wh20crazy

I'm cleaning up to move. I have an M1 bolt with a broken face. It is completely stripped (I got it for the firing pin). This is for the bolt handle on the side. First one to respond gets it. I suspect it is not worth messing with. If that's the case, let me know and it'll go in the trash. Merry Christmas!

I took it to the range yesterday. It ran perfectly! Side note: A buddy had his chronograph set up, so I ran my plinking loads over it. They average 100fps faster through the 1927 than the 1911.

Looks like a primer cup. It takes a special skill to get one of those in there. Lol

deerslayer, Thank you so much for your help this afternoon! Like so many things in life, it's not that hard if you know what you're doing. lol Everyone else, deerslayer walked me through the procedure above. With a little wiggling of the pins I put in place of the pivot plate & pulling the trigger, the bolt released. Once I got it apart, a chunk of brass came out. Thankfully, nothing was broken. I've taken it all apart, cleaned & lubed it & put it back together. I'll get it to the range for a functional check this weekend.

That's mighty good of you. What tools do i need?

The trip lever moves freely up & down (no spring pressure, whether the bolt is locked w/ the knob or not. This has me thinking that either the trip lever or pawl is broken.

Tonight's update: - The extractor appears to be in it's proper place. - I removed the safety. - There is a little movement in the bolt, so it's not frozen in place. It is still open, but I can pull it back a little & get it to lock by pulling up on the bolt handle. - In this position, I can pull the trigger & watch the sear block work up & down as it should (looking through the safety hole). - I can push the firing pin back & see the part that hits the sear block move, so I think the firing pin is ok. - I cannot see or feel the pawl. - There was no movement when I attempted to push the trigger forward. For what it's worth, this was the first magazine through the gun after taking the top of the gun apart to clean & oil the bolt, firing pin & springs. I did not disassemble anything in the trigger group. It locked up after the last round from a stick mag. It's a West Hurley. It's been a few years since I looked it up, but it was made in either '76 or '77 as I recall. I previously replaced the broken firing pin w/ a used one. I've run a few hundred rounds through it with no problems.

Thanks for the tip. I considered removing the pivot plate, but thought it might get worse. The firing pin looks good.

After finishing a stick mag the bolt stayed open as it should on my 1927A1. Now it won't close. I assume that either the pawl or spring is broken. Any thoughts on getting the gun apart so I can see what's wrong inside? Thanks in advance.

I got the same intentions on my WH. The replacement fitting pin fixed it. If you look at the bolt face, you'll see the slot that causes this. It's not over pressure. I got it with factory loads and my reloads, which are bottom of the scale (7.1 grains of Accurate #5 under a 230 grain plated ball). Worst part is sometimes the primer will come out of the case and cause a jam. May be getting some gas escaping to the rear when that happens too.

Update: My Thompson has been sitting in the corner of the safe for a very long time. Yesterday a friend calls & says he's found something that I may want. He was helping someone clean up & found an M1 bolt & firing pin. They guy didn't know what it was. The bolt is broken, but I didn't need an M1 bolt anyway. I bought the firing pin & put it in last night. It felt so good to run a couple hundred rounds through it today.

Gio, thanks for the heads up. Where do you recommend I get one?

I messed up. I took it apart a while back. I found the rear section, but have lost the front section of the firing pin. I guess I'll just order one of each, since I found them on TommyGunner for $20. Also, my rear sight is rivited on, but the rivets are lose. Is there any problem w/ drilling those out, tapping the holes & putting screws in that don't protrude below the holes?

The firing pin broke on my West Hurley 1927-A1. I understand there are a couple of different firing pin designs. How do I tell which one I need and who sells them? Thanks in advance.

I made one from aluminum. I've never had my hands on a real one, so I don't know those dimensions. Here are the dimensions I came up with: Outside dimensions: Height - 2" Width - A hair over 5/8" Width at top - 5/16" Length of taper from top width to full width - 3/8" Thickness - 1/8" NOTE: This is the stock that I had. Use something thicker. Slot dimensions: Height - 7/8" Width - 5/16" Bottom of slot to bottom of 3rd hand - 1/4" This works in my gun, but is a little sloppy due to being too thin. Measure the slot in the receiver & make yours somewhere between that measurement & 1/8". Be careful when you push the magazine release to get your drum on & off, sometimes the 3rd hand will fall out as the magazine release is what holds the 3rd hand in place.

I've had the trigger fail to reset on my West Hurley. I've found 2 different causes: 1 - Using factory ammo, it would fail to reset the trigger. I could either push it forward, or pull it again & let it snap forward. A good, thorough cleaning/lubing of the trigger assembly fixed it. 2 - Using reloads, it would fail to reset the trigger. It would also fail to eject & load rounds sideways sometimes I found out the guy who loaded the ammo was loading them light (he wanted light recoil in his 1911 & used the same recipe for me). He stepped up the powder for the next batch & it ran fine. With most factory ammo, the empties land 8 to 12 feet from the gun. Some of the light reloads would drop the cases at my feet.

Sorry. That's all I've got to offer. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will offer the solution.

When if fails to reset, can you just push the trigger forward to reset it? If you can, you may just need to clean the trigger assembly real good. Mine is a 1976 vintage West-Hurley. I could either push the trigger forward or pull it back & let it snap forward to reset. A thorough cleaning fixed it.

I have some reloads w/ cast lead pills. I haven't talked to the guy who loaded them since I shot some. The pills seem to run fine in my West-Hurley 1927 A1. The problems have been failures to eject (leaving the empty case in the chamber) and failure of the trigger to reset. I've noticed that the empties don't fly as far with these as they do factory loads. This leads me to believe that they may not be as hot a load as factory. My guess is this is causing the action to not cycle fully, nor as strong.

My West Hurley has the following stamped on the right side of the receiver: AUTO-ORDINANCE CORPORATION WEST HURLEY, NEW YORK, USA I would assume only the West Hurley guns have this. Sorry, my glasses are out in the truck & I can't read my serial number without them. If my memory is serves me, there are no letters in my serial number. Mine was made in 1976. This page has serial numbers by year for 1975 through 1997: http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/tcn/1998/aug/aug98p3.htm

Oh yeah, I'm into Thompsons. I've got a West Hurley semi. I picked it up the other year when the political climate went nuts and most folks were running to get AR's. I had always thought Thompsons were cool & figured I'd better go ahead & get one. The test I linked above is also a way to see what you'll loose if you're considering SBR'ing your Thompson. Most of us probably have them either for the historical or cool factor, not for ballistic superiority. Although, last time I was at the range, my nephew was ringing the small steel targets at 50 yards with my Thompson. I'd never even tried those. He surprised everyone there including me.

I found it while cruising the net today. My guess is, most factory ammo data for .45acp is based on it coming out of a 1911. This shows the velocity difference with the Thompson's longer barrel. I thought it was interesting.

Here's a link to a ballistics test. They tested a bunch of different ammo (sorry, no 230 grain ball) through a bunch of different length barrels. They did test the Kahr Thompson barrel. http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/45auto.html

Does your trigger feel right on the fail to fires? If not, push it forward. If it clicks, then works normally you may have to disassemble the trigger group to clean & lubricate it. Mine was not resetting. I could either push the trigger forward to reset it, or make sure I let it snap forward after firing. A good, thorough cleaning fixed it.

I picked up two boxes of Federal Range Target Practice ammo today. When I got home I noticed the box reads "Not for use in firearms with ported barrels or ported recoil compensators". Does anyone have experience w/ this in a West Hurley semi? I can't think of a reason that the compensator would cause problems w/ ammo, but I may be missing something.