R.F. Sedgley, INC. Colt TSMG Serial Numbers & Misc. Info

[gunhistorian]

I don't know how valuable or useful this information is, but it comes from the "Nye" Committee hearings (Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Munitions Industry), Hearings, Part 39, pages 13561, et seq. To my knowledge, this Part is not available online. Note, also, that there may be typographical errors in the Hearings, especially with the s/ns. However, they appear to be mostly consistent. There may be a typo in the price paid by Sedgley for a TSMG purchased from Walker Storage Warehouse ($15.00!)

 

Sedgley purchases of TSMGs (dates, price paid, s/n if given, from whom purchased - not necessarily in that order):

 

9/27/32 -- 3 TSMGs (no s/n given) from Franklin Bache total paid $195.00

9/28/32 -- 1 TSMG (no s/n given) from Franklin Bache total paid $ 61.75

 

6/6/28 -- received from Francis Bannerman's Sons 1 TSMG (no s/n given) SEE below 9/23/30 and 11/2/30.

10/18/28 -- received from FBS 9 TSMGs s/n: 4620, 4344, 4777, 5265, 4948, 4258, 4070, 5095

9/23/30 -- credit slip to FBS for 3 TSMGs @ $100 less 10%

10/28/30 -- credit slip to FBS for 5 TSMGs @ $100 less 10%

This suggests that RFS was selling these on consignment for Bannerman.

10/17/30 -- 1 TSMG (no s/n given) from Walker Storage Warehouse total paid $15.

 

Sedgley sales of TSMGs

 

6/16/30 -- sold 1 TSMG #5095 to E.E. Domina for $125

6/16/30 -- sold unknown quantity of TSMG barrels and receivers to Export Consolidated Co. total sale $107.?? Can't read the cents!

6/12/28 -- sold 1 TSMG #5104 to S.W. Haines (or S. Earl Haines) for $169.50

5/23/30 -- sold 3 TSMGs #4070, 4258, 4948 to John B. Zbieratski for (total) $375

5/23/30 -- sold 2 TSMGs #4777, 5625 plus 6 magazines to John B. Zbieratski for total of $363.60

6/5/30 -- sold 2 TSMGs #4344, 4620 plus 2 magazines to John B. Zbieratski for total of $281.

 

STRANGE SALE:

Sedgley sold to Auto Ordnance Corporation:

1/27/28 -- 500 butt swivels and parts -- $100

8/7/28 -- 500 sling swivels and parts -- $150

8/24/29 -- ditto

6/12/30 -- ditto -- $175.

 

There is also info on Sedgley sales to MGM, Stembridge (gun rentals to movies), George B. Jarrett, and others.

Good trivia for those who like this stuff. Hope this is somewhat interesting and valuable.

[michaelkih]

$15 for a 1921 Thompson? WTF?!

[dalbert]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting this detail.

 

I'm away from most of my resources at the moment, so I don't know if this has been documented previously...Based on this data, it appears Sedgley provided sling swivels for the 1928 Navy Model TSMG...

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[dalbert]

No one has any comments about the sling swivel procurement from Sedgley? Perhaps this has been documented previously, but as I stated, I'm away from my resources at the moment...

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[TD.]

gunhistorian,

Welcome to the Board. Excellent information. A quick look through my older edition of Gordon Herigstad's book, Colt Thompson Serial Numbers, revealed information on only one serial number you listed - and it was shown as destroyed. I will do a more in depth search in the near future as I could have easily missed something. Anytime your research turns up anything Thompson please let us know. I would like to see copies of the original documents relating to the Bannerman and Sedgley sales.

 

Like David, I too believe the sling swivel purchase by Auto-Ordnance from Sedgley is new information. I assume these would have been the offset Enfield swivels that were originally used on the 28 Navy model. It appears AOC purchased a lot of these swivels.

 

Again, thank you for this information. Please be active on the Board. It is always nice to have another member that does original research.

[gunhistorian]

Thanks for your kind words! I would post the pages from the Nye Committee, but I feel they should be converted to pdf format (which I don't have) and must point out that the type size appears to tbe about 6 point. These pages were printed from microfilm. The Hearings transcripts should be available at any Federal Repository library.

One of the things I would like to see is a board devoted to research sources for firearms histories (notably military firearms), especially original sources. Unfortunately, at my age (and lack of sophistication with computers, the internet, etc.) this is impossible for me to develop. That is one of the reasons why I try to post the location of original source material or other research material that I've discovered online. As I mentioned somewhere on the Thompson board, an excellent source for government publications or "out of copyright" material is hathitrust.org. There one can find some fairly rare books that have been scanned: Crozier's book on World War I ordnance, U.S. Navy book on ordnance (World War I as well as World War II), etc. I will continue to share my "finds" in the hope that another researcher will follow the trail and produce a new publication that "debunks" existing history or presents a more detailed history. BTW, I am not sure if they are online or not, but two unpublished volumes of the Ordnance Department history (Series: The U.S. Army In World War II) dealing with production and lend-lease are of some value, though not generally available in Federal Repository libraries.

[dalbert]

Thanks for your kind words! I would post the pages from the Nye Committee, but I feel they should be converted to pdf format (which I don't have) and must point out that the type size appears to tbe about 6 point. These pages were printed from microfilm. The Hearings transcripts should be available at any Federal Repository library.

One of the things I would like to see is a board devoted to research sources for firearms histories (notably military firearms), especially original sources. Unfortunately, at my age (and lack of sophistication with computers, the internet, etc.) this is impossible for me to develop. That is one of the reasons why I try to post the location of original source material or other research material that I've discovered online. As I mentioned somewhere on the Thompson board, an excellent source for government publications or "out of copyright" material is hathitrust.org. There one can find some fairly rare books that have been scanned: Crozier's book on World War I ordnance, U.S. Navy book on ordnance (World War I as well as World War II), etc. I will continue to share my "finds" in the hope that another researcher will follow the trail and produce a new publication that "debunks" existing history or presents a more detailed history. BTW, I am not sure if they are online or not, but two unpublished volumes of the Ordnance Department history (Series: The U.S. Army In World War II) dealing with production and lend-lease are of some value, though not generally available in Federal Repository libraries.

 

gunhistorian,

 

I could easily add another forum, or add a pinned post to the informational board (Third board down) containing research links. It could be an open or closed forum for discussion, or just a repository for links that would have to be sent to me to update.

 

Does anyone else have an interest in such a resource?

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com