This article, "The First Thompsons," appeared originally in the February 2006 issue of American Rifleman. Stay in the know. Consequently, they cannot be legally imported or owned except under very limited circumstances. While other weapons had been developed shortly prior with similar objectives in mind, the Thompson was the first weapon to be labeled and marketed as a "submachine gun". The Thompson submachine gun is one of the most iconic American guns ever produced. The possession of any fully automatic firearm is prohibited in the UK by the Firearms Act 1968; prohibited firearms can be possessed on a section 5 certificate, but these are not issued for sporting purposes. Despite new U.S. contracts for Lend-Lease shipments abroad to China, France, and the United Kingdom, as well as the needs of American armed forces, only two factories supplied M1928A1 Thompsons during the early years of World War II. Poland was then in the middle of a revolution, with both the Poles and Ukrainians fighting the Bolshevik Army. Originally, this mechanism also was to be belt-fed. An engineering department was established in Cleveland to work with the Warner & Swasey Co. Thompson was very familiar with the company from its work with optics and artillery-laying sights, and he put two very young engineers in charge of design and development. Though the M3 was considerably cheaper to produce, at the end of World War II, the Thompson, with a total wartime production of over 1.5 million, outnumbered the M3/M3A1 submachine guns in service by nearly three to one. By the time of the Korean War in 1950, the Thompson had seen much use by the U.S. and South Korean military, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as Limited Standard or Substitute Standard long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. IMA considers all antique guns offered on our website as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. 3. The slots adjoining the magazine well allowing the use of a drum magazine were removed. "And they go between $7,000 to $10,000,if you can find one for sale. M1921 Thompsons were sold in small numbers to the United States Postal Inspection Service[34] so they could protect the mail from a spate of robberies. Colts was awarded the initial production contract for 15,000 Thompsons. We offer full auto tommy gun for sale, sub machine gun for sale and more. He also has a Savage M1 Thompson that was made for the war. Rate of fire was reduced to approximately 600700rpm. Thompson had been in charge of small-arms production for the Army before going to work in the private sector for the Remington Arms Co. New Zealand commando forces in the South Pacific campaign initially used Thompsons but switched them for the more reliable, lighter, and more accurate Owen during the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal campaigns. [74], Some M1928A1 Thompsons were used by the French before and during the Battle of France (1940) under the designation "Pistolet-mitrailleur 11 mm 43 (C.45) M. 28 A1. The reinforced stock and protective sight wings were standard. The serial number,1244194, represents the total number of Thompson submachine guns, 1928, M1, and M1A1 models made by Savage. Serial No. Legal Notice - International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and local laws. The original Model 1928s were Model 1921s with weight added to the actuator, which slowed down the cyclic rate of fire, a United States Navy requirement. We assume no liability associated with misuse of our products. The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", "Trench Sweeper", or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United States Army brigadier general John T. Thompson in 1918. The original selective-fire Thompson variants are no longer produced, although numerous semi-automatic civilian versions are still being produced by the manufacturer Auto-Ordnance. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during the early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. In wartime, it helped carry soldiers and. Iannamico, Frank. During experiments with rifle calibers, this system failed to workunless the cartridges were oiledas there was too much contact resistance with the chamber walls for extraction. The .45 ACP caliber Thompson 1927A-1 has a pinned Cutts compensator, which lengthens the finned barrel length to 18", and puts the overall length for the carbine at . Be the first to know of our latest discoveries and exclusive offers. The Thompson Submachine Gun is an iconic American firearm brought to life in 1919 and patented in 1920. The war Thompson's had a side actuator to charge the gun instead ofa top actuator on the M1921's. That system, however, proved to be an unreliable means of feeding the rapid-fire Persuader. War Thompsons, as Ike refers to them, are more common and worthless, but they arestill awesome guns. [42][43], In 1926, the Cutts Compensator (a muzzle brake) was offered as an attachment option for the Thompson. After Auto-Ordnance personnel were satisfied with its appearance and function, a production run of Thompsons was bid out to two different firms: Colts and Savage. (In 1923, the Army had rejected the .45 RemingtonThompson, which had twice the energy of the .45 ACP). [67] For these reasons, the 20-round and later 30-round box magazines soon proved most popular with military users of the M1928A1, and drum compatibility was not included in the design of the wartime M1 and M1A1 models. [32] The concept had already been developed by German troops using their own Bergmann MP 18 (the world's first submachine gun) in concert with their Sturmtruppen tactics.[33]. Ike reluctantlyagreed, but he's glad he accepted. (1941). Public Enemy Number One, favored the Thompson submachine gun. The Persuader was a belt-fed version developed in 1917/18. Ike's Colt Thompson M1921AC is one of the nicest guns that he owns. Co. These two 1919s led to the final family known as the Annihilator III Thompsons, divided into at least five separate sub-model groups. The submachine gun can only be sold to other grandfathered individuals; this keeps prices extremely low as the number of permitted licensed individuals is very small and dwindling with time. Of those, only 11 are known to exist today, with only five known to be in private hands. Bannan, James F. and Hill, Tracie L. (1989). The Thompson submachine gun is a weapon so iconic that it's known most often by the many nicknames it gathered, rather than its official military designation. This Model of 1919 Thompson, an Annihilator III, Model G, never had a factory-stamped serial number applied. Shortly afterwards the US Army also ordered a large quantity. The less expensive and more-easily manufactured "stick" magazines were used exclusively in the M1, with a new 30-round version joining the familiar 20-round type. The Models of 1919 were not a single-production design, but rather a series of experimental prototypes. Thompson SMG Home / Thompson SMG SORT BY: Relevancy 24 Items SHOP THOMPSON SMG Filter By: By the end of the war, the M1A1 was replaced with the even lower-cost M3 (commonly called the "Grease Gun"). It was decided to separate the two functions into three parts. We offer the same attention to craftsmanship today that made the original so highly regarded. In contrast, the "XX" twenty-round box magazine was light and compact. Deactivated Thompson SMG, early WW2 1928a1 US army marked: Here`s a stunner of an early war US Thompson 1928a1 complete, early type with and coutts compensator and US army markings, condition is very good throughout. It fired the more powerful .45 RemingtonThompson cartridge which fired a heavier 250gr (0.57oz; 16g) bullet at muzzle velocities of about 1,450ft/s (440m/s) and energy about 1,170ftlb (1,590J), with greater range than the .45 ACP. Free delivery for many products! 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It has been produced since 1999 by Kahr Arms of Worcester, Massachusetts. Ammunition was manufactured in Australia or obtained from adjacent American troops. The 30-round box was approved as the new standard in December 1941 to replace the "XX" and "L" magazines. However, users complained that it was limited in capacity. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before the fall of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Mao Zedong's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies). Gun magazine laws, concealed weapons laws, laws governing new made display guns, airsoft guns, blank fire guns, and other items vary greatly by nation, state and locality. 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