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My M1's Here -- Range Report


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It's finally here! I bought a WH M1 in late June; it was an interstate transfer, so it took twice as long. The M1 was going to be my first Thompson, but while I was waiting, I found a 1928 WH that I couldn't live without. The 28 was an intrastate transfer, so I got that gun in November.

 

As advertised, the M1 had been fired very, very little. Finish was perfect. But it is kind of a letdown. Took it to the range today, and it really jammed a lot. When I first got the 28, it jammed, but I started labeling the mags and soon found that several mags jammed all the time - - and the rest never jammed. Since I started using the good mags, the gun has run flawlessly.

 

Well, I used those good mags today, but every one seemed to jam in the M1 -- but not consistently. At first, it would fire a couple of rounds and then chamber one but fail to fire it. Then, later, I kept getting a live round lodged between the bottom of the bolt and the feeding ramp -- pointing up at 45 degree angle. Once I found a live round in the receiver. It was jammed between a wall of the receiver and the flat part of the bolt. The bullet had been jammed deeper into the brass.

 

One weird thing about this gun: It has the "fake Lyman" rear sight normally encountered on 28 WH's. All the other WH M1's I've seen have the protected L, but this is one of the first ones made, so maybe they didn't have a supply of proper sights at the time, but had some of the fake Lymans on hand. Those sights are just about worthless. The notch is too close to be effective, and if you raise the ladder, the peep sight jumps up when you fire -- which really causes the gun to climb!

 

Anyway, I really like my WH28 (as a shooter, not collector item), but I may not feel the same way about the M1. Any thoughts on the jamming would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

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Gunner, your WHM1 as described sounds like mine. Does it have a military bolt or the original West Hurley. I seem to recall some have said that the feed ramp into the chamber on these can be a little rough and in need of polishing.

 

Mine appeard to have been polished and I replace the WH bolt with an M1 bolt from IMA. It ran 100% from the getgo. My .02.

 

BTW, congratulations.

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Gunner, there's actually lots of little things that can contribute to jamming problems. If you enjoy tinkering, then you can do lots of research on this board, and slowly figure out what the various little problems are, fixing them one at a time, going to the range a whole bunch of times, possibly getting quite frustrated, etc.

 

Or, if you just want the gun to run flawlessly without a lot of hassle, just send it and all of your magazines to PK.

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Gunner,

 

RE your WH M1 with a ladder sight instead of a ear-protected fixed sight:

 

I just bought a WH ear-protected fixed from a guy who years ago did the swap to a ladder sight on a M1 WH for a customer. The customer didn't want the fixed sight and the guy just found it in a box with some other parts. Could be the same gun!

 

RE jamming: I replaced the springs, lubed the followers, and tweaked the rails to reduce wobble to help reduce mag problems. Don't have an M1 so I don't know if that would help you.

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Gunner, my WH did the same exact thing. The receiver was not straight and the feed ramp was off. I sent it out (not to PK,

but he's the one who can fix it), and it ran flawlessly when I got it back. Cost was $450, but there was a lot to be done.

Mine was new in the box, made in 1986, and never shot.

I sent it to:

Tim La France

LaFrance Specialties

PO Box 82049

San Diego, CA

92138

1-800-432-6248

 

He does excellent work and I would use him again. Give him or PK a call and explain your problem.

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Gunner:

 

I bought one of these new in '86 when they first came out. Same problem! Try the bolt switch first - it's the least expensive solution and works about half the time. Use an original M1 bolt - it's a lot safer than the M1A1 fixed firing pin bolt. If that don't work "PK" it. Mine had lower frame problems too. The mag catch was misplaced and it would not seat mags correctly.

 

1921A

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My new in the box WHM1 had alot of problems. I sent it to PK with all the magazines & he made it into the most relieable gun I got!!! Wish I could use it for my concealed weapons gun now (with a long coat)! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif
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