Nac Suffix Thompson Confusion

[pat k]

e.

[Bill in VA]

There've been a number of threads here about the NAC guns. (Do a search...I'm sure you'll find enough to keep you busy reading for quite some time.) As you pointed out the gun in question has a Bridgeport address and a NAC suffix. This means the receiver was an "original" receiver, but was later registered and assembled by NAC (Numrich Arms Co, of West Hurley, New York.) Keep in mind, too, that what you're buying is a registered MG receiver. As long as the receiver is intact, all else is incidental. These days, anything that's transferrable can be made to run (and run correctly) if it doesn't run at first. Is it worth $10k? Absolutely not. IMHO, no gun is worth that much, but as they say, "if you want to play, you gotta pay." MGs are like real estate...they ain't making more of 'em, so they ain't getting cheaper. Other than that, considering MG prices in today's volatile market, $14k is a "fair" price.

 

YMMV

 

 

 

btw, it's West Hurley, not "Hurley." West Hurley is a city in New York state. (Or is is that just "York" state???) http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/smile.gif

[TD.]

pat k - As Bill has suggested, search the board for threads on the NAC Thompson; you will find a lot of information on the NAC suffix Thompsons. There is a bunch of NAC Thompsons in circulation. For what its worth, I would be more worried about the condition of the receiver of the gun you posted about - especially at 14K. If you would post a few pictures, I predict you would get many opinions about this particular Thompson. The loss of markings is probably because the receiver has been heavily buffed in an attempt to remove pitting and rust. As you suspect, this is not a good thing. If you are looking for a Thompson that you would like to see appreciate in value over the years, this may not be the Thompson for you. Yes, the price will go up over time, but nothing like the Thompsons that have sharp markings and have never been pitted. I suggest you really research the market for a short while to see if a better example may turn up (it will). There are still deals to be found. When you are talking about this much money, I would rather pay a few thousand more and get a nice example. I found the actual hunt for a Thompson to be the best part of the journey. Once you find what you want and pay your money, all you can then do is set back and wait on the BATFE approval process (boring). Enjoy the hunt - you will learn a lot along the way.

[Bill in VA]

It takes an awful lot of handling to wear down markings. (I've got several firearms that are well over 100 years old and their markings are still exceedingly crisp.) I'd suspect the faint markings were more likely a result of trying to polish out pits/rust before refinishing. I once had a Mauser C96 that had been grossly over polishes prior to refinishing, so much so that almost all sharp egdes, markings, etc... were gone; looking at the muzzle it was easy to see it had been polished to point of being out-of-round...one side of the barrel naqr the muzzle was virtually flat. As far as being repatriated from overseas, I'd doubt it. (If the gun is transferrable it would have had to been reimported prior to 1968, moreover NAC didn't use reimported receivers for the "NAC' stamped transferrables.) When NAC acquired the remaining stock of TSMG parts they found that they'd acquired a number of receivers (and even a few complete guns, IIRC.) Those receivers were built up into functioning smgs using whatever parts were available, at least until the OEM parts began to dry up (and then began manufacturing their own parts and receivers.) It's quite conceivable that your gun was assembled by NAC with whatever parts they had on hand, be it Savage or Bridgeport. FWIW, I have a shooting buddy with a Bridgeport NAC M1 that also has a Savage lower. He's had the gun ever since he bought it from NAC back in the early 1970s for the whopping price pf $650, plus an additional $5 for an L drum (and $6 for another L drum from Navy Arms. Many times I've offered to triple, and even quadruple his money on either the gun or one of his drums, but so far, no luck.)

[full auto 45]

Pat k, there were a couple Thompson's at the SAR last year. But hold onto your ankles and lube up real good. The prices were marked up at least 4 grand from the show that was about 2 weeks earlier here in Indinana. 2 of the dealers that had them were at the SAR and had the guns with them. Lucky the dealers didn't remember me as they both told me that that was the currect price. Like the dealer that had a Group Industries BAR here at Indy for $13k and at the SAR it was $19k! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif