Posted 09 March 2005 - 11:45 AM
As fas as the Colt type markings and patent dates, they look identical to any Colt TSMG that has come off the factory line. Not just the information, but the actual look of it as well. The correct patent dates that were only stamped on the last 540 Colt TSMG's is in keeping with an "over-run" type receiver. Even though ATF has no set guidelines about recording the manufacturer of an NFA weapon, no doubt ATF went with Colt or Auto-Ordnance as the manufacturer. While this does not guarantee who the manufacturer was, it would show a record of when this weapon got into the registry. If the paper work shows this to be registered before 1968, which it would have to be to be sold other than on a Form 10, where would the motivation be for faking a Colt TSMG receiver when they were selling for $500 at that time? If this were a fake type Richardson receiver done in the last 10 years, how would it ever be registered? The classification of NFA weapons precludes this sort of forgery since it has to have a paper trail of registration.
Who would go to the cost of manufacturing Colt roll marking dies and then apply them to a "blank" receiver and then screw up the bluing and the serial number and the over-stamping? Surely if this was in vogue at some point in time, many more examples of these "forgeries" would have surfaced. Who creates these roll dies to make just one receiver if their intent was to make money by defrauding non existent buyers back in the 1960's? So what is left to consider is that this is indeed a non serial numbered Colt receiver that was fished out of the crates that were transfered to Russel Maguire and then eventually to Numrich. The real subterfuge on this weapon is the attempt at the WWII type nomenclature over stampings. The possibility that these stampings were done before, or during, WWII is beyond remote.
The only logical supposition left is that this is indeed what TD describes as a "NAC" type Frankenstein sample. If this "mutt" type weapon is comprised of a Colt receiver, Savage frame and various other WWII components, I would think it would bring what the other "NAC" type TSMG's have been getting. More than WH"S, but less than WWII models? Still, this is definitely unusual in that it is a "NAC" type gun, but without the "NAC" stampings which I think makes it more desirable than the "NAC" ones.