Thompson 1928 A1

[CLASSIC12]

Back in 2015, had the chance to acquire a WWII Savage built Thompson 1928 A1, most likely manufactured very late 1941 or early 1942.

I bought it at an auction, cost 2200 Swiss francs (abt the same in US$). The modern semi auto only version is sold for 2700 here, so it was an easy decision for me.

It also came with two stick mags, 20 and 30 rounds

 

[CLASSIC12]

Markings

Magazine

Field strip

 

[raisedin99]

That is a fine looking piece of history, especially seeing the various factory names on parts. How does the animal shoot??

terry

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...wow...I would think it's probably worth at least ten times that much...

...I have fired one at a machine gun shoot...one of those bucket list moments...

 

[jpage]

Switzerland, land of beautiful women and FA firearms ....

 

[03hemi]

Yea, but he didn't tell you what he has to do in order to shoot it! Can't just throw it in the car to go shooting. Enlighten us Classic12 on the cost and hoops you have to jump through to shoot it for the day. Very nice Tommy.

 

[29aholic]

I guess my post didnt take. What are the laws over there on owning full auto weapons??

I cut my teeth on a Thompson way back when they were fairly affordable over here. We had two brand new M28's and an M1A1 that was a $200.00 dealer sample (no zeros are missing).

 

[alaskavett]

One of best of classic machine guns of all times! You may also enjoy reading either of Cox's or Helmers books on the Thompson Machine Guns. Enjoy it, there just sexy! Kyle

 

[italiansport]

The example the Swiss member acquired appears to be one of the ones shipped to Great Britain during WW II. it also has the early features finned barrel, Lyman rear sight, and vertical for-end. The condition also appears to be excellent. If he comes back on I'd suggest he look and see if the upper and lower are matching!
I am not familiar with the current full auto shooting laws in Switzerland and would be interested in hearing about them as well.
When I used to assist in the Gunsmithing dept. of my local club we had two of these (A M28 and an M1A1) that were used as rentals. We used to literally get bus loads of foreign tourists that would come to the club for the express purpose of shooting full auto weapons and the Thompson's were 2 of the most popular examples. I re-barreled each of them at least twice!
Jim

 

[CptCurl]

That's a great looking Thompson!

Yes it would be interesting to know the rules of ownership for a full-auto weapon in Switzerland.

That gun would bring about $28k here at this time. Of course, the U.S. forbids importation of it, so that's irrelevant.

Curl

 

[Drm50]

The only automatic weapon that ever interested me was the
Pre M1a1 Thompson. I use to have a old gun magazine that
had pictures of special order Thompsons from before 34. Some
had fancy wood and even engraving. I shot a lot of M1a1 & M3s
in service. The 27s & 28s I have shot were privately owned and
they are classic well built guns. I had the opportunity to shoot
a Colt with new barrel and was amazed by the accuracy.

 

[rusty37874]

Beautiful Weapon! -- that brings back memories to me. We used to hand them WW2 Thompsons out to the Montagnard people by the crate load for the CIDG program.
Can you imagine the worth of all them today.

 

[CLASSIC12]

Switzerland is a gun country, with a militia army and a solid tradition of shooting, with service rifles and pistols being kept at home, and available to soldiers when they finish their service for a very modest re-arsenaling fee (full autos being converted to semi auto only).

There are hundreds of military shooting ranges, with 300, 50 and 25 meters lanes. Those ranges are used by civilian shooting associations run by former military personable (real passionate people generally) and ordnance ammo is available, and sometimes subsidised.

Swiss attics are full of K11 & 31, Sig 510 & 550, as well as the whole array of Swiss issue handguns. A guy at the local range just bought a Sig P 210 army for 500.-. I bought mine for 600.- from a colleague, and a ‘57 assault rifle (SIG 510) for 350.-

As to full auto weapons, unlike the US (1986 act?), they are all legal to own under certain circumstances (sizeable collection, serious security and safe storage) but very difficult to shoot. You have to ask for a special permit for a specific date (cost 150.-) and a range that agrees. Not easy.

So you can occasionally find all kinds of full auto weapons, old and new (M16, AK 47, HK G33 & MP5, Glock 18, Sten, UZI, modern SIGs etc) at reasonable prices (typically 1 to 3 grands).

Due to the restrictions for shooting, interest in full autos is not that high. I once spoke to a guy who worked at a range. He owned dozens of full autos, and kept buying. Guess he had some AOH shooting possibilities.

 

[CLASSIC12]

The example the Swiss member acquired appears to be one of the ones shipped to Great Britain during WW II. it also has the early features finned barrel, Lyman rear sight, and vertical for-end. The condition also appears to be excellent. If he comes back on I'd suggest he look and see if the upper and lower are matching!
I am not familiar with the current full auto shooting laws in Switzerland and would be interested in hearing about them as well.
When I used to assist in the Gunsmithing dept. of my local club we had two of these (A M28 and an M1A1) that were used as rentals. We used to literally get bus loads of foreign tourists that would come to the club for the express purpose of shooting full auto weapons and the Thompson's were 2 of the most popular examples. I re-barreled each of them at least twice!
Jim

You are correct, it is a British lend / lease. The sling attachment on the front grip is also typical on these.

Not sure how you can tell if the upper and lower are matching. They sure seem to be in colour and condition, but there is only one serial number on the upper.

That range wasn't SGC, Scottsdale Gun Club by chance ? I was there in February 2015 with a friend, the 1st thing I asked for was the Thompson. Unfortunately it was in maintenance. So I settled for these :

M16A2 and HK MP5k

Tons of fun [emoji3]

 

[italiansport]

You are correct, it is a British lend / lease. The sling attachment on the front grip is also typical on these.

Not sure how you can tell if the upper and lower are matching. They sure seem to be in colour and condition, but there is only one serial number on the upper.

That range wasn't SGC, Scottsdale Gun Club by chance ? I was there in February 2015 with a friend, the 1st thing I asked for was the Thompson. Unfortunately it was in maintenance. So I settled for these :

M16A2 and HK MP5k

Tons of fun [emoji3]

Yes it is the Scottsdale Gun Club. As you probably noted that have, or at least used to have, around 30 full autos for rent ranging from UZIs and HK MP5s on up. Keeping them running was a challenge as HK won't sell parts for MP 5s any more even to those properly licensed! Go figure! Parts which used to be plentiful are becoming harder to find for classics like Thompson's, MP 40s, STENs etc. I haven't been in Gunsmithing there for several years now and I'm not sure what they currently have for rentals.
The ones I particularly enjoyed shooting were the P90s and these are currently deployed by our Secret Service!
I hope your visit there was an enjoyable one!
Jim

 

[LoboGunLeather]

OK, US Lend Lease property to Great Britain during WW2. I say that it remains United States property, and WE WANT IT BACK!

 

[CLASSIC12]

OK, US Lend Lease property to Great Britain during WW2. I say that it remains United States property, and WE WANT IT BACK!

Shall I send it straight to the BATF then ?

 

[RichCapeCod]

Shall I send it straight to the BATF then ?

Don't bother. Just mail it to me and I'll take care of it for you!!

Rich

 

[Alpo]

You probably already know this, but just in case you don't.

Your drum is marked WIND 9 OR 11 CLICKS.

This is because of the different rates of fire.

9 clicks and it unwinds at the correct speed to feed the 28. 11 clicks makes it unwind faster to keep up with a 21.

 

[Muss Muggins]

$40,000 might not get it around these parts. Very nice rifle . . .