Rusted Thompson M1A1 Restoration

[2ndArmored]

I DO remember Paragon Sales!

 

I also remember being 30.

 

I miss them both.

[RogerD]

Paragon was in an steel building right on the border of Joliet. My buddy who went to school with the owner, who's name I can't remember, told me he got religion and was selling out and closing the business. Shortly before closing I purchased an unfired FNC from his personal collection. Still have it...unfired. $79 SKS's and 1440 rounds of 7.62x39 on stripper clips $99.

[colt21a]

Dale Thomas it was his dads building and farm he lived a few miles away.Also thanks to that poster of great info for all the Kelly Info. that movie made me buy some M1a1's Later.And a nice 88mm Round.RON K.

[Bridgeport28A1]

I still remember Paragons advertising artwork, comic book style.

[john]

If I recall, didn't Evansville repack trainloads if .45 ball in new cartons?

I have a few marked "Repacked on" and a date.

Those boxes contained many manufacturers but individual boxes were t mixed, all one headstamp.

The year 1854 sticks out in my memory.....perhaps I'll dig out a can or two and check.

[rpbcps]

@TSMGguy

Sir, thank you for the information, very interesting ! And yes, restoration of antiques (especially heavy rusted guns) is in the first place a matter of patience. One must remove as many as possible holes caused by rust, yet without removing too much of the surrounding metal. But this piece was too rusty. How to find manufacturing month and year ?

 

 

 

 

Thank you all !

 

 

An original, Yugoslavian M1 and M1A1 Operator's Manual (just part):

 

111839_415167294_248.jpg

 

111839_415167294_249.jpg

 

Excellent restoration work... I actually have a copy of that M1A1 manual in my collection, published in 1953.

 

The M1A1's were also widely used, with other surplus WW2 weapons, during the Balkans wars in the 1990's.

 

 

Stay safe

Richard

[Quintilian]

Thank You Richard !

 

 

In the early 1990s, most of these Thompsons ended up with members of the Serbian Army of Krajina and the Army of Republika Srpska, while a smaller amount was used by other warring parties.

 

Army of Republika Srpska (Garda Panteri unit)

 

 

 

...........................................................................................................................................................................................

 

 

 

Interesting facts.

 

 

In the late 1930s, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was looking for a submachine gun to equip its army. Faced with a lack of automatic weapons, Kingdom of Yugoslavia decided to purchase Thompson submachine guns for her elite parachute forces. The first 100 M1928A1 submachine guns were ordered in late 1940 but arrived only in April 1941 (The April War) when they were still captured by the Germans.

 

Some authors speculate that these submachine guns had the markings of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but I have never seen a single crest. However, M1928A1 submachine guns were parachuted by the Allies during 1942 and many believe that they were actually submachine guns purchased two years earlier.

 

On the terrains of Yugoslavia in World War II, M1928A1 submachine guns were in frequent use in units of the of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (The Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army).

 

 

Chetniks with Thompsons

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Draza Mihailovich, leader of Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (Yugoslavian guerrilla army known as the Chetniks)

 

 

 

 

 

General Draza Mihailovich with his M1 Carbine (colorized)

 

 

 

 

 

General Draza Mihailovich with U.S. officers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas", war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943.

 

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035729/

 

 

 

 

United States war comics

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Legion of Merit, awarded to general Draža Mihailović by U.S. president Harry Truman

 

 

 

 

 

During that time in Croatia:

 

Ante Pavelić, a Croatian dictator who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and governed the Independent State of Croatia.

 

 

Adolf Hitler meets Ante Pavelić

 

 

Mussolini and Pavelic

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Quintilian

[Eagle3]

Very, very impressive. You sure have the patience for such an undertaking. Most would have looked at it as a boat anchor. You should be congratulated for bringing a piece of history back to life. Well done.

[Quintilian]