ordnance

And I'm the one who bought that magazine from you in Columbus. It's actually a great match for my very worn 1928 Navy Colt. Sometimes a mint item just doesn't look right with a gun that isn't. Thanks again.

It has a slight upward bend at the rear, just ahead of the receiver locking tab, and straight after that. And per Tom's question, no markings at all.

This is a question for the Thompson parts hoarders. I've had this grip mount bar for many years and, with a 1963 production date, assume it was made as a spare part to support Thompsons given to friendly governments as military aid. It's machined in one piece but the machining is very rough and the finish appears to be a quick dip in thin black paint. Just curious if this is a common variation or an oddball.

I saw those guns on the Poulin tables at the Colorado Gun Collectors show in Greeley this May. My first thought was they were probably your guns, based on photos you had previously posted. All are beautiful examples. Always sorry to see a great collection like that broken up but wish you luck with the sales.

Something I forgot to add earlier, the May-June, 1923 also had this short article on the M1923 Thompson.

I was at our local gun show on Sunday and bought a stack of "Army Ordnance" magazines that had some early Thompson ads. I made some higher quality scans and thought they would be appreciated here. These were back cover ads in a location normally owned by Dupont but Auto Ordnance appeared at least 3 times. From the May-June, 1922 issue.... From the September-October, 1922 issue.... From the May-June, 1923 issue....

Thanks for the kind words on the display. It didn't come out exactly as we'd hoped but we're generally happy with the compromise of available display space, items some of us wanted or didn't want to exhibit, and the work of the East coast professional display company that actually prepped the exhibit. The items on display represent maybe 25% to 30% of our small arms collection and there are a lot of other interesting pieces that need to get out of the vault someday. You have a good memory. I'm sure that was me who posted regarding our museum accepting off paper items for donation. We have received and Form 10 registered many guns over the years. I can think of at least 3 in the last 4 years including an AK-47, an MP43, and the Colt XM16E1 seen just below the M72 LAW in the photo above. It was a Vietnam bring back that was given to a local police department after the vet passed. The PD was somewhat aware of the value of transferable M16s and tried to sell it, only to discover the dollars weren't there without paperwork. The next thought was to break it down and sell the parts but we contacted them and eventually arranged to save it by a donation to the museum.

Here's a couple other interesting ones I'll mention. The Madsen M50 came from CIA stocks. I recall it has a serial number but is otherwise devoid of any markings. The UZI is an example produced by FN, serial number 3. It came from the Alaska National Guard in the 1980s and we've never figured out how it ended up there. The bottom gun is a nice original H&R M16A1 we rescued from Oregon National Guard inventory as the M16A1s were being shipped back to Depot in exchange for M4s.

I'd forgotten which Thompson was in the display. It's a cutaway that was a donation and registered on a Form 10 in the 1980s. The original owner didn't register it during the amnesty because he thought a cutaway didn't need registration. I think is is registered with the frame number.

Per requests, here's a couple of the CIA suppressed Swedish K. It is REALLY nose heavy.

Frank, No, it's an original 1928A1 but looks weird in the photo. I'll try to post a better image later in the week.

Well, that pile of mismatched parts just sold for $8205.

Frank, I took that photo of the wrapped M1A1 about 20 years ago but will get a better photo or two the next time I'm in the vault. The wrapping was only peeled back enough to verify the serial number for inventory purposes. It always draws comments when shown. The museum also has a Govt. rebuilt 1918A2 BAR in the box with accessories.

That's a nearly unforgivable mistake to omit the photo of the Thompsons in the U.S. case on the Thompson Forum. Oops. Here are a few more images. The last is our new in the wrap M1A1. It didn't make it to the display case but we are probably going to add it at some point.

I've been associated with this museum for over 40 years and it is finally reopening in a new building after being closed for 15+ years. It is a National Guard museum just a few miles southeast of Portland. I encourage anyone living in or visiting the Pacific Northwest to stop by for a visit, open Wednesdays through Saturday. We've built a very nice small arms collection over the years and have a nice assortment of them on display.

I was at our local gun show this morning and spotted an original chrome lined M3A1 barrel assembly for sale. It's the first one I've ever seen and in just about new condition. Asking price was $600. I don't need it but if anyone here is seriously interested, I could pick it up from him at the show next month and pass it along.

I have a spare. PM inbound.

It's been a good year for the UD M42 search. The last major accessory I've been searching for was the elusive double magazine pouch. I got a lead at the Show of Shows in February and received this from a friend in Norway a couple weeks ago. And it was in way better condition than I expected. I think just about every example of these I've seen pop up either came from France or Norway, where the OSS left them.

Yes, It is machined on the right side to make room for the disconnector block.

Really not much of a story. It just turned up on eBay one day. I have daily searches on eBay and Gunbroker for a couple dozen different things. It's usually a pain in the ass to scroll through every morning and delete all the emails. Then one like this pops up and it's all worthwhile. But I then spend a week worrying who else will see it and outbid me. Got lucky on this one as there were no other bidders. You might spend some time watching eBay for Russian pubs. I see lots listed there, mostly post-WWII, but early ones show up too. As an inert ordnance collector, I have a number of WWII Russian grenade manuals, almost all of them from eBay over the years.

I'm pretty sure David Albert already has this manual available as a digital download. I think it's mentioned in the books and manuals forum.

I've been looking for an original factory manual for the UD for at least 20 years. This one popped up on eBay a couple weeks ago. I already had a copy of the High Standard manual for the.45 prototype but the one for the 9mm had eluded me until now.

Thanks for the suggestions. Well, I think you guys might be on to something. My best guess for a source of a Chinese magazine would have been the huge pile of stuff imported from China by Don Bell at Omega Weapons Systems. I don't recall ever seeing such a magazine when I was buying from him at the Great Western Shows through the 1990s but checked the Wayback Machine to view old pages of his website. In a 2004 page he offered used 30-rd Thompson mags for $5. Listings a few years later made no mention of Thompson mags. So perhaps he had a small quantity mixed in with all the regular Chinese parts and perhaps this is one of them. But it can't be unique. There must be more of them out there. Anyone else see one like it?

I think I posted this a number of years ago with no success in identifying it. With the new Thompson magazine book in print, I was reminded by a friend that it might be a good time to try again. This one arrived in a lot of misc. gun parts from one of the big auction houses so I have no background info on a source. It is a 30-rd magazine that fits and locks perfectly in a TSMG and feeds correctly too. I ran a 10-rd burst through my '28 this morning to make sure it actually worked properly. Now it gets interesting. I disassembled it to compare with a standard U.S. GI 30-rd magazine. The most noticeable feature is a series of stake marks and detents on the rear spine. The photos should tell most of the story but a few other features stand out. It is completely unmarked on any part. The floor plate is removable by depressing the button in the center and sliding off. Note that the floor plate wraps around ears bent outward on the magazine body, unlike the standard type. The follower is very similar to a normal one. The mag seems slightly heavy and a micrometer check revealed the body metal thickness as .039"-.040" (1mm) with a U.S. GI type measuring .031"-.032". The spring is also heavier with the wire diameter of .060"-.061" (1.5mm) with a normal follower spring being .055" wire. The spring is also longer at 23 coils instead of 19. These differences make the mag very stiff and hard to load without some sort of loader. I can only get 10 or 12 rounds in with normal thumb pressure but I think a a sleeve type loader like employed with the Grease Gun would work well. With materials conveniently matching metric standards I'm inclined to think this might be a post-war European magazine but am open to all suggestions. Thanks.

Yes, the finish is original. Note in the descriptions of the four guns offered in the High Standard sale that all are listed with parkerized finish. I do not have the third page of the auction listings so I don't know if more than four guns were sold then. The other three had consecutive serial numbers with mine separated from the group by one digit. It's also interesting that they all carry 6 digit serial numbers unlike the other ones linked here with 2 digit numbers. I can't explain these 2 digit guns blued guns and I suppose they could be some sort of test pieces. But the additional bogus markings, different types and colors of bayonet mounts, and other features cast doubt about their authenticity. I have a lot more confidence that my shotgun is a genuine USAF trials gun than any of the others discussed here.