Looks like a Thompson SMG, what is it?

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I was picking up a transfer at the nearby pawn shop, and on the rifle rack, there was a gun that really caught my eye.

Looks like a Thompson SMG, but the reciever was very bare and flat. Chambers in .45 acp, has the wooden shoulder stock and flat front grip, wooden pistol grip with the finger grooves, and has 1 20(?) rd stick magazine. Bolt is on the left side, ejection port is on the right. You can pull the bolt back and it will lock if you leave the mag in, but will close when you drop the mag.

The safety is a push-button setup in the frame, you push it in from the left and the gun will fire, push it in from the right side and it will be on safe. There are no levers on either side.

The mag release is between the trigger guard and the magwell, a flat lever that you press towards the mag to release it.

I don't remember all the markings, but it does have "Commander" or something like that stamped on the right side.

They had a tag for $399, and I was tempted just by the appearance (and the concept of having a .45 carbine for home use. The gun has to be almost as short as you can legally get away with). The guy at the counter said he's seen a couple at another of their stores come and go, this is the first he's seen here.

Any idea what this is? I'm doing some googling, but can't find anything close to it. Thanks

edit to add: aparently this is a Volunteer Enterprises Mark 45, I found some info here Mark45
 
Last edited:
Volunteer Arms Commando perhaps? Might also be Volunteer Enterprise. Do a google search for both.

Whoops. Missed you edit. You already figured it out.
 
Last edited:
Richard Simmons said:
Volunteer Arms Commando perhaps? Might also be Volunteer Enterprise. Do a google search for both.

Whoops. Missed you edit. You already figured it out.
Click to expand...
yeah, I found it with " thompson commander 45 carbine".

This is it (minus the sling, the one I looked at was missing)
MK45_04.jpg

Glad I held off, the reviews are brutal.

ParadiseRoad
...might be one of these...

Thompson 1927A-1 Carbine 16.5-inch Barrel Models
Click to expand...
If I found one of THEM for $399, I'd be all over it. I see they list for over a grand. Even if it sucked, I would have been able to flip it for no loss.
 
The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, had a Commando .45 carbine in his '69 Ford Galaxy when he was arrested. He was planning some kind of massacre, but I doubt he would have gotten 3 rounds off before it jammed.
 
My best friend shared a Commando in the 1970's. It used Thompson SMG stick mags, but wouldn't accept drum mags. We never had a problem with feeding surplus ball ammo. But that was 45 years ago! Who knows what ammo and junk mags the internet wonders are using to jam guns these days!

The idea of a 45 auto carbine comes and goes. Marlin made the Camp 45 as well as the Camp 9. I owned 4 of the 9mm's and got rid of them as junk (although, My 85 year old dad has one that works well), I have had 1 Camp 45 and kept it for about 30 years now (never had a hiccup). I have shot wild dogs with both carbines and the 9mm has been a failure all but 1 time. The 45 has put down problems in one shot, 5 times. (used Federal Hydro-shoks in both guns, so it isn't an ammo quality problem) That extra 10 inches of barrel makes a lot of difference in both rounds!

Beretta had their 45 Carbine too late in the game to get a fair shake, before the bans hit!

The best friend had a 1927 Thompson also. Great gun!!! heavy and expensive! His uncle bought it as his first Thompson since WWII. The uncle went on to but a 1928 with UK Navy proofs and 2 M1A1's for around the farm (about 5 miles from mine) and the wild dog problem was put to an end!

As a side note: while I had the farm, there were 5 or 6 Thompsons within hearing distance and a BAR and an unknown belt fed. Autumn afternoons had a music all their own! I had a full auto MAC-10 in 9mm and there were several other 9mm's around. But the autumn music was dominated by the base line!

Ivan
 
I dimly remember there is a story about the Volunteer .45. Something about the ATF wanting to classify it as a NFA weapon, but the company fought them and won.
 
The Volunteer 45 was too easy to convert to full auto. That was the problem.
We had one in our department armory as a confiscated weapon. It was not as high quality as the Thompson, but always went bang.
 
Ivan - "...the autumn music was dominated by the bass line." That is wonderful.

I've got an MP5 and an MP40, and they are both fun, but - rat tat tat tat tat. When I bring out the Thompson with its boom boom boom boom boom, that just sounds so much cooler.
 
A guy I knew had one back in the late sixties. They were made in Knoxville, Tennessee, hence the "Volunteer" connection. I fired a few rounds with it. Terrible trigger and fired from open bolt. Couldn't hit much with it but it looked wicked m
 
In the 60s I had a .45 carbine that looked like a Thompson and the foregrip was a pistol grip. I can't remember the name but it used Grease gun mags. IIRC it shot up a storm and never missed a lick. I thought it was more fun than the .30 carbine I had. I decided a shotgun and buckshot were more useful and sold both and I haven't changed my mind. Larry
 
At coffee before Church this morning, I talked it over with my friend that owned the Commando. About the reports from the internet saying the Commandos jammed all the time. His first response was that their firearms instruction was most likely from bad movies. Everyone that knows real sub-machine guns (and their clones), knows: DO NOT HOLD THE GUN BY THE MAGIZINE!!! That includes not resting on the magazine while firing! It would also include, taping 2 mag together like in the movies! All the real forms of Thompson and their copies that used their mags would jam!

We also discussed the 40+ years of wear and tear on aluminum receivers, that would produce some jamming in otherwise good designed guns.

Ivan
 
The Commando was a range toy, Thompson look alike. I had a
used one back in 80s. Traded it to my neighbor, he still has it.
Don't remember any jam problems, he shoots it once a year for
4th of July. He would be just as happy if he could get blanks. Like
a lot of other look alikes on the market they are just a device to
detonate cartridges. If you have ever had the opportunity to
shoot a original Thompson that hasn't been cowboyed, you will
find them fairly accurate. When they redesigned it for cost in
WW2, it became a hose. It was still a expensive gun, so it was
replaced by the M3 Grease Gun, that served the same purpose
for a lot less money. These open bolt guns, in semi repros have
no value except as a toy.
 
tops said:
In the 60s I had a .45 carbine that looked like a Thompson and the foregrip was a pistol grip. I can't remember the name but it used Grease gun mags. IIRC it shot up a storm and never missed a lick. I thought it was more fun than the .30 carbine I had. I decided a shotgun and buckshot were more useful and sold both and I haven't changed my mind. Larry
Click to expand...

Sounds like you may have had an Eagle Carbine. It has a Thompson stock, a round receiver like a grease gun, and a front vertical grip like a Thompson but made out of metal. It also fires from an open bolt. They were produced in the 60's.
 
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