Another Attempt to ID a Mystery Thompson Magazine

[ordnance]

I think I posted this a number of years ago with no success in identifying it. With the new Thompson magazine book in print, I was reminded by a friend that it might be a good time to try again.

 

This one arrived in a lot of misc. gun parts from one of the big auction houses so I have no background info on a source. It is a 30-rd magazine that fits and locks perfectly in a TSMG and feeds correctly too. I ran a 10-rd burst through my '28 this morning to make sure it actually worked properly.

 

Now it gets interesting. I disassembled it to compare with a standard U.S. GI 30-rd magazine. The most noticeable feature is a series of stake marks and detents on the rear spine. The photos should tell most of the story but a few other features stand out. It is completely unmarked on any part.

 

The floor plate is removable by depressing the button in the center and sliding off. Note that the floor plate wraps around ears bent outward on the magazine body, unlike the standard type. The follower is very similar to a normal one.

 

The mag seems slightly heavy and a micrometer check revealed the body metal thickness as .039"-.040" (1mm) with a U.S. GI type measuring .031"-.032". The spring is also heavier with the wire diameter of .060"-.061" (1.5mm) with a normal follower spring being .055" wire. The spring is also longer at 23 coils instead of 19. These differences make the mag very stiff and hard to load without some sort of loader. I can only get 10 or 12 rounds in with normal thumb pressure but I think a a sleeve type loader like employed with the Grease Gun would work well.

 

With materials conveniently matching metric standards I'm inclined to think this might be a post-war European magazine but am open to all suggestions. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DINK]

I'm no expert, but my SWAG (scientific wild-assed guess) would be Chinese. They had a buttload of Thompsons following WW II and used them on each other and our Marines during the Korean War, so I can see a need for domestic magazine production. Probably not European, because they can't build anything without slapping three serial numbers on each part.

 

Good luck with your quest.

[timkel]

Interesting mag. The design of floorplate reminds me of an AK mag. So comblock maybe.

[TSMGguy]

With billions of mags produced before and during the Second World War, it would seem to be unnecessary to produce more. Unless, of course, a country with lots of TSMGs was no longer receiving US military aid. I vote Chinese, too.

[ordnance]

Thanks for the suggestions. Well, I think you guys might be on to something. My best guess for a source of a Chinese magazine would have been the huge pile of stuff imported from China by Don Bell at Omega Weapons Systems. I don't recall ever seeing such a magazine when I was buying from him at the Great Western Shows through the 1990s but checked the Wayback Machine to view old pages of his website.

 

In a 2004 page he offered used 30-rd Thompson mags for $5. Listings a few years later made no mention of Thompson mags. So perhaps he had a small quantity mixed in with all the regular Chinese parts and perhaps this is one of them. But it can't be unique. There must be more of them out there. Anyone else see one like it?