reconbob

A couple of photos. These are American Forces in Burma. Did they bring their own Thompsons? Or they are using British Thompsons? Baptist Mission Compound at Maymyo. Photo by Clare Booth Luce copyright 1942 by Time, Inc. General Stillwell cleaning his tommy-gun (sic) after disembarking from the rafts used on the Uyu River. Notice the buttstock oiler on the board next to him.

I am not a Colt expert. But Doug Richardson was. I was going thru some of his stuff and found a zip lock bag marked "Colt" with a nickel plated buttstock oiler inside. He also had another bag with nickel plated G.I. oilers that are marked "NOERA Mfg Co." I put them side by side and there is a noticeable difference in the radius or rounding of the corners between the two. The G.I. corners are more square, the M1921 corners more round. The photo says it all. So is this a distinctive characteristic of M1921 oilers? Or just a random thing? Bob

Richard - thank you for the detailed reply. Bob

I also would like to hear from an expert on this. Months ago I bought an actuator on GB. I sent the money to Idaho, but the actuator was mailed from Europe. I assumed that the sender was figuring that the actuator would not be recognized (if X-rayed) as a gun part. But I think also that an actuator - a machine gun part - would technically be an “arm, armament, or implement of war” and require the proper paperwork. (ATF Form 6?) Or do they exempt one part? (I doubt it.) Hopefully Richard weighs in.,, Bob

I agree - no address, no phone. Also the wording is obviously not USA/American. ("Buy with joy?" is this AI generated? This may be a guy who was on Gunbroker but got tossed because he was in Eastern Europe portraying himself as an American business. The fact that you can only do credit cards or electronic payments means you can't mail him payment because he is somewhere overseas. And of course "NO RETURNS" is always (at least for me) a no go. Bob

This is the setup I use to remove barrels from receivers. It is set up so that the barrel is clamped, and you unscrew/turn the receiver off the barrel. 18" adjustable wrench with 36" pipe for leverage. Sometimes it takes all I've got to break receiver free. Once it's loose I switch to "normal" gusmithing tools and techniques. With this setup you can only turn the receiver a short distance until the grip mount hits the blocks. Bob

Need a shot out or Grade II BAR barrel. If you have one available let me know. Thanks Bob

I am at a loss for words... Bob

These frames were discussed in a previous thread - McKay Enterprises/Scotty57 Trigger frames - Thompson Submachine Gun Message Board - MachineGunBoards.com Forums The frames are OK, but the guy listed them as original Savage frames, when they are obvious fakes/counterfeit, even to the extent of fake GEG stamps. Bob

This is not an original G.I. frame. As noted the engraving does not look right, but the big "giveaway" is that the gap in the tang that engages the grip for the grip screw looks to be about 1/2" wide whereas on original frames it is about 1/4". Also missing are the machining marks left by the cutters that are used to machine the frame. Original frames have swirl marks on the sides, and also on the top between the rails that engage the receiver. The photos are not that clear and the lighting is poor, but it looks like every surface of this frame is completely smooth with a flat sandblasted finish and no machining marks of any kind. OK, we all agree it's not AOC or Savage, but who made this frame? I have never seen one like it. Making a trigger frame is a lot of work. Did somebody actually take it upon themselves to make ONE frame? Yet not put them into production? Phila Ordnance (me) made M1928A1 trigger frames 40 years ago. They were perfect in every respect, but are marked with a keystone on the left front of the trigger guard and so are easily recognized. I only made about 20 of them, which at the time I sold for $195. A short time later Sarco offered Thompson complete part sets for $195. Nobody is going to buy a trigger frame for $195 when you can get a complete parts set for $195 and the project was instantly terminated. Bob

I don’t know that the grip mount was ever designed/intended to be replaced . I have probably removed 100’s of grip mounts from receivers. To get the grip mount off, you have to get the barrel off. As recently discussed many barrels require excessive force to remove. Probably 1/3 of grip mounts require a special Doug Richardson slide hammer where the grip mount is clamped and hammered out. You sometimes have to slide the slide hammer 10+ times as hard as you can to get the grip mount to break free and start to move and it might only move 0.015” per strike and have to be hammered off all the way. If you tried to do it by clamping the grip mount and using a brass block on the fragile/thin face of the receiver you will damage/bend/deform it. Also as discussed while all this is being done the grip mount has to be flexed away from the barrel or it will snap into the gaps between the fins. May be I missed it but I never seen use or reference to any of these tools in any service manual. I have never encountered a Springfield, Carbine, Garand, M1917 rifle, or BAR that had a barrel as tight and difficult to break free and remove as a Thompson barrel. Go with the Devcon and should the future require replacement the grip mount will be no more difficult to remove than a tight original one. Bob

The T-slot for the grip mount is too big. If it was me I would put plastic steel epoxy in the T-slot, plug in the grip mount, tighten the barrel, and wipe off the excess epoxy. The grip mount will no longer rattle and you are not welding, peening, altering anything. Bob

The first thing would be to make sure you have an original one piece buffer pilot vs. the two piece brazed buffer pilot. Does the gun work/shoot properly or does it jam, failure to feed, etc? The main thing that can be wrong is that the angle cuts for the bronze lock are improperly machined. But if your gun works OK the assumption would be that the angle cuts are OK and nothing dramatic would be required. Bob

Is the barrel with the comp an original GI barrel? Does it have a P and a round or square S on the first fin? If original GI I would say $250 - $275 assuming it is in MINT condition. The barrel with the very thin fins looks like a Doug Richardson M1921 barrel made from an M1 smooth barrel. For that one I would say $200-ish. Bob

At this time I do not have any of the M1 barrels available. The only ones I have are in complete parts sets and if I sell a barrel out of the set it is no longer (obviously) a complete parts set. Bob/Phila Ord