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M1 Thompson Transit Chest


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Dan,

 

I have never seen a single chest for the M1 Thompson. I own a two-gun transit chest for M1s, which is plenty heavy when loaded.

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There were single 28 cases for a gun and several stick mags.....no drum slots and about 3" skinnier than the ones you made. That could be used for an M1 if some blicks were added to support the shirter gun, and the stock would need to be unscrewed.

There was also a skinny case for two STEn Mk. IIs, two slings and ten stick mags. Pics on my pc so will have to post later if anyone wants to see them.

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Dan,

About 10 years ago, D& B militaria in the UK were selling a transit case designed to hold two M1's and around the same time they were selling one that housed two Sten guns, maybe the one that John was talking about.
However I personally think that chests for M1's and Stens never existed during WW2 and were 'fantasy' items produced by, or for D&B.
My reasoning behind that is In 1940, when the British placed their order for Thompson submachine guns, the weapons were planned to be distributed as unit weapons. At that time, unit weapons, such as Vickers machine guns, Lewis and Bren light machine gun, were all stored in transit chests, The reason for that was they are nobody's personal responsibility, and were issued to whoever ‘signed for them’, from the units armoury, with a set of ancillaries, (magazines, cleaning rod / kit, spares), which were required for the weapons. Therefore, the War department arranged contracts for the manufacture of transit chests designed specifically for the Model of 1928's and ancillaries.

In June 1941, the decision was taken that the Thompson would be issued as a personal weapon and therefore the chests were no longer required, so the contracts were cut short. The War department then looked at converting the transit chests to hold box magazines and also 50 round ‘L’ drums, and drawings for the conversions exist.

 

If you look on #49 in the Home Guard Case Study post, you'll find a few photos of D&Bs M1 transit chest.

Home Guard Case Study - Page 3 - Thompson Submachine Gun Message Board - MachineGunBoards.com Forums

 

Stay safe

Richard

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There were single 28 cases for a gun and several stick mags.....no drum slots and about 3" skinnier than the ones you made. That could be used for an M1 if some blicks were added to support the shirter gun, and the stock would need to be unscrewed.

There was also a skinny case for two STEn Mk. IIs, two slings and ten stick mags. Pics on my pc so will have to post later if anyone wants to see them.

There is a picture of a single 28 chest with no slots for the drum magazines in post #61 of the Home Guard Case Study.

Home Guard Case Study - Page 3 - Thompson Submachine Gun Message Board - MachineGunBoards.com Forums

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