Merle Bitikofer .22 kit for sale (With Dave’s permission)

[Ville28]

Selling Merle kit complete with 6 drums (mounts manufactured by Merle), 2 Black Dog 30 round mags and 2 Ceiner 30 round mags. The kit will work with either a 28 or M-1. It does have the channel milled in the side of the barrel to facilitate installation without removal of the ejector. One of the drums has the screws broken off but still functions. Based on previous sales, asking $2000 firm. Please PM me with any questions or if you would like additional pictures. Thanks

 

[TSMGguy]

Cool. Have you tried this in a WH M1?

[Ville28]

I have a PKd WH 28 that I used it in. The kit does have the knob for use in an M1. Ill take some more pictures and send to you if you would like. There are extensions for use with a barrel that either has a Cutts or not.

[Ville28]

Detailed picture of kit. Includes adaptor for silencer.

[Ville28]

Kit is sold pending funds. Thanks

[bradhe]

Wow. At $2000 it has to be economic for someone to start making these again.

[Sandman1957]

I think the price has more to do with they are not in production. When 22s became extinct most folks set these aside. Also no idea how many Merle sold, but its a pretty small niche market. But don't disagree that making them one at a time is not inexpensive.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Sandman1957

[1921A]

Merle did a good job on these but they are still finicky. I had a lot of problems with feeding from the plastic drums and box mags. The metal drums and Ciener mags worked better. Once .22 ammunition dried up, the interest died and the kits lost value. If the democrats win in November it wont matter anyway. Vote! Vote! Vote!!! Edited August 19, 2020 by 1921A

[Tiz]

If you want it simply for is collectibility great, but you can buy a lot of 45 for 2K or a lot of components to reload that 45 brass. 22s arent as cheap as they used to be either.

[Bridgeport28A1]

Congratulations on the sale.

 

Has any one ever found out from Merle how many kits were initially sold through Black Dog Machine LLC and then later by Merle himself?

[emmagee1917]

I have two kits and have had very little if any trouble with them with plastic box mags . I use CCI mini-mags . Strangely , these are subsonic in these 10-inch barrels but were supersonic in my 9-inch cmmg barrel . I have an SBR AR upper with a 4-1/2 bbl now with a Franklin Armory binary trigger that I shoot mostly ( lot lighter ) with a suppressor. If you have not tried one , they are a lot of fun .

Chris

[deerslayer]

I think the original "Merle' batch was 100. Maybe increased two 200.

[Bridgeport28A1]

I think the original "Merle' batch was 100. Maybe increased two 200.

Dan, when you say the “original” Merle batch do you mean kits sold directly by Merle or the first kits sold through Black Dog Maxhine Llc? I know Merle was involved in the kits sold by Blackdog.

[Roland the Thompsongunner]

I have a kit and it runs near flawless with plastic sticks and drum. Orig wwII 28a1 Edited August 20, 2020 by Roland the Thompsongunner

[Roland the Thompsongunner]

 

Wow. At $2000 it has to be economic for someone to start making these again.

Dont forget all the extra mags here. Ceiner mags were around 100 each and drums were around 125 each i think so that bumps the price up quite a bit for this package

[bradhe]

Do the plastic black hills magazines work? I bought a dozen when they were on sale in hopes of finding a kit

[Dan K]

This seems easy enough to knock off. Problem being to get the price anywhere near reasonable you'd have to run at least 500 or 1000 units.

 

If you have a Bridgeport and a lathe you could probably do it. Aluminum bar stock, 22 barrel blank, tool steel or 4140 for the bottom of the bolt/bolt face, find a tool & die shop to heat treat it for you if you don't have a furnace.

 

You could draw this up in solid works or inventor fairly quickly and if you have a local tool & die shop slow they might do it for you.

 

Over the winter I might make one on my equipment, depends how busy I am. 45 ACP loads cheap when you cast your own.

[ppgcowboy]

You have all winter to make a run. Let us know when ready to ship.

[bradhe]

I would make myself one too if I could get drawings or an example

[deerslayer]

The story as I remember was that Merle went to Kevin's facilities for a few days and helped in the building and initial set up of the first batch. I think that was a batch of 100. The goal was to recreate the ceiner type kit with the improvements needed like a steel bottom instead of aluminum which would wear the sear area when time. An upgrade after a while was a new bolt knob that was an oval plate rather than just the round knob. I remember sending my bolt back to Merle for the upgrade. After I made a delrin adaptor so that the black dog pps50 drum could be used with the kit, Merle produced a nice steel adaptor. So, changes and upgrades along the way.

[imageaudio]

I'm new to Thompsons. Do these kits require a complete removal of the 45 ACP barrel and install of the 22 barrel?

 

I see from the kit pictures the new bolt and springs, etc. But the barrel almost looks like it could possibly be inserted inside a 45 ACP barrel?

 

Could someone explain how the conversion works?

[Roland the Thompsongunner]

You just strip the gun down like you are cleaning it and insert the barrel into your existing barrel. Then install your 22 bolt and reassemble and you are ready to go.

[mnshooter]

Do the plastic black hills magazines work? I bought a dozen when they were on sale in hopes of finding a kit

The Black Hills mags work great. But, after I got the drums, the BH mags see little use.

The drums can be a little more fussy to load, but both work fine with the right ammo.

Merles metal drum adapter is a work of art, and he guarded them about the same as the Manhattan Project.

Federal bulk pack was Merle's recommendation; many thousands of this has run well for me in the 21/28 conversion.

Have yet to try it in the M1, even though the Merle drums lock in and work fine in both.

Merle specifically mentioned to not use the Remington Golden Bullet ammo.

Also, be careful with Merle's .22 kit suppressor adapter; tried one with several kit barrel inserts, and it would never align

well enough to use a Rimfire suppressor. Merle used a 9mm can with his; much more clearance for misalignment.

Your adapter, barrel, etc., might be different.

As far as why you would want the conversion: You only have to shoot it once to know the answer.

[Gio]

I have a AR15 thats a 22. Had trouble with regular CCI ammo. They came out with CCI Tactical and it worked fine.

 

Dont have a 22 Thompson but think they would work fine.

 

 

Frank

[Merry Ploughboy]

Several things damped any interest that I may have had in buying a .22LR conversion for the full auto Thompson. The platform is heavy, the trigger pull length is long, and the stock is not adjustable. That makes the Thompson platform difficult for small or weak/disabled shooters to shoot; and many of the robust, adult shooters that I've encountered only want to shoot the "real" caliber in machine guns - 9mm in the Uzi and 5.56 in the M16, for both of which I have .22LR conversions that work exceptionally well.

 

MHO, YMMV, etc. Be well.