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I found several pictures of my Dad in North China c. 1945-46. Dad was a member of a machine-gun section in E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He fought on Okinawa with E Company, was wounded in action and served in North China from 1945-46. The pictures show two TSMGs, a M1928 and M1. Dad told said the machine-gun sections tried to obtain as many Thompson's as possible to protect the guns from flank attacks - particularly at night. Growing up in as a kid in the 1930s "Tommy Guns" were a gig deal for Dad. In one of his letters home he wrote: "I'm carrying a Tommy Gun now. Boy, is it heavy!" Dad described the TSMG he carried - a 1928. The Marines replaced TSMGs with M1 Carbines while Dad was in China. Dad always hated carbines - they were not a substitute for a Thompson. One of my first toy guns was a Mattel "Tommy Burst" Thompson!

Thanks all for the heads up. I got the M1, just got my invoice and am looking forward to joining the TCA & TATA. Can’t wait to get hands on & try it out!

Daz, The GEG is stamp of AOC employee George E Goll, see link below for more info. about him. 2nd photo is the British proof house stamp from the deactivation process. P stamp on barrel is a test firing proof. Hope that helps?

Getting back to the safety/engineering aspect of this, there is no way of knowing how long the receiver will last until cracks. I do not think having the receiver X-rayed will tell you much because of the extensive pitting of the receiver. The worst case scenario in my opinion would be that the receiver would crack at the time in the firing cycle when the bolt hits the buffer at the back of the receiver. I do not think that the back of the receiver would completely break free suddenly, I think you would notice the beginnings of the crack first. As mentioned the Thompson is .45 ACP and the heavy, thick, milled receiver is over engineered. (Compare the cross section of a Thompson to an M3 Grease gun.) One thing I would do, which would not require a lawyer, would be to ask the seller to supply you with a statement that the gun is safe to fire. It's one thing for him to conceal and mislead the condition of the gun, but it will change everything if he sees himself on the wrong end of a personal injury lawsuit. Bob

Used by the IRS? Whoever wrote that has NO Clue about IRS serial numbers.

Get your $500 back if you can, and chalk the rest up to "experience". If it were something rifle caliber I'd do some test firing with a string before I'd shoot it, but with the low power of a Thompson, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. After all, the barrel is new so provided the rest of it functions you should be good to go. Believe it or not, there are guys that can make that look new again, get rid of the pitting, re-engrave it, etc. but the cost would probably not be worth it. IIRC I considered bidding on that, but that was not my price point. You really have no legal recourse IMO. Depending on what you paid, eventually you will get your money back out of it in time. There are a lot of guns that were cut in half in the registry.....and we are actually thankful they are there. I have seen a lot worse, and then there are guys that paid money and got nothing...totally scammed. You have a registered gun in very poor condition, but it probably does, or will work with a bit of effort. All is not lost.

FOUND IT!! https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_N__IRS_NUMBER_REGISTERED_M1_THOMPSON_MACHINE_GUN_-lot594700.aspx

Interesting combat weapons report rust and magazine spring tension problems

Here is a Maguire Industries wood & metal Thompson I bought at auction. This piece was part of a USMC veteran estate. Based on what I've read, there are only 8 or so known to exist. Compared to the other examples, this piece's condition is in the top percentile.

There were 7 Colts and 1 likely Savage Commerical in the latest Rock Island Auction. None of the guns hammered above 35K. With a 17.5% Buyers Premium, those 5 Colt's that hammered at 35K went out the door at $41,125 plus shipping and tax, if applicable. All in all, I thought the prices were low given there were several nice guns in that action, especially NO 1286, a four-digit 1921A. There were also some dogs in that auction whose hammer prices surprised me, i.e., NO 8210 and NO 12144. The likely Savage Commercial hammered at 30K plus BP for an out the door price of $35,250. I thought this, and NO 1286, were the best deals of all. The biggest surprise was a 1928 West Hurley that hammered at 25K - $29,375 with BP. Go figure!!! While early, perhaps the prices for the Colt guns are on a slight decline. Time and the overall economy will certainly tell.

A few weeks ago I took the leap into the Thompson arena with the purchase of this very nice US Property marked Savage M1A1. The barrel, frame, and lower assembly are all marked S. The internal parts are mostly Savage with a few Stevens. I want to give a big thank you to Dan Block for helping me with this acquisition.

Mine doesn't have "US property" on it.

So here is what I have come up with to ensure there is no chance of any hammer strikes. Let me know if any other changes need to be made. Taylor this one is headed your way.

I've looked but can't see anything. As I said it's got the GEG stamp it also has 'Full Auto' on two lines not one so I guess it's Savage? It appears to be a British Army gun as the Butt Stock has been repaired ref the sling swivel but is not stamped 'US Property' ref the lease program, any idea why please?

My go-to M1 smith is Gary at Gary's Bunker in Cleveland. gary@garysbunker.com Eric

Since the only way to "zero" a STEN MK5 is the same as the steps for the Rifle #4 and #5, by drifting the front sight left and right and selecting the proper sight height, while actually firing the weapon from a rest, the best choice is a selection of front sight blades. Enfield #4 Foresight Blade, Set of 5 w/ Different Heights APEX Gun Parts has them in stock. Richard

My bet is that you will get all kinds of insights on sight heights from those who can site sight heights.

Thanks for the kind words and for posting your positive experience. Tiz

It's a bit more complicated than that. Olympic was not allowed to replace them because they didn't make them, they only made semi's. Makers/manufacturers converted them to full auto thus those folks became the mfr's of record. Colt and others did continue to make what today would be considered a MG at least through 88' In the case of a 10/22, your guy needed to either make his own receivers or go the BRP /Stemple route and make a window that allows viewing of the original info of the actual firearm. There would still be a method of doing what he wanted, but connecting steel and alum. and moving the number in a fashion he wanted to would be an expensive route. Moving the number is common with RR HK21E series and other firearms, so there never will be an accurate database regardless of what Rick Vasquez does. I'm sure it will work out fine for AR15's and glocks but the rest will remain a mystery to most folks with sociology degrees in LE. And of course we still have plenty of home builds and NSN pre-1968 guns. A database of number locations for LE is like a license plate database. When the stolen car is used in a bank robbery, the license plate becomes rather irrelevant, much like the serial number on a gun used in a murder....not relevant. The focus needs to be on people, not tools. There was an issue where atf agents could not identify a painted wood dummy Thompson as to whether or not is was an unregistered MG (probably cause they couldn't find a serial number location LOL) so they flew in someone 900mi from tech branch. Unfortunately he was not able to identify whether it was pine or poplar? There was no follow up from US forestry.... surprisingly. That wood may have been illegally imported like those guitar bodies? Or hand carved from ivory?

If the back end of the receiver was sawn off of an M1 Thompson and bolt was allowed to just pop out of the gun with no restraint when it was fired, the velocity of the bolt would be 20.08 feet per second, which is 13.7 miles an hour. That is assuming that the bolt weighs 1.75 lbs, and you're shooting a 230 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 950 feet per second and 5.5 grains of propellent. That would be the same as you laying on the floor and someone dropping the 1.75 lb bolt onto your face from a height of 6.27 feet above your face. So if the gun fractured clean in half in some crazy way at the moment of firing that let the bolt pop free and your face took the entire impact, that's the absolute worst case. It would hurt and probably break some teeth. But like you said, the weld would probably break when the bolt was thumping the buffer, so even if the receiver broke clean in half, the above "cannonball to the face" scenario would probably never happen. It's impossible to say if the weld would ever break. Sure, the weld is a joke, it's full of slag, cracks, bad fusion, voids. Just utter garbage. But on the other hand, as you noted, the gun is way over designed. I guess if I was going to keep the gun I would find someone who could do a proper job of re-rewelding the weld and call it good.

A attorney letter might move him real quick. and probably very few bucks involved throw the dice you already lost whatever you paid for the gun, getting refund now can save you on a better one. i played the game you are talking about twice in 50 years won both times. but remember you have to have some balls and not back down. i don't think the dealer wants to put out another $5 g on a non winnable gun sold on lies. that is the problem today no hardcore or real old school guys left anymore. so the new players get crapped on by clowns like the dealer. And let them get away with it. DON'T BACK DOWN NAVY GUY... you have a case. Semper -Fi 1968/74

"Overall finish and appearance is moderately pitted on upper receiver under matte refinish" What an understatement.

I’m almost certain this gun sold at one of the auction houses earlier this year. I’m sorry to say but this is most defiantly a case of a non educated buyer and a dealer that saw it. I have talked with the dealer at shows and have caught him in BS stories before but realized quickly there was no point in trying to correct him as he was always going to be right. One example was bragging he had “one of six original and transferable MP5-40’s built by HK in the country” funny thing is….the 40 S&W wasn’t developed until the late 80’s after the 86 cut off and even then it would have been a pre sample (or perhaps it could have turned due to recent changes-but this conversation was 2 years ago) An X-ray of the gun or at the very least a magnaflux test to check for crack/separations and such is needed. I personally have some ideas on that gun and how to make it cosmetically correct but I’ll keep those to myself at this point as I would want to study the gun more.

If it is a problem get refund. or 50% of money back $500 bucks is nothing... "His dream to rip off customers" is the bizz byline. THANKS FOR LETTING EVERYBODY KNOW HERE.

The dealer is a jack off WITH THAT RESPONSE AND HE KNOWS IT. AND SOLD YOU A FREAKING BOAT ANCHOR.GET A REFUND. FROM THE SUPPOSED HONEST DEALER. ONE OF THE WORSE I HAVE SEEN IN OVER 50 PLUS YEARS. He knew exactly what he was selling and offing off to someone. return refund. don't accept a p.o.s. FROM ANYONE.

Personally, I wouldn't hit a dog in the ass with that thing. Be that as it may, it clearly is not what you were told you were getting. Contact your attorney. And don't be afraid of outing the dealer. You would be doing a public service

I thought you would like that one.

I don’t usually get involved with this type of stuff, but I signed up and voted. LET’S GO BRANDON!!

Remember that it takes 60 votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster. Also given the present climate around "assault weapons" and mass shootings there is likely to be very little enthusiasm in the GOP (or anywhere else) for expanding MG ownership. Quite simply we are not a significant constituency

The republicans should vote to repeal Hughes on the basis of it being not being debated on and not properly voted on. Furthermore, it is unconstitutional.

Another good book. The US M3/M3A1 Submachine Gun: The Complete History of America’s Famed “Grease Gun” Hardcover – January 28, 2021 by Michael Heidler (Author)

Wow! Nice parts kit! I haven't seen one that nice in quite a while.

Anyone that makes a near identical reproduction item without a mark or identifier of some type does a great disservice to the firearms community. Let someone new to the community buy a fake or reproduction item touted as an original and we many very well loose what could have been a contributing long-time member. That hurts everyone. Having written extensively on the Colt era Spare Part Kit and Gordon reproduction kits, I can attest from speaking with the original Gordon kit manufacturer that marking the kits would not have increased the cost. What I found interesting was the uproar when these kits were introduced in the Thompson community was such that Gordon was convinced to mark the kits. But Gordon only told a few of his closest friends about the mark. He let the uproar continue! The earliest kits Gordon sold were not marked. The marking occurred somewhere between kit number 39 and 80. Those with my third book, A Thompson Compendium, can turn to page 162 to learn more about the Herigstad mark. I actually have more problems with the Gordon long cleaning rods. Again, not marked. These can be much more difficult to identify. And will remain so in the future.

Hey Pitfigher, Those are not ZB loaders, they are both styles of Bren. The one clamps to the magazine chest as pictured, and the other stores in the front of the chest as you can see in Richards photo as well. Granted they look the same, but you are correct in that the ZB loaders will not fit Bren mags. I have a ZB loader for my ZB and if I recall I bought it assuming it was for the Bren since I couldn't tell the difference at the time. I wish the loaders were as common as the ZB loaders, but they indeed took quite a while to find. The sight is a fixed line sight and what looks to be a binocular case is the case for it with a wooden insert that the sight goes into. Not pictured is the light box setup and stake that is shared with the Vickers. The sight slides into the front dovetail in a MK1 often referred to as a "double dovetail". That was fairly quickly eliminated since it's only purpose was this sight and the dream of the No.32 scope mount that would fit into the front dovetail that never materialized. Machining this beast was complicated enough and later marks got rid of the dovetails altogether. The chest is unfortunately Canadian, so technically not correct for this Enfield, but so far it's the nicest one I could find. I've seen a lot of British chests, but they all so far, have not been that nice or there was a shipping issue on the nice one's I did find. I had always assumed a Bren would be out of reach since prices when they come up are very high, but on a sheer quirk of luck at an auction, there were few bidders I and stumbled into it. I'm not sure I've ever seen another early Bren like this come up for sale publicly? The gun came out of a museum, as did the sight in a separate lot. You guys need some cleaning rods in those lids! Same as the Vickers IIRC? Without the Bren gun saga, I wouldn't have gone half this far, but I think I am only missing one or two items from memory? I think only the MG34 is worse for accessories?

I remember shipping out a BREN case that was marked like that to one of our customers. It was very distinctive lettering. Here is my BREN case. Richard

Some of my Bren stuff..... Of course it all has to be upside down for some reason?

Hopefully this answers the questions. Yes we can, but not as individuals. What it does mean however is that fully automatic weapons are limited to a very few so they’re quite cheap compared with say, a bolt action rifle that many people can own with a licence.

Good news as paper 4's are taking longer than efile's, which means my S&W 76 efile (Trust) that went in Oct 1, will ;most likely be processed very soon!

The problem is not you, but the future. 15 years from now you croak unexpectedly. The kit is in an original FBI case and your heirs can't tell what's what, or your stuff goes to some dealer who handles mostly suppressors and assumes all this stuff is real. By then only a few old guys recall these repro's even being on the market, so that's how it ends up being "real" when it's not. And it's not obvious. A friend had 4 originals I looked at several times. I have the same repro and have no idea how to tell them apart? Got a call the other day....a guy has an M1 thompson for sale at like 45K. Super mint....cause he was told it was made in April of 1986 when he got it from the estate's wife. He thinks it's the real deal cause he has an SOT but no experience and probably looked at some gunbroker auction as his only frame of reference? This guy has serious gun creds, and was a big time shooter and LE guy. I think most people would be shocked at the amount of fake stuff that's now regarded as original by most collectors? There is repro stuff in Segel's book, that's now has provenance as being original since it's in print.

For goodness sakes, of course it's a reproduction! About that there is no question, but golly gee its a super nice one and the box has an insert with his name on it, and the shipping box is numbered. I see nothing here that indicates this is being presented as an original. To me, it's an excellent addition to my collection and a worthy addition at that. It has history, quality and there are just a few of them out there. I just happened to get one! So take that.

Congrats on a nice-looking BREN Mk I! Here's mine, same maker and year. Serial # P40XX - is yours far from this? -Balder

A GI of the 65th Infantry Division in Katharinberg, Germany on April 9, 1945 Wearing a German parka I found this on the US Militaria forum. Looks like 2 magazines taped together.

Men of the 5th Northamptonshire Regiment, 11th Inf. Brig., 78th Inf.Div. on the march near Coldragone, Italy. 25 May 1944. (Photo source- © IWM NA 15513) Colourised by Doug

I have permission to post a sale. This is a very nice gun from Merle Bitikofer estate. For sale is a 1919A4 belt-fed Browning-style rifle, configured in 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester). This is the semi-automatic version of the 1919A4 light machine gun, so no special tax stamp is required. It was produced by U.S. Ordnance in Sparks, Nevada, using a combination of U.S.-made and Israeli parts. Several key accessories are included: A trunnion shield to avoid damage to the trunnion when firing linked ammunition rather than the cloth belts originally designed for the machine gun. A trigger crank mechanism designed and manufactured by Merle Bitikofer of Oregon.A trigger crank mechanism designed and manufactured by Merle Bitikofer of Oregon. There are accessories i will offer first to the buyer, including a cloth belt loader and linker, and links, M2 tripod , and T&E mechanism. But just offering the gun here first. Asking $4500.

I thought about getting a Fightlite upper for my M16. But doing a lot of research shows lots of problems getting them to run reliably.

Yeah nuthin but a myth. This is my own home made trigger housing with modified M1 Carbine FCG parts and my own hammer. These mimic the OOW patent drawings, but are my own interpretation. As we speak, I am fitting it into a repaired receiver. There are no production made semi parts, except for OOW, that I am aware of. Philly Ord may make more unfinished receivers in the future. I thought I would try to make one after I got mine up and running. Too many other projects in line now. The MOR (manually operated rifle) by Group Ind? A bolt action BAR. I remember those. Hi Joe, hope you are feeling better

Bayrain, You are looking at a major project. I know, I've done it. The BAR was not designed to be built as a one-off on manual machines but it can be done. Be sure your machinist has a good set of plans for the receiver so he knows what he is getting into. Remember you have to incorporate all the denials required by the AFT so that you are not making a machine gun. You have to provide the machinist with details of the modifications required before he starts work. The gas system will need mods. to work with the semi auto FCG. The PO 80% receiver requires significant machine work and some long reach tooling to get into that deep receiver. The only drawings that I found that were usable for a build is here: https://www.wwiibarman.com/collections/blueprints-drawings-and-technical-items There are many Dwgs floating around the internet, some inaccurate but mostly unusable except for one original 1918 dwg with the receiver on one sheet, accurate, but very difficult to use. The details of the OOW semi patent is attached. Their patent ran out a couple of years ago. You can replicate the OOW FCG with some new parts and parts from an M1 carbine FCG. IMO if you are not capable of doing the work yourself, forget it. Check with OOW and see if they are taking orders as it will be far cheaper in the long run. At one time they offered complete semi receivers to use with your parts kit. Good luck with your project, Joe OHIO ORD PATENT.pdf

Not a Thompson, but this is my Dad in boot camp in 1946 having just qualified as high shooter in his platoon. And this is me as a battalion commander in Bosnia 50 years later in 1996.