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L Drum West Hurley Value


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Anyone know the current value of a early 1980's vintage (West Hurley) L Drum in decent used condition?

Thanks in advance.

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jjvpo8,

Welcome to the Board!

 

The new modern Taiwan L drums sell for under $200 and have an excellent reputation for working. While some WH L drums do work, many do not and the overall reputation is poor. I would guess most of those old WH L drums are now used for display purposes. I would also check the Thompson semi-automatic Forum. Perhaps, there is a demand for the WH L drums in this community.

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Last year one in fair, used shape sold on GB for $250. I suppose if one has a West Hurley Model 1928, there may be a desire to have a West Hurley era drum to go with it even though the WH L drums weren't .produced until after the 1986 machine gun ban. Also, as the WH L drums were only made from '88 till '94 without the LEO/Export Only marking, a drum collector may want one.

 

Best of luck.

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Is there any difference between a Numrich drum and a West Hurley Drum? What I have is a Numrich Drum as pictured and described on page 579 in Tracie Hill's book.

Thanks,

Jared V.

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Jared,

 

They are the same. Numrich was located in West Hurley, NY, back in the day. Since that is the address they put on their guns and drums, that is how they are often described.

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The drum does not say West Hurley on it. It is identical to the one in Hil's book on page 579.

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Jared,

Look at the center shaft. If the center shaft is solid and the drum is identical to the pictures posted on page 579 of TUTB, it is an Auto-Ordnance Corporation, West Hurley, New York, Type L drum. The center shaft for Colt's and WWII drums have a hole in the middle of the shaft.

 

Post a few pictures front and back and with the cover removed and all doubts will be removed.

 

If you have a Thompson, load it up and give it a try. Some of these WH L drums work well. The WH C drums....another story!

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Its not a Colt or WWII Drum. Its Numrich. Here's the link from GB. The surface rust is minor ad most cleaned right off. There is some blue loss on the one side. I was just looking for a shooter drum for my 1921.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/807297989

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Its not a Colt or WWII Drum. Its Numrich. Here's the link from GB. The surface rust is minor ad most cleaned right off. There is some blue loss on the one side. I was just looking for a shooter drum for my 1921.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/807297989

 

On that drum, I'd be more concerned about the dents than the surface rust. Even what looks to be a minor dent can cause failure.

 

FWIW, I use the used and greased WH/Numrich L drum that came with my '21 for shooting, and there has not been a problem so far.

 

MHO, YMMV, etc.

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Jared,

If you have a 1921 Colt's, the last thing you want is a WH L drum. The fit of these drums to a Thompson receiver is often not the best and can result in undue finish wear. Get one of the new Taiwan L drums to use as a shooter drum and continue to look for a Colt era drum to complete your package.

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I have a WH L drum in like new condition bought back when they first come out. It was hard to get it to fit in my WH28 and was not totally reliable. I sent it to Merle about 25 years ago and he straightened it out. Runs as good as any other drum now. I think it was $99.95 at the time. FWIW

Edited by Chopper28
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