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And here we have the actual Thompson mentioned above, S/N 3386, deactivated and for sale in the UK, with an optimistic price tag. https://www.dandbmilitaria.com/deactivated-old-spec-home-guard-colt-thompson-m1921-smg-sn-3386-sr Watching to see how long it takes to sell.

Thank you, However, it is left in the shade by the collections of many other members on this board ha! ha!

Excuse me, if I digress from the topic of this post, but Rons post above got me thinking. Over the years, I have served and worked with many, what I used to call 'old and bold' soldiers. Guys who had served in the Foreign legion in Indo China, Algeria and many other small African wars in the 7O's and old SAS veterans who were serving before I was born...and I am 60 in May, where does time go. Most have passed away now, I was helping the widow of a former legionnaire who died earlier last month, clear through his belongings a few weeks ago. I told all of them they should right down all the tales and experiences they could, otherwise the history will die with them. Not many took that advice. I knew Tony Hunter Choat, through the Foreign Legion Association of Great Britain, as he was the secretary when I joined in 1991. Tony was a former legionnaire in the 1950/6Os, who went on to serve in the British army and ended up as the commanding officer of 21 SAS. He also served in Oman for a period of time with the Sultan of Oman's forces, as a lot of ex SAS guys I know did. Daily Telegraph obituary for Brigadier Tony Hunter-Choat | ParaData Tony never wrote a book, but kept notes etc. and recently his wife asked a writer to put the memoirs into book format, which they did and published the book last year. https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/a-legion-para-in-algeria-tony-hunter-choats-war-1957-62.php?sid=5dde80b62d1385113c0e343a48e3454e I also worked for a few years with Peter McAleese, who is still alive a kicking, desite all the close calls in during his life. He served in the British Para Regt. then SAS, then fought in Angola before joining the Rhodesian army. Following that he served in the Republic of South Africa's 44 Parachute Brigade, as a senior NCO. Following along recovery from a parachute accident in South Africa, he worked in the private sector, and another job which almost cost his life, due to a helicopter crash, was on a contract to take out Pablo Escobar. That story was dramatized recently by Netflix. Peter did wrote a book, now out of print, 'No Mean Soldier', and more recently updated that with 'Beyond No Mean Soldier'. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Mean-Soldier-Explosive-Recollections/dp/1910294012 I never read either book, I heard all the stories first hand over dinner, during the years I worked with Pete, and they never bored me. To people who have not served in wars or conflict zones, a lot of the stories may be far-fetched, as are other stories I have heard from other former SAS and legion veterans, but they are worth recording. Otherwise, as I said, those stories die with the individuals, food for thought Ron, I am sure your stories would be very much worth recording. I for one, would love to hear the stories never mind read about them, if I had the opportunity.

Mark, I'd love to see a photo when it is all setup. At home, I have a full set of metal work, hasps, handle and hinges I bought from Dan many years ago with other bits and pieces. It is on my list of things to do, with the help of a friend who was a professional joiner, to make a 1928 chest, without the inners. In June 1941, the decision was taken that the Thompson guns would be issued as a personal weapon and therefore the chests were no longer required. The War department then looked at converting the transit chests to hold box magazines and 50 round ‘L’ drums, and drawings for the conversions exist. In 1942, the British War department, approved contracts for the manufacture of metal boxes to hold 10 XX round box magazines. The metal mag boxes were manufactured with the intent to simplify the logistics of delivery and five of the metal boxes fitted exactly inside a converted Thompson transit chest, with the inner dividers removed. I have three mag boxes so far, to put into the finished chest. Ironically they too were shipped from the U.S. Richard

Troy, You should buy a copy of “Great Britain - The Tommy Gun Story”, by Tom Davis Jnr. , it gives you all the information there is to know about the British contract guns. The early Savage manufactured receivers had AOC’s corporate name with the ‘New York, NY’ address roll-marked on the right side at the rear of the receiver with 12 patent dates in the centre. Marked identical to the last 540 Colt Manufactured 1921’s, so ironically, the first Savage Model of 1928s were not stamped with the final patent for the 1928 modifications. From approx. S/N 26000, the omission of the Model of 1928 patent was corrected, when the marking dies on the Savage NY address 1928’s changed, and the 12 patent dates, where replaced with the 13 patent numbers. So I guess your Thompson has 13 patent numbers on it? On the 15th of December 1939, the Savage Arms Company of Utica, New York signed a contract with AOC to initially manufacture 10,000 Model of 1928 Thompson Submachine guns. So, production of S/N 55797 would have been in 1940 and be part of the fourth order placed by the British during the Pre Lend Lease, 'Cash and Carry' purchases. In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt petitioned congress for a change in the U.S. Neutrality Act, which forbid the sale of armaments to belligerent nations. The Neutrality Act of 1939, (passed in Nov 1939), allowed U.S. companies to sell munitions to foreign nations providing they were paid for by cash and shipped from the U.S.A. in non-US registered ships, hence the term ‘Cash and Carry’. The W / Crown inspection stamp was used on pre-lend lease British Model of 1928’s. the number 37 under the W/ crown is not date related, it will probably be an inspectors number. Richard

All noted thanks.👍 I was just curious.

Likewise there are pictures of German soldiers armed with Thompson guns, incl. model of 1921's captured following the French surrender.

Can not beat an original, which my example is.... Built to last, good American workmanship.

Mark, Excellent, Dan is a craftsman I am envious of his skills. In due course, I'd love to see the internal layout. I suspect it could be modelled on the Canadian Model of 1928 Transit chests, which took away the slots for the three drum magazines, found in the British Transit chests. But I could be wrong, it would not be the first time 🤫

Thanks Paul, it is thanks to the many contributors on this forum, however, including yourself.... Not just me. Love your suitcase idea, that is original 👍

Doug, Agreed on your statement on value of guitars. I think the violin / viola carry cases for Thompsons are a throw back to nostalgia of the old gangster movies, although how many gangsters, if any, actually carried their Thompson's in one ? Regardless they are out there, just do a search on this site for viola cases and numerous examples will come up. Saying that I think you can't beat the Gordon Herigstad version, but then again I am biased. I was fortunate enough to have purchased one from Gordon before he died, RIP. https://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14722-my-new-herigstad-thompson-viola-case/

Many years ago, I purchased an original cover, like that one, complete with the frame, on eBay. It was a a good buy as no one else bid on it and the seller, a military vehicle restorer not a Thompson enthusiast, started with a low bid. Pictures are in this topic. www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26435-accessories-to-wwii-tsmg-canvas-case/#comment-237108

For those with an interest, here is a link to the original topic, covering the British WW2 Transit chests, posted by Dan in 2009. Richard

Mark, Has Dan finished your single M1 transfer chest? I'd be interested to see the finished product. Many years ago, it was myself that forwarded the detailed photos of the chest manufactured for the two M1A1s to Dan, which I obtained from the dealer in the UK. Richard

Here is a link to an old topic on the same subject: An Amateurs Guide for the Colts Thompson Submachine Gun by Tom Davis also has a chapter on the Spare Part Kit containers. It includes description and photos showing the differences between Gordon's containers and the original containers produced from the late 1920's.

I love that idea👌

The 1921A S/N 3386, mentioned in Gordons book is for sale again in the UK. S/N 3386 is the Thompson featured in the British Manual produced by Gale and Polden, titled THE THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN MECHANISM MADE EASY. It was listed by Gordon as once being owned by Babty & Company Movie Property supplier based in London UK, and was deactivated in the 1990's when Babty sold the weapon. It was also featured on page 108 of Tracie Hills Thompson: The American Legend. Mind you there is a difference between listing a deactivation with a price tag like that and actually selling it. £20,000 for a deactivated firearm, wow, my early 3 digit M1921, with provenance from the SS Eastside shipment, must be worth a few $'s more than I paid for it in 2016, so that was not a bad investment for me, in theory. Best Regards Richard

Out of curiosity, in the U.S., do magazines fall into the category of weapons parts?

Agreed and upvote for both

Tennessee, They look good to me, I'd be happy with them for sure 👌

Over the years I have collected a number of old articles written about the Thompson in different publications from the 1920's / 1930's, and it is not uncommon for some of the information contained within them to be a "tad optimistic", including information given in some of the early AOC adverts. The mention of the magazine containing 20 birdshot cartridges is not 100% correct either, although it may have been in 1922. The reason being, it was soon discovered that if the magazine was fully loaded with twenty round of shot shell ammo, the first two rounds fired often jammed. That was due to the paper nose of the shells being crushed by the strong spring tension. There fore the third production Shot shell magazines were marked "For 18 Shot Cartridges". Despite this, the Thompson advert from the Von Lengerke And Antoine Sporting Goods 1927 Catalog still advertises for sale “20 shot magazine for shot cartridges”. The History of the Shot shell Magazines are discussed in Roger Herbst definitive guide of Thompson magazines. For those with an interest, it is worth buying a copy of "Thompson Submachine Gun Magazines: 1917-2021 - Feeding the Dragon for over a century". Prior to the book being published, I used to often bother Roger with messages requesting information about various magazines 🤫

That is a good article, thank you for posting the link.

😂🤣

David, That would be great if possible, give us confirmation one way or the other, for 'our' personal updates to Gordon's records. Richard