Slightly Twisted

Construction of Landstuhl/Ramstein A.F.B. used the resources of the French Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the time period your grandfather was there. Maybe he traded with a French soldier a pack of Lucky Strikes for the Colt? That’s very possible. We have 3 large China cabinets they traded chocolate and cigarette rations for. Then sold more ration cards to get the money to ship them home. I’m guessing he traded something he had for it. Just no idea what or how. I really hoping it’s in the letters somewhere. We have his truck/footlocker full of that type of thing.

Morning thanks for all the great info. Work has been a b#$&h it week and I haven’t had time to do much. I’ll try and reply to all the pm shortly. I’m going to try and give the best history of the gun I know. My grandfather was a engineer stationed in Landstuhl Germany from sometime in 1948 to 1953. He never really talked about his service to our family, but we think he was working on infrastructure for the airbase and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. During that time my grandmother moved overseas to be with him and my father was born in Landstuhl. As of right now we do not any of the guns history in Germany, but both saved ration card to acquire many different antiques. When they returned home life was not easy for them. The few stories we have regarding the gun are, the wood scratches in the stock where from my grandfather mounting the gun to the front of a moped and driving around his farm fields shooting rabbits. He never talked about its history, how he acquired it, or why he had it. He passed away in 1991, and when he did my then step grandmother called my uncle and father told them if they didn’t pick up the guns and other war related items they where going in the trash. My uncle wasn’t really interested, so my dad went picked them up. Looking back now it was crazy risky and lucky he went to get the guns. He drove through 6 states with a unregistered (to him) NFA item. Once we physically acquired the guns we found his paperwork registering the Thompson. With worked with the state police and a local firearms historian the legally transfer the gun. This was a huge undertaking because we had no idea what we had to do or how to do any of the transfer. When working with the historian he couldn’t find anything on the Thompson, and because of the fore grip he concluded it most have been acquired from a dealer. The Paperwork disputed that but we were unsure. Once the transfer was completed we shot the gun once, being invited to Hiram Maxim machine gun shoot in Dover-foxcroft Maine. There we shot the Thompson for the first time. It’s been in the safe since then really, coming out getting cleaned and right back in. I moved to Indiana in 2008 and transfered the gun to my family about 3 months ago. So that is full of holes and gaps I’m working on his latters home during the post war and trying to find any information. I’ll take a few pics of the sling today and post them.

Thanks for all the information and advice. We have shot it multiple times. two or three times about 20 years ago, and about a month ago trying to up load a video. Im still just blown away about the possible history. I really wish I new more about how my grandfather got the gun. We have a trunk full of old letters he sent home after the war we are rereading to see if he talked about it at all. What little info I have Ill try and write up as I understand it. I cant seem to get them to work Im not the most techy person. B1E94C40-BFEB-4A5D-BD66-C24417544978.MOV D217D841-5C84-4F20-A368-A7779628005D.MOV

Wow, Im blown away just thinking of the possible of where this gun has been. I cant tell you how amazed Im, I knew it was a rare transferable gun but wow. Im going to reread this a few time to make sure I fully understand all the info. I cant thank you guys enough for the information. Because so much has to do with the sling hinges here are a few better pics. Ill look into the membership and will definitely be joining!

Thanks for the welcome guys. So you replace the original internals with replicas? Never thought about that. I did a quick google search and didn’t really find much on where to get internals you guys must have a go to place. Wow if this is a French surviver that would be incredible!! I can’t even imagine the places it would have been. How would I go about finding the SN numbers that where sent to France, and is that even possible?!?! Looking at this forum others have mentioned a book that lists all the SN, would that have that information. Thanks again for the welcome

Thanks for the information! Sorry for the confusion I meant the pearl or jewel of the collection. 20 years ago when my farther took possession the FFL and historian we worked with said that the military never issued the vertical grip, so we assumed it was bought new. He was in Germany up until I believe 52 or 53, they brought back a TON of stuff so that makes sense to me. The gun really hasnt been out of the safe for twenty years, I was allowed to clean it every few years that was about it.

Morning everyone, first time posting and thought I introduce myself. Im beyond green when it comes to Thompsons, but have grownup hunting and shooting. I have a few collectible firearms mostly from my grandfather, he served in WW2 and managed to acquire a few military guns. When he passed away the collection went to my father who was not interested in firearms. They ended up sitting in a safe for a LONG time. They only came out once in a while. Well it took 15 months but I just got the pearl registration transfered to my family. It is an Auto Ordnance model 1921 SN 10374. I would love to try and find more history on the gun so if you guys have any information about it or how to get more please sounds off! From what we know he bought it new and has been in my family ever since. Ill try and get some photos up soon.