BangBang

Thanks again to all for your great input. What I'm really looking for is Colt Thompson in "reasonable" condition that I can enjoy shooting and, when the time comes, I won't lose my shirt selling. This ain't that gun so I think I 'm going to take a pass. If anyone else has an interest in it, let me know. I have more photos and will be glad to forward location details.

Here are some of the photos I took yesterday. The dealer was much more cooperative than I expected although he had no history to provide me. He did say that he had purchased the gun twice, the second time being from the guy he had sold it to because he was moving to a state where they were not allowed. The selector markings indicate an original number over 3000. There were no markings on the compensator. The gun has been refinished as the "grind off" marks/orig s/n are smoothe and evenly blued. The drum may have been resprayed. Any comments are welcomed. Thanks.

Ya: "breathe in, breathe out...[repeat]"

I will try to meet with the seller today or tomorrow and find out a) what, if anything, he knows about the gun/history/etc, and if he is willing to allow someone [an expert] to inspect the gun. I believe he bought it from an estate and has spent no time on research. I have field stripped a '21 before but under the tutelage of an expert. I'm not real sure about doing it myself to a gun I don't own. I of course remember your presentation at the TATA show, giantpanda4. It was most interesting. Thanks for the offer to help - I may take you up on it. 'Also good advise, reconbob. You make good points, some of which should be obvious but tend to be obfuscated by excitement. I need to remember: "breathe in, breathe out, ..."

Thanks for the repply, TC. I really appreciate your taking the time. There is a lot to learn about Thompsons. I am a member of TATA and attended the show and shoot this year which was a bunch of fun. 'Good group of folks. I also have Tracie's "...American Legand" book with which I've spent a good deal of time. I wonder if his second book has a lot more information or if there is a goo deal of duplication. I sort of have my heart set on a Colt Thompson but I'm starting to think my current level of expertise is inadequate to justify the necessary investment. I'd relaay like to find some examples of the $18,000 Colts as it seems everything I've seen is way north of $20,000 (as in $30+) , especially with any accompanying level of confidence. Perhaps patience would be useful at this point. Thanks again.

Thanks, Jim. I get what you're saying. Knowing of the shop owner's reputation, unfortunately the chances of him disassembling the gun and letting me search for more serial numbers is slim and none. The asking price is $25,000

I have been attempting to be diligent in gathering information in preparation for the purchase of my first Thompson. Unfortunately, the information I provided on this gun was all I had. The shop is old. The owner is old. He's not a new dealer and should know what he's doing i.e. he probably didn't grind the s/n off himself. He has a number of machine guns in inventory. The reason for my question was to try to find out iif there are some of you who might know of reasons that s/n's might be reapplied: factory? atf? whatever? I'm guessing the process of grinding off a number and then having another restamped over it would create somewhat of an unsightly appearance. I don't know if that would necessarily make the gun worth less but I suppose it would depend on the gun's verifyable history which I don't have. I thought that there might be some helpful hypotheses available on this forum which would assist me in my inspection of the gun. Thanks for the input, especially Ron......I'm glad you found my ignorance a source of amusement.

A friend of mine saw a 1921 (don't know if it was an "A" or an AC) at a gun shop that had had the serial number ground off and re-stamped. It is a very old class 3 dealers shop so it would have to be legit. It would seem like this could be a gun with a colorful history. I am serious about buying a Colt and would be interested in some input.

It's interesting that my local class 3 dealer didn't know what he was talking about and if I had followed his advise, BATFE would have kicked back the form 3 and I'd have had another delay. I called BATFE and they said that to transfer from an individual owner out of state would require a form 4 for the individual to the dealer transfer and another form 4 for the transfer from the dealer to me. Of course each form 4 would require a $200 stamp......plus the $100 to the dealer for the process. It soulds like the C&R license is the route to go. Is there a lot involved in obtaining one?

Thanks for the great advice! It sounds like my Class 3 dealer didn't really know what he was doing. He actually gave me the Form 3's to fill out.

First of all I'm new.......I'm circling my first 1921A and also have not posted on a blog before so please forgive dumb questions and screw-ups. The '21 I've located is in another state. I was told by my Calss 3 dealer that the private party who currently owns it must transfer (Form 3) it to the dealer in my state, ship it to my dealer, and then the dealer can transfer it to me on a Form 4.....$200 for the stamp and $100 for the dealer. From a previous post I saw where a buyer was planning to pick up the gun in another state. Is that somehow another option?