Spotting a rewelded receiver?

[Thompsonlover]

Hi guys as a fairly new member here, I am looking for advice in spotting a rewelded Thompson. I doubt this is covered in any of the Thompson books on the market today. Besides the obvious clues like in the attached photos: lines, discolorations, and irregular shapes, is there any other ways to spot a reweld. I have posted some pics before of some guns I have been interested in and some guys have spotted some irregularities. I appreciate any advice that could help me prevent a mistake in my future Thompson purchase?

Edited May 28, 2015 by Thompsonlover

[reconbob]

Most Thompsons that are welded are fairly easy to identify if you know what to look

for. The gun you picture is a real hack-job and can be identified as a reweld from across

the room. But even if its a good job you can never really exactly duplicate the finish and machining

marks of an original receiver. If you try to cover your tracks by smoothing everything over,

now the absence of machining marks gives it away.

There was a thread here a while back about a M1928A1 Thompson that was advertised

as all original EXC+. Upon inspection the receiver had clearly been welded and machined

and even had fake ordnance stamps. Additional photos from the seller actually showed a

raw weld, yet the seller stuck to his position that the gun was original, then relented only

a little and said the gun "may" have been "chemically welded"...whatever that means. In

this case the gun had actually been sold but the buyer was able to cancel the sale and

get his money back.

One of the problems is that many dealers will present a reweld as "original" and be ready

to play dumb claiming they are not a Thompson expert when the questions start and hope

for another buyer to come along.

The best thing is to have an expert examine the gun if you have doubts. The next best thing

is to get photos and post them here and see what people say. Also, you could require the seller

to write a receipt stating that the gun is all original. If the seller will not do this, then he or the

gun or both are suspect and you should look elsewhere.

 

Bob

Edited May 28, 2015 by reconbob

[The1930sRust]

I've been told the first thing/place to look is inside the receiver. R

[timkel]

I've been told the first thing/place to look is inside the receiver. R

This is the way.

[bug]

If the gun looks like the one pictured, it's kind of easy. Most rewelds won't be that obvious though.

 

The first place to look is on the ATF transfer form for the listed manufacturer. Anything other than, Colt, Savage, Auto Ord Co needs an explanation.

 

If you're inspecting a receiver and see something suspicious on the outside, look inside to see if you can pick it up there. Also check the top and the bottom to see if a suspect line continues. There are usually two (or more) weld lines but some older work may have just one.

 

Seeing the weld lines can be trickey. Holding the receiver at different angles works well for me. If nothing shows up, look hard at the inside of the receiver for clues. Have a good idea (or a picture) what the inside should look like

 

I have a Chinese M22, milled receiver reweld. The one weld could be seen easily. If you had an Xray. The rewelding is flawless and could fool a lot of people. In this case, the form 4 tells the tale. I couldn't afford my dream gun, a third pattern Russian, but this one proved to be a great substitute. My point is, don't rule out rewelds as they make great shooters.

 

One last thing. Be aware that there are many REWATS out there. These guns will be at or near the price of original guns. They should have original mfgr listed. They are C&R. The appearence of these guns is usually affected by the dewat/rewat process. Negotiate based on condition as always.

 

[Thompsonlover]

Great advice guys!! Thanks a lot!

[Paladin601]

a straight edge would also help