Thompson Sub Machine Guns

oldcorpgunny · Sep 14, 2020

The sheriff's office that I worked for had two 1928A1 Thompson Sub Machine gun "kits." They had had them for years and years and never deployed them. The FBI handed them out to police agencies all over the U.S. The ones that we had were in cases complete with 100 round, 50 round and two 30 round (?) "stick" magazines. The wood seemed to be a walnut of some kind. I remember them being really heavy (more so if the drums had been loaded.) They were just beautiful machines. I don't think that either of them had been fired.
On a slightly related note, one of the oddest places I've ever seen a Thompson was in Ireland! The Irish Republican Army bought hundreds of them from the U.S. in the 20's. They were frequently used against the English that were functioning as occupation troops in Ireland. Rumor has it that many of these guns are still buried in secret places all across Ireland in places known but to a few. This was done so that if need be, the IRA could rearm itself and continue the "struggle."

Knute · Sep 14, 2020

oldcorpgunny said:
The sheriff's office that I worked for had two 1928A1 Thompson Sub Machine gun "kits." They had had them for years and years and never deployed them. The FBI handed them out to police agencies all over the U.S. The ones that we had were in cases complete with 100 round, 50 round and two 30 round (?) "stick" magazines. The wood seemed to be a walnut of some kind. I remember them being really heavy (more so if the drums had been loaded.) They were just beautiful machines. I don't think that either of them had been fired.
On a slightly related note, one of the oddest places I've ever seen a Thompson was in Ireland! The Irish Republican Army bought hundreds of them from the U.S. in the 20's. They were frequently used against the English that were functioning as occupation troops in Ireland. Rumor has it that many of these guns are still buried in secret places all across Ireland in places known but to a few. This was done so that if need be, the IRA could rearm itself and continue the "struggle."

As a kid in the 60's, my dad was a Pierce County, WA, deputy sheriff who every once in a while would take me along to go into the office to change cars or drop off reports, whatever. On one such ride with dad he took me into their little armory filled with S&W model 10s, big old pump shotguns, a couple of gas masks, and at the end of the rack, a Thompson!

Even as a snot nose little kid, I knew that one was special...fun memories of dad!

wired · Sep 14, 2020

Yeah, theyre front heavy as hell. Incredibly fun guns to shoot. Very slow shooting and you can actually aim fire.

aksu747 · Sep 14, 2020

Cool guns, I love the history behind them.
I'd like to shoot one atleast once but I'd never own one due to the awkward controls, other smg's even of the same era have better controls.
Almost bought a stainless look-a-like that had a magazine release tab like an AK, better safety controls, and the bolt handle on the side.(also weighed less as it had a polymer lower, don't remember the make)
That and I prefer all my guns to be at least semi-practical(IE: can at least be reloaded quickly if need be and have controls easy for me to use)

RVTECH · Sep 14, 2020

Always was fascinated with the Thompson and way back in the 'day' almost bought an Auto-Ordnance 1927 A-1 Carbine at one time.

I actually held a 'real' FA 1928 A1 at a gun show a few years ago.

oldcorpgunny · Sep 14, 2020

RVTECH said:
Always was fascinated with the Thompson and way back in the 'day' almost bought an Auto-Ordnance 1927 A-1 Carbine at one time.

I actually held a 'real' FA 1928 A1 at a gun show a few years ago.

My dad was a tanker during WWII. He reminded me a long time ago that all five crewmen in their Sherman M-4 were armed with both a Thompson and a Colt 1911A1.

Member 34319 · Sep 14, 2020

@jbett98 has let me shoot his. Very fun!

salmon creek gary · Sep 14, 2020

Range day was the highlight (for me) of the Clark County Sheriff's Citizens Academy that I attended a few years ago. I've forgotten which weapons I fired during that short session, except for my first and only opportunity to fire a Thompson. Not wanting it all to end too soon, I didn't dump the magazine; instead, I milked it in 3 round bursts and absolutely hated when it was over.

oldcorpgunny · Sep 14, 2020

salmon creek gary said:
Range day was the highlight (for me) of the Clark County Sheriff's Citizens Academy that I attended a few years ago. I've forgotten which weapons I fired during that short session, except for my first and only opportunity to fire a Thompson. Not wanting it all to end too soon, I didn't dump the magazine; instead, I milked it in 3 round bursts and absolutely hated when it was over.

I'm glad that you that opportunity!

sobo · Sep 14, 2020

RVTECH said:
Always was fascinated with the Thompson and way back in the 'day' almost bought an Auto-Ordnance 1927 A-1 Carbine at one time.

I went ahead and did it. The SBR version...

As @wired stated, you can aim this thing and slow fire with deadly accuracy since its weight eats up recoil for breakfast. I can regularly outgun my buddies on the dueling tree with this and they're shooting their pistols. It's kinda funny to see their mouths hang open after I've plastered all of the steels onto their side...

CountryGent · Oct 10, 2020

sobo said:
I went ahead and did it. The SBR version...
View attachment 749949

Very neat-o. Does your AO SBR run well? I've been very tempted by one, but the one AO M1 Carbine had was easily one of the biggest POS rifles I've ever owned that I couldn't get running for love or money, so once bitten, twice shy. But if the Tommy-guns run ...

wired · Oct 10, 2020

They had a '28A1 kit on everygunpart.com the other day tangent sight and all for about 800 bucks. Easy reweld . I spent a day thinking about it and went to buy it the next day,. Gone. GRRR.

cigars · Oct 10, 2020

oldcorpgunny said:
My dad was a tanker during WWII. He reminded me a long time ago that all five crewmen in their Sherman M-4 were armed with both a Thompson and a Colt 1911A1.

They eventually came out with the M3 for portability in tanks to replace the Thompson. Later on, the M3A1. I used to have them in my arms room for our M60A3 tankers back in the mid 80's. As an armorer, I got to choose whatever I wanted for border patrol so I would usually take along a grease gun. I absolutely loved that thing. I believe that the grease guns were still in the Army's inventory up until recently. I had acquired a Thompson after I got out and had a lot of fun with it. But being young and (reasonably) dumb, I traded it towards a motorcycle (a 1980 XS1100). That was one hell of a bike.

CLT65 · Oct 10, 2020

cigars said:
But being young and (reasonably) dumb, I traded it towards a motorcycle (a 1980 XS1100). That was one hell of a bike.

I've never owned a Thompson, but I had an '81 XS1100 "Midnight Special". Slow and heavy compared to modern machines, but a pretty awesome bike in it's day. Lots of good memories...

(sorry for the drift)

UnionMillsNW · Oct 10, 2020

sobo said:
I went ahead and did it. The SBR version...
View attachment 749949

My dream gun! Maybe one day...

sobo · Oct 12, 2020

CountryGent said:
Very neat-o. Does your AO SBR run well? I've been very tempted by one, but the one AO M1 Carbine had was easily one of the biggest POS rifles I've ever owned that I couldn't get running for love or money, so once bitten, twice shy. But if the Tommy-guns run ...

Runs like a top now. It was a little finicky in what I fed it early on, but after I force-fed a few mags through it, it "loosened up" and quit being such a picky eater.

Also, it was a little difficult finding the right 30-rd sticks for it, though. Seems that it won't hold a mag that has a circular locking hole in it, but if it's elliptical, all works great. So I took a Dremel tool and lengthened the hole (in the vertical direction, along the long axis of the mag) and now they all work great.