TSMG28

Jack reminded us two weeks ago about the upcoming signup deadline. It is now only one week away. If you want to attend the All Thompson Show & Shoot this August, make sure to get your reservation to Tracie by June 1.

Uncle Dudley, No, the V was added by all U.S. mag manufacturers in the latter half of 1942, supposedly as an encouragement to both the workers and fighting men.

You are not missing anything. Just two bidders going against each other who HAD to have this mag. Looks like a standard Colt Patent Date to me. Certainly not worth $901. A lot of buyers out there have more money than sense. Then again, they havent made any of these since 1939, so at some point it may be worth that, especially with inflation.

It is a current dummy mag made by Denix of Spain. It is very crude, including mold lines, and cannot even correctly hold the dummy rounds made by the company.

Countryboy77, I am not surprised to hear your father's experience. I seriously doubt Numrich made any modifications to their drum magazines for the 10mm. Not worth the retooling, especially with so few actually sold. The person who I know that saw one did see the 10mm overstamp on the front faceplate, but I do not know if that was done consistently. As I note in my book, as near as I can tell, the only differences with the 10mm XXX box magazines are the 10MM stamp on the bottom of the floorplate and a notch cut in the follower tab. I assume the notch was to allow the last round to get out of the magazine. Not having a 10mm gun or experience with semi-auto Numrich guns, I cannot confirm that, but it seems logical to me. FWIW

Sadly, the hard cover edition will be delayed at least a month due to Amazon lead times. Therefore, those wanting that option will have to wait until at least early June, and possibly longer. I do not know if this has to do with the hard cover option still being in beta, or whether they are still working out the kinks, or perhaps where and how they assemble the books. Out of my control. Good point Richard! That old publishing adage was true on this side of the pond as well. First editions in hard cover, then eventually move to mass market via paperback. Publishing on-demand has apparently turned that around. It is much easier to publish a book in paperback than with a hard cover. The lead times I am seeing with this book reinforce that difference. Amazon (Kindle) did not even have a hard cover option for self-publish until the past year, and it has been in beta with a number of restrictions. My guess is that a majority of this kind of book will continue to be published primarily or only in paperback.

SP Sarge, Hopefully the hard cover will be available in the next week or two. Still have to sort through some of the Amazon details.

Just received notice in the past five days that three of my Form 4's had been approved. Two were 11 months old, and the other was 8.5 months. Interestingly, they were from two different dealers, but all three were approved by the same person on the same day. So perhaps the ATF is starting to get organized. Both dealers also said that their E-form 4's have been taking around 3 months from submission to approval. So, assuming that they keep that system tuned and running, wait times may be much better in the future. Forever hopeful....

Thanks everyone. Yes, Chuck, this was a labor of love, emphasis on the labor (and the love). To avoid filling up the PM system on the board, if you want to buy a copy from me and have it mailed to you, contact me via Email at roger.herbst@att.net. I also updated my original post with this information. I hope to have the hard cover option available in the next week or two, once I navigate the Kindle-verse.

Thanks, Mike. I will have a couple proofs at OGCA this Saturday for people to see. I will not receive the books to sell until the following week.

Above are the front and back covers of my book. It is 196 pages, and contains 640 pictures of all of the magazines made or modified for the Thompson Submachine Gun from 1917 through 2021. The subtitle is how I refer to the book - Feeding The Dragon. It is currently a paperback offering, but I hope to make a hard cover version available soon, if that matters to you. Information from The Ultimate Thompson Book and American Thunder III is included, with permission from Tracie and Frank, so that a complete story exists in one place. However, I welcome any and all additional information on the subject, including examples and/or pics if you have them. Chapters are: 1 - Designing the Drum Magazine 2 - Colt-Era Drum Magazines 3 - WWII Drum Magazines 4 - Making a Thompson Drum Magazine 5 - Post-WWII and Modern Drum Magazines 6 - Drum Magazine Packaging 7 - Designing the Box Magazine 8 - Colt-Era Box Magazines 9 - WWII Box Magazines 10 - Post-WWII and Modern Box Magazines 11 - Box Magazine Packaging, Logistics, and Refinish In addition to the history about the various magazines, it includes descriptions and pictures of various unique features. My goal is to help collectors differentiate one magazine from another. For those of you who have seen my magazine display, this book is an amplification of that. My publisher has been a bit slow getting my books to me to sell, but I expect to have some in hand by May 7th. I will be selling the paperback book directly for $40, plus $5 shipping if you need it shipped. I will gladly autograph any books before I ship them. I will have copies available at the TATA and TCA Show & Shoots. To avoid filling up the board PM system, if you want a copy mailed to you, contact me via Email at roger.herbst@att.net. The book is also available on Amazon for $49.99, and I will be glad to sign those copies in person if we meet up. Hard cover versions will likely be priced at $59.99 on Amazon, once I figure all of that out. Amazon is probably the best option for most international buyers, because it eliminates the high cost of international shipping and import/export issues. Roger Herbst

Thanks for that input, Countryboy77. I am not looking to use a 10mm mag. I agree with you that it there is little or no modification from a standard .45ACP version. I just want these for my personal collection. I am a Thompson magazine geek, and just finished a book detailing all of the magazines for the gun. So few of these officially modified magazines exist that it is hard to locate one for my collection. I figured it doesnt hurt to ask the Thompson collective. ?

There are no pictures. The one person who has seen the drum told me it just had 10mm stamped over top of the original 45 ACP. That observation happened decades ago, so I have no idea where any drums are or how many might exist.

I posted this on the Semi board, since the mags are for semi guns, but thought I would also post here. I realize there are not many of these around, but I would like to add one to my magazine display/collection. Would anyone be interested in selling one of their 10mm box magazines? There is also supposedly a 10mm marked drum mag as well, but I know of only one person who has seen one. Thanks. Roger

I realize there are not many of these around, but I would like to add one to my magazine display/collection. Would anyone be interested in selling one of their 10mm box magazines? There is also supposedly a 10mm marked drum mag as well, but I know of only one person who has seen one. Thanks. Roger

The site referenced by Uncle Dudley is selling the latest iteration of these drums, which are not marked Crosby. Only the first run of these drums from years ago has the Crosby name on them. I think that is what Countryboy77 is looking for.

Gijive is correct. Seymour is the only WWII manufacturer who used the dimpled floorplates, and only on their later 30-round mags. MGC chose to copy the design. I do not know if MGC adopted it intentionally, or simply copied a Seymour mag. The military mag drawing that shows the dimpled floorplate design change dates it as 12 October 1942. Because it was an alternative solution, it was not adopted by the other manufacturers. Seymour also manufactured their mags much later in WWII than any of the other companies.

Stevens was owned by Savage and supplied parts for the Savage guns, both original and spares. You may also find some Stevens parts in AO guns. Yes, the actuator has a London proof mark.

Bob, I agree that Doug's tools were not always perfect in real-world applications. I suspect his heavy-duty wrench "may" have been one such tool, though I have no experience with it myself. I was not referring to it in my comments, but rather his Barrel Vise which is shown on a page below from his catalog (sorry for the poor image quality, but that was the way it shows in his catalog). Richardson Tools.pdf It is designed to provide maximum clamping power and support to the barrel so that you can break the stub loose in the manner you mentioned. On the same page he also shows a simple grip mount puller that can be used to hold the grip mount back when necessary. Personally, I like your wood block method, but the puller works too. Just putting the information out for consideration.

Bob, Your experience is why Doug created his Barrel Vise tool. He told me it is actually stronger than his heavy duty wrench, because it solidly clamps the barrel, solving the problem you were experiencing. Your machining trick was great, but beyond many folks that want to remove a receiver stub. Roger

Could indeed be a new, stiff spring. Also, the keys for your Numrich drums, both L and XL, use a different kind of key, which is easier to remove.

I am desperately trying to finish a book on this subject. It will be a collectors guide to all of the Thompson magazines from 1919 to 2021. Should be available sometime this spring or early summer. It builds on the information in Ultimate and AT3, plus new research and a lot more pics. In the meantime, yes, please post pics and we can help you sort things out.

iRONM4N, Since you are in Europe, you might be able to track down a United Defense Model 42 Submachine Gun mag. The are marked UNITED DEFENSE SUPPLY CORP. on the front along with S.P.C. At the bottom, which is Seymour Products Company. They look like a small Thompson mag and already have the T-rail and mag catch hole in place. They hold 25 rounds of 9mm. With a properly modified 9mm bolt, they should fit and function perfectly. I have purchased these mags in Belgium in the past, but with all of the new EU magazine laws, I do not know what is available these days. If these are not available, a modified Suomi would be my first choice.

The Stanley drums are decent drums and a unique part of the Thompson magazine history. We do not have a number on how many were made, but I would guess far fewer than the approximately 5000 numbered L drums. I suspect that the smaller number of Stanley drums is more due to issues at Stanley and between Stanley and Auto-Ordnance, rather than the short timeframe. Johns Machine and Stamping Works cranked out a lot of the numbered drums in a relatively short timeframe. As to value, their relative scarcity should bump the value, but most Colt gun owners seem to prefer the numbered drums, or the first generation Worcester (aka Standard New York) drums for a lower cost alternative. I would think $2k-4k is a reasonable range, but so few are sold that it is hard to tell. I stupidly passed on a beautiful one a couple years ago because I already had one in my collection. As with many things, mostly the price depends on how badly someone wants one and who else is competing. The one Darren has been trying to sell, and he started at a lot higher price last year, has been noticeably refinished, which is probably why it has not sold. Most collectors want a drum that has not been refinished. FWIW

The 28A1 appears to be a completely fabricated gun. The trigger frame is a reproduction, not WWII. The receiver serial number was also applied much later by someone who does not understand Thompson markings. As noted, this receiver would not have an S serial number, and the font is all wrong. The double-struck WB looks strange but could be legitimate, as may be the AO45, but if Bridgeport AO did rework this gun, why would they have put a Savage serial number on it? I have no idea what serial number is in the trigger frame, and the rear sight is missing most of the sight mechanism (ladder only). I have no experience with Charlie Erb guns, but he may have simply cobbled this one together because he could. The Colt trigger frame also seems odd to me. The markings are the later style, which I would not expect to see on a serial number this early. We know that the shift in markings of the trigger frame is inconsistent based on serial number, but the FIRE/SAFE and FULL AUTO/SINGLE are both later period markings. That said, the NC State Bureau of Investigation provenance is interesting, especially considering the guns condition. FWIW