again...never a problem !!

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SHOOTER13

Old Post. To post or not to post is the question.

I wonder If Beemer got one?

My reloading mentor was a highway patrolman. I started reloading in the 60's with the old Lee hammer em out hammer em in for 38 Special, 45 ACP and 270 Win. He introduced me to a reloading press and all the accessories.

He had an early 70's one. He shot it enough that the sear trigger engagement wore. Soft metal he speculated. We did lots of test firing to see if it was problematic all the time. It was fun to shoot. He eventually decided automatic was problematic and had it fixed.

We bid on two 55 gallon barrels of 45 acp brass at a US salvage auction for reloading. You mailed in your bid. I checked the going price and past bid winners. I bid double. Some bozo bid double on ours. The amount of brass we were looking to reload may indicate how much testing we did. I actually tired of it, he did not. I wanted my share of the brass for my Combat commander and series 70 Gold Cup.

The only good thing is it cleaned up quickly compared to an M-16.

Again, once it proved to be dysfunctional he had it repaired.

Yes I did. I bought it in the fall of 2013, but it took forever and an age for my sheriff to act on the application (due to a staffing issue) and then BATFE cashed my check just ten months ago, so it's still at my dealer. Looking forward to getting it and shooting it...and I will, of course, keep everyone posted.

I bought one in the mid-1980s and every firearm problem know to man occurred. After several return trips to Auto-Orndance and it being returned not working, I stripped every part off the gun until I had a barrel receiver. I then bought a military surplus Thompson parts kit and installed the parts on the barreled receiver and only then did I have a functioning Thompson. When they started remaking the Thompson in the 80s, they put them on the market too early. Quality was NOT present in what they were selling. If they had spent more time "getting it right" before putting on the market, they wouldn't have the bad reputation.

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Bill

DGT, Too much gun for you! I suggest you stay with your Chipmunk.

Ive seen several at local gun shows and they do look and feel great. I want one too. Also,you can get them starting around seven "C"notes up through the price you mentioned.

Thats not bad at all. The ATI--STG fourty four I have weighs ten point four pounds--the exact weight the originals are.

Keep us in the loop Beemerguy...

I would like to hear about your experiences...

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SHOOTER13

After a significant amount of work, I got mine about 90%. Still waiting on that federale letter to see if they'll let me throw a detachable stock on there.

Thompson M1A1-M27 left side.jpgThompson M1A1-M27 right side.jpgATTACH]219820[/ATTACH]

I have a Thompson M1A1 to which I added a Thompson M27 lower to match the one I carried in Vietnam. I've had to replace the barrel and a couple internal parts (can't remember what, any more), and the advice I followed was to use ONLY military parts. I'm not sure many military parts are available any more, and I've stockpiled a few. From time to time some treasure trove of parts is found in places like Russia, and the best advice is BUY THEM! There are also individuals who can hand-make excellent parts, for a price, of course. One guy made a bolt handle for my M21/27 that, to me, is indistinguishable from an original.

At about the same time, a friend who didn't want to spend the money to buy an original bought the Auto Ordnance semi-auto with the 16" barrel. It was accurate, but a jam-a-matic. He futzed with it for quite a while, but eventually made it reliable. The long barrel kinda spoils the lines for those of us who know it isn't how the originals were made, but it makes the gun an accurate carbine. I hope the Kahr-made guns are better, but it would be tough to improve on the accuracy of the AO one my friend had.

Learning to use the peep sight on either gun has a lot to do with accuracy. At ranges out to about 50 feet many people can shoot full-auto as accurately from the hip, as by using the sights. At 10-ish meters, using the peep, it's possible to make cloverleafs. I'm sure that's due to the 10" or 16" barrels and long sight radius.

In any case, beemerguy53, I think you should get it. Worst case, you sell it, probably for what you paid for it. Best case? One of the most iconic and just plain cool guns at the range. Or hanging on your wall. Or, get a 1930s suit and - - -

Attached Images

M1A1 receiver rt side.jpg (54.5 KB, 51 views)

A couple more pix of my M1A Thompson.
M1A1 Serial receiver left side.jpgM1A1 receiver rt side.jpg

M27 Lower.jpgShells flying.jpg

Bet winner 10-ish meters.jpg

You'll note the drum magazine in the last pic. This IS a fer-realzies M1A, manufactured to NOT accept the drums. I call it my "Bet Winner" with that drum. Can you guess how/why?

If somebody can tell me how, I'll post a video of shooting from the hip at a target about 10 meters away.

I have two of the Kahr/AO Thompsons that I bought this year. I have a 1921A1 and a TM!. They are both semi-autos with 16.5" barrels. The 1927A! was built in the last few years and the M1 was manufactured in 2004.

I couldn't get either one to fire more than 4 or 5 shots in a row out of any of my 10 30rd and 20rd mags. I bought the M1 used and it came with 8 30rd mags. Two of them worked 100% of the time. So I knew then the trouble was the mags not the guns.

So I took the worst performing mag and started troubleshooting it. I couldn't make it any worse than it was!! I couldn't push a round out of the mag with heavy thumb pressure. So I took a pair of needle nose pliers and bent the feed lips up (and out at the bottom) slightly to take some of the pressure off the round and tried to push the round out again. This time it got the round half way out of the mag but it hung up on a ding in the left feed lip. So I took the ding out of the feed lip and tried it again. Close but not there yet. I bent the right and left feed lips, at the front of the mag, out to the side of the mag just slightly. I was finally able to push a round all the way out with heavy thumb pressure! The adjustments were on the order of 1/32" to 1/16", not a massive amount!

I took both guns and the adjusted mag to the range and it worked 100% in both guns. All rounds fed flawlessly in the mag. So I got out my other 17 mags and fixed their feed lips also. Now all 18 mags feed 100% in both guns.

The guns made by Kahr/AO have had their problems over the years but they are not junk! Mine work just fine and it's not a matter of luck, I'm never that lucky!! Many guys are sending their guns in for repair when a mag adjustment may be all that's needed to get them to feed well. Consider that most mags on the market are used and some very much used. So some adjustment may be needed. All of my mags work great now in both guns.

They are heavy 13.5lbs for the 1927A1 and 11.5lbs for the TM1. But they are a blast to shoot. When I uncase them at the range it brings the range to life!!!! I love Tommy guns. My uncle was stationed on Okinawa for 2 years during the Korean mess. He trained ship loads of GIs how to use everything from 1911s to 155mm howitzers. But his favorite gun was the Tommy gun. He had some great stories about them.

I've also found that they like a lot of lube. Run them wet and they work better, at least mine do. They are also very accurate. 30 rounds at 25 yards will give you a hole about 3" in diameter without much effort.

Here's a couple of pictures of my two.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachm...1&d=1450842583

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachm...1&d=1450842616

Attached Images

	Thompson 1927A1.jpg (188.4 KB, 55 views)
	Thompson TM1.jpg (58.9 KB, 48 views)

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gunfighter48
NRA Life Member

This is an old thread but timely to me since my Auto Ordnance 1927A1 is only one month old. I've had only two issues since getting my gun, a pin fell out of the peep sight and the drum mag would not feed a single time.
The drum actually shaved the bottom of the jacket off of the FMJ round.

I fixed both issues very quickly. I replaced the press fit pin on the peep sight with a slightly longer pin that I made with flared ends so that it won't vibrate out.

I removed the sharp (unfinished) edge from the bottom half of the drum bullet feed area with a fine grit stone. The drum now works perfect.

Mark

Hey Harkrader, can't get the quote to work, but it's because you have to attach the rail from a mag to a drum to get it to function in an M1. Did you make your drum? Here's my set up. And yes they do fit into a violin case.

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	Tommy Gun Violin Case.jpg (66.9 KB, 47 views)
	Violin Gun Case.jpg (80.6 KB, 54 views)
	IMG_20130917_132906_675.jpg (84.8 KB, 47 views)
	IMG_20130327_162047.jpg (273.2 KB, 48 views)

The late Vic Morrow carried one in the t.v. series Combat. The series is currently being shown on the Heroes & Icons (H&I) channel:

I bought a beautiful 1927A1 at the PX for $800, no tax last weekend! 3 inch group from a rest at 75 yards with the peep sight. I ordered a 50 round drum for about $155 plus shipping. I'm happy with it. I wish the trigger pull and cocking were both lighter.

Attached Images

Tommy Gun.jpg (46.3 KB, 22 views)

I have a 27 That I rebarreled as an SBR, after obtaining BATF approval, several years ago. I purchased it from a couple that was moving to CA and couldn't take it with them. I also did the spring conversion on mine and it's now infinitely easier to operate. Mine came as pictured with the FBI case but with a 16" barrel. It is reliable and was built sometime in the 70s. The one remaining thing I would like to do is convert it to a detachable stock model like the originals.
Jim

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	2012_1001thompsons0001.JPG (112.1 KB, 23 views)

I bought one (M1 w/ 16 in barrel) approx 20 yrs ago. It will not take the drum mag. I got it because I have a thing for WW2 guns (even if its a copy or clone). And the semi auto was in my price range.

There are a lot of small parts inside and I have had breakage over the years (I ordered replacements and fixed it myself). I don't remember exactly what, but it was minor (less than ten bucks) parts.

There are much better pistol caliber carbines out there. But this one scratches a historical itch for me (along with my Garand, Carbine and 03A3). I shoot it maybe once every other year, but have no plans to get rid of it.

Its like my old VW. Fun to take out, turns heads, and classic, but I have to work on it sometimes to keep it running.

A friend bought one on the 90s. Problem with the cheesy rear sight attachment and
problem with stick mag function. I think it was ok once those issues were resolved(replacement mags if memory serves).Kinda fun to be throwing those lead marbles down range.

Bought one years ago when they first came out, sometime around 2000-01 IIRC and it’s a 12-lb .45 rifle. About as fun as pissing into the wind. The novelty of the gun wore off quickly and I ended up selling it for a loss but I’ve never regretted it...it ran ok, was just a boat anchor.

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Some Might Say.

Just curious, but if it is a semi-auto, why does it require the tax stamp? Are they that easy to convert to full-auto or something?

The posters are swapping the 16 1/2" barrel for the 10", making a SBR (short barreled rifle), hence the $200 tax stamp.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

AHHH, I see, so the 16.5" barrel version doesn't require the stamp?
Makes sense (or about as much sense as most BATFE rules).

My personal preference is the 1928 receiver with the bolt handle on top. Putting the handle on the right, as our military did with the M1/M1A1 was a poor design for right-handed people. The Germans did the design correctly with their MP38/40 by putting the handle on the LEFT side. That way, the right hand can remain on the pistol grip ready to fire once the left hand has inserted a magazine & pulls back the bolt.

Thompsons are fun to shoot. I like the suggestion posted above to rent one and try it out before buying, because they are pricey compared to other semiautos. Also, thanks to the poster who provided the link to the machine gun forum. That looks interesting.