BDMerc1

I wear glasses also, and did notice that as well. Too bad this Commercial Savage got drafted! It would have been worth a lot more with original finish, furniture and internals. Great price for a nice shooter provided it only got refinished and parts swapped out at the arsenal.

In 1945 only, 15,469. 82,281 source US Submachineguns --page 202, by Frank Iannamico. 2004 Jim C Hi Jim! Check out P.146 of Frank's book "U.S.Submachine Gun M3-M3A1" Only 15,469 GuideLamp M3A1's were produced in 1945, during their one year of production according to Frank. This is where I pulled my figure from. Tom B.

I would say heavy pitting, cleaned and then refinished.

First I don't like the attitude. Anyone that thinks the rules are black and white and will call people with different interpretations an "idiot", is well an... OK I will just say that they may not have had every possible experience in their 25 years of dealing with rules and regulations. Personally I have found that even being right can be really expensive to prove, so it is best to stay away from things that a lot of people will think are wrong. I am of the school that you stay far, far away from the gray areas, which means that: 1. This could fall into the "once a machine-gun always a machine gun". I see no signs that it was ever destroyed and rebuilt as a semi. In fact he says that only the trigger group was modified originally, which means by ATF rules it was a machine gun. The modifications he later made IMO don't meet the level required for destruction. He is wrong IMO about it having to have once been registered for this to apply. 2. It may be true that you don't need your semi-auto design approved by the BATFE, but if you don't have it approved you are betting that some 25 year old federal agent is going to apply the same standards you felt were OK, and they might be doing this 30 years from now when things are very different than today. I'd want to have in writing that the design was approved. OOps! Sorry, wrong gun. I was talking about the real transferable MP-44 for sale in Ft Payne, AL. Sorry!

It's a real nice gun and it is 100% all matching. It is a Haenel mfg (like most). I went to see the gun two weeks ago. Honest wear to original finish and a perfect, mint bore. I couldn't find any dents, pitting or active rust anywhere. Even the wood looked good. Its the kind of gun that always comes available when I'm broke!!!!!I was trying to work a trade but Mr. Mitchell wants cash for it. Nice guy! He had me over and showed me a lot of his guns. He is an old time class 3 dealer; the kind that would do a deal on a handshake! If I had the money or thought I would anytime soon, I would be having that gun papered to me! He's even got original magazines and WWII ammo for the ammo collector. Times must be tough for everybody. I'm amazed that the gun is still for sale. If you are thinking about buying it you couldn't find a more friendly and honest seller. I got a couple of pictures of it. I tried posting but they wouldn't work. Email me and I'll send them to you.

I'm no expert and can only go on what I see in the photo. The screw on the left (with the larger slotted head) looks correct. I don't think the smaller head screw is. I'll leave it to an "expert" on the different shape spring retaining posts. As far as your "S" stamps on the wood, I'd say they are all legit. Some people would prefer to have a perfectly centered, deeply stamped "S" over a light stamp that is off center. With all of the wood forearms produced during WWII, I don't think there would be enough "financial incentive" to fake a "S" stamp. An "Anchor" stamp on a 1921 butt stock would be a different story, but "S" stamped M1/M1A1 forearm stocks are quite abundant. Just My Opinion.

Yeah, but I just get a "warm and fuzzy" feeling about the fact that a previous generation of brave and selfless American Citizens expended blood and riches to save Europe from the Nazi's. They set up "Lend Lease" to give the "free" Europeans materiales to fight the war, and now our generation gets to benefit at buying back all of the free stuff America gave them! What a deal! How about a discount for all buyers in the U.S., since its our stuff in the first place!

I guess I would have to go opposite of some other's advice and suggest that if you want to have a "regular good time" emptying L drums and such, why not get a shooter grade 1928A1? It's real easy for someone who doesn't have the $40K+ tied up in gun to say go ahead and shoot it, but just like any gun approaching 100 years old, or even one just made, at anytime you always run the risk of a parts breakage or failure, or 100% reliable ammo proving to be 99.9% reliable! Its your money, your gun, and your decision. Its a given that shooting it is not going to improve its condition, regardless of what you swap out or how lttle you shoot it. If it were mine the one issue that would concern me most is, what if on the rarest of circumstances I get a "squib" load during a "mag dump"? If you are prepared for the very rare chance of that happening, and the obvious catastrophic results, I'd say go for it! Changing out the internals and all of the other precautions you can take won't make a differnce if the bore gets obstructed and your gun ends up looking like Elmer Fudd's shotgun after Bugs Bunny stuck a carrot in the end of it! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/hupmobile/images-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/hupmobile/imagesCASQ4ETR.jpg (Slight exaggeration for the mental image impaired) I would not want to be "that guy": someone trying to find a replacement for an original Factory Thompson 1921 barrel. Just my opinion.

I was always told to look for cracks or splits on the rivet ends. I also thought that the base metal being brass instead of bright steel was a way to tell original from repro, until I opened some sealed military boxes from the 50's that had steel as the metal under the black. I would say its original.

In 1945 only, 15,469.

Welcome to the world of West Hurley guns! Some people have no problems with their semi-auto or full auto W. Hurleys. These folks fall into two groups : those that are lucky and those that won't admit to having issues (liars). I've owned a M1 and a 1928 (receiver was marked M1). both had every issue imaginable, and each problem presented itself at a different time, so it was a long and painful process with the M1. With the 1928, I took a different approach and went through the selling dealer's gunsmith, who recommended tossing everything except the bare receiver, and building the gun with all military parts. He also refinished it so it looked like a military gun when he completed it. I know that sounds drastic, but the gun was 100% reliable for the following year I owned it, at which time I ended up selling both guns to get a real Thompson. Simply put this is my experience after thinking I was saving money buying a West Hurley over a Savage or Auto Ordnance, believing they were all one of the same. I spent enough money on my West Hurleys, getting them to stay in one piece and be reliable, to where I could have bought a military Thompson to begin with. For those with West Hurleys that have never had problems, more power to you. My experience with two of them was such that they can be made reliable, but the time and money it takes to get there usually puts you at the price range of a good military gun. Yours being a semi-auto, all I can say is if it means that much to you, and you have both the time and patience and money, you can eventually get it right. Just be sure to find a gunsmith that works on Thompsons and you'll save yourself an added headache. I also wouldn't waste time with a drum magazine unless it is for display only! Good luck!

Ditto on that question. All the manuals I have go into field stripping the gun and show schematics of all of the trigger group "piece parts", but since I've already seen guns with scratched receivers and bent or damaged pivot plates, obviously from disassembly, I'd like to avoid this on my gun. If someone can provide a link for proper detailed disassembly, that would be appreciated. Also removal/ installation of the ejector. Thank you!

Does the serial number have a prefix? No "S" or "A.O." stamps anywhere? Those would be pretty hard to cover up with even the most aggressive refinishing. I don't think it could possibly be a military gun without any proof/ acceptance marks, unless you just can't see them because of numerous refinishes. The only "commercial" M1 Thompsons made were well after the war and are West Hurleys. I'd also follow earlier advice regarding a re-weld. If its priced at $13k, there is probably a reason, and I wouldn't pay $13k just to find out. Just my opinion based on what I know.

Agreed. Especially C&R guns marked "M2" as opposed to re-stamped guns. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/hup...nt=DSC00122.jpg 1947 Inland

If thats an anchor stamp, its a pretty poor copy of one, and misplaced as well. I know the seller and have bought several guns from him; all as advertised or better. I don't think he would be trying to mislead. Last week he had a really nice Austen MK1 SMG for sale, and most recently an Owen SMG. I agree it looks like a stamp, more than a deep nick, and I don't know why he would take a close up of it unless it is somehow significant. I'm fairly certain if you asked him what it is he would explain. Noel apparently has a fairly extensive collection of guns, and seems to be quite knowledgable. Just wanted to put my two cents in. I hate to see an honest seller villified, when there are many "dirty dealers" that need to be exposed!