A couple of years ago I posted a picture, from an original negative, of Vic Morrow holding a Thompson taken during a publicity shot. I have the entire negative strip and he has two guns he is posing with. One is either a Colt or early Savage gun the other is a WWII variety Savage or AO gun. I base this on the position of the patent dates and Auto-Ordnance stamping on the left side of the reciver. I maintain that the guns used on Combat were from Stembridge Gun Rentals; J. Curtis Earl's claims notwithstanding. This is based on the flattened barrel fins on each side of the barrel near the front taper of the barrel. This feature appears on Stembridge rentals dating back to the 1940's (Objective Burma), the 1950's (Attack) and many television series of the late 1950's and early 1960's (The Untouchables, Combat), etc.
According to the current owners of Stembridge Gun Rentals, this was for a barrel change off-camera in the event the gun misfired. The flat areas on each side allowed a wrench to be placed on the barrel for quick barrel changes without taking thegun back to the shop. You'll notice in the picture shown that the compensator is a fake one-piece concoction for the blank adapter, not affixed to the barrel in the correct fashion.
By the way, Combat was not an MGM production. It was a joint venture between ABC Television and Selmur Productions. They rented the MGM lot for filming and utilized MGM's staff of electricians and lighting professionals for a fee. I'm not saying that the MGM guns never made an appearance on Combat, but the majority of guns used in the firing sequences over the five year run were Stembridge rentals. I have spoken with actor Jack Hogan and he maintains the BAR he used was rented from Stembridge.
I'll repost the picture again as soon as I locate it on my computer.
Here are the pictures:
