PhilOhio,
I'm just going to say that I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the corporate legal aspects that you've argued in this thread recently. I'm not offering a specific argument against it; we should just agree to disagree on the subject. I hope we can still get together and shoot black powder cannons, though!
All,
I do have some additional background information I want to offer for those who are interested in this thread. If you go back a bit, you will see that the following points have been made against the succession of the Thompson from 1916 to 2006:
- PhilOhio relates that he toured Numrich Arms in 1967, and was offered a TSMG made up from a "crates" receiver. He indicates that when he wanted to purchase one in 1968, he was told that the company had run out of stock. (I don't doubt the validity of this, and am thankful for the firsthand account provided by Phil.)
- Arthur says that no Thompsons were produced with receivers made from scratch between 1944 and 1975. (I believe he revises the latter date to 1974 now, but that is a very small point.)
If the above assumptions are valid, I am curious what could account for the apparently transferable Thompson Submachine Guns advertised in the No. 3 Numrich Catalog dated April 1, 1973. (And no, it was not an April Fool's Day joke, but I would not be surprised to see that offered as an answer...) This catalog does not have any semi-automatic Thompsons available, as it was issued prior to those guns being approved by BATF.
Just for reference, this is the cover of the catalog, demonstrating prominent display of 2 of Numrich's products for which they claimed to be successors to the companies who previously manufactured the guns. (Hopkins and Allen and Auto-Ordnance)

On the back of the catalog, we see pictures of the 2 primary managers of the Numrich business, George Numrich and Ira Trast, along with another claim of succession to the companies listed, including Auto-Ordnance.

Here we have a 3-page advertisement, almost exactly as appeared in the two 1950's flyers I posted earlier in the thread. We see the addition of a summary about private ownership of Thompson Submachine Guns in the top right hand corner of the ad, and 1921/28 and M1/M1A1 Model Thompsons available for $325.00.



One image was used twice within the catalog, and I thought it should be included with both captions. It appears to be approximately 40 Model 1928 Thompsons lined up and ready to go. Can these be accounted for outside of Numrich manufacturing receivers? I have a couple of scenarios in my mind that might be possible to refute them. However, I think it is documentation that should be seen for all to make their own decision.

I realize the number of Thompsons in the world is rounded up in their photo description...

The catalog includes the following summary of the TSMG, which again promotes private ownership of Thompsons, and references Numrich Thompson manufacturing.

Another item I would point to that supports the likelihood that Numrich made their own receivers is an account in the 1967 Gun Digest article by Ray Bearse. (By the way, this is an excellent, 13-page summary of the different TSMG's, and history of the weapon, and was published while Bill Helmer was still finishing his research for TGTMTTR.) In the article, Bearse references several .30 Carbine Thompsons and 9mm Thompsons made up by Numrich in 1954. He notes an example that may have been one of the Numrich experimental models in .30 Carbine. He notes some technical specifications, and states that the model 1928 had no markings on the right hand side of the receiver, but that the left side was marked as follows:
THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN
CAL. 30 SHORT RIFLE M1
SELF LOADING CARTRIDGE
Again, my opinion on Thompson succession is well known. It was not something I just decided to begin arguing one day. I am a historian, and there is a lot of history I have found that points to a line of Thompson succession from 1916 to the present day. My main quest is to get as much information out there for others to see, so that if you are interested, you can decide your own opinion for yourself. At the very least, you get to see a lot of neat old advertisements for the Thompson in various forms and stages, and the Thompson is what brings us all together on this wonderful board.
There is a lot more to this...
David Albert
dalbert@sturmgewehr.com