photonance

Here are some underside images. I hope these links work, I had trouble with the original post. Anyway, more thoughts? Opinions? Rob http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...nt=DSC_0001.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...nt=DSC_0005.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...nt=DSC_0004.jpg

Will do! I'll be out of town till tomorrow, I will post them when I get back. Rob

You will have to take the barrel off to remove the gripmount, and the best tools to do that are through Doug Richardson. His website is www.thompsonsmg.com He has a catalog that you can order with all sorts of Thompson tools, and goodies! Hope this helps. Rob

My drum is has so much drag on the round, some times it dose not chamber the round full forward in the chamber. I'm shooting it in a 27A1 Kahr. I have not tryed anything other than 15 clicks and that was with easy pull springs, what are they to weak for a 100 rounder? Can you email me Merle's contact info? His e-mail address is tsmgdrumdr@msn.com

If you guys would like, I could take some close-up pictures underneath those areas of interest. Just let me know and I will take those in a day or two and post them. Rob

Guys, I spoke with Merle about a month or two ago, and he said he had a few C drums already tuned for sale (Kahr), but I cant remember how much he told me they were. I think he said $575, but I could be wrong. Anyway, those who are looking for one that works, I would contact him, and see if he has any for sale. BTW, the drum I bought would kick a round sideways in the drum about once per 100 rounds before I had Merle tune it, I have heard of several with similar problems. Rob

I found an interesting photo of an ad on Sturm that looks like another gun with a warped mag well. Take a look and see if it looks similar to my mag well. This gun may have been done the same way. Has anyone else seen this on WWII Savage or AO 28's? Rob http://i22.tinypic.com/1zn8lu8.jpg

Rob, I think it means that the gun was at least delivered into, and accepted by, the U.S. Army Ordnance procurement system. Anything could happen to it after that. There are a number of ways it could have legitimately been transferred to allied hands. And during wartime, there are many ways it could have changed hands informally. Certainly after the war, thousands of them were delivered abroad as military assistance. But very few of these intact guns could find their way back here legally, unless they were returned to the U.S. Government. Many semiauto weapons were, and we are now receiving some of these Garand rifles, for example, through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. But they seem to be short on Thompsons. A gun like you describe could even have been delivered to the U.S. military, later transferred to allied forces, subsequently returned to the U.S. military, and transferred to a U.S. law enforcement organization after the war. Lacking documentation of foreign markings on the gun, we might never know. Thanks, I guess an FOIA request wouldn't tell a whole lot about that either would it? A request would only tell you the history from the point it was registered with the NFA? BTW, I sure wish the government would allow all those Russian Thompsons back, my parts kits from Sportsmansguide have been imaculate. I can wish can't I? Rob

Guys, I have a question on the flaming bomb ordnance stamp on a US Model 1928A1 Savage. If it has the flaming bomb, does that mean it was used only by US military forces, or could it have been used by allied forces? I appologize if this topic has been discussed before. Rob

I agree, I could care less about what the gun is worth, although that is a nice plus. It will be very much enjoyed, and I will share the history (and shooting!)with others. I have enjoyed sharing information with you guys, and yes I will be hanging around! Hopefully I can make it up to The Creek either this spring or next fall and meet some of you guys. Rob

That would be my advice, Rob. It is still a nice weapon and it is priceless as far as sentimental value. I would guess that you always think of your dad when you shoot it. And really, that is what this is all about. FWIW, whenever I see a Ford 9N tractor I think of my grandpa!!!! It really is what is dear to us, not others opinions of our "stuff"!!!!! You are absolutely right about thinking of my dad. Even though he mainly collected and built flintlock, Kentucky, and Pennsyvania rifles, I associate the Thompsons with him the most. BTW, with my dad, I think of the John Deer 430. I had never noticed the warping on the mag well before, nice observation, and it is only on the ejection port side. You may be right, it may have been damaged during the barrel plugging.

Thanks guys for the input, it is facinating the history behind these guns. I have learned more about Thompsons in the past year and a half, than in my whole life, alot of it due to you guys on this board, and people like Doug Richardson, Tracie Hill, Gordon Herigstad, and others taking the time to talk with me personally. I am going to try my best to educate others, and keep the history going. As for my gun, I have mainly looked at the ejection port area and thought that it just didn't quite look right. I will take it to a machine shop sometime and see what they say about it. Tanks! Rob

I live in Pelham, and buy it at that store, and the Hoover/Hwy 150 store. The Tuscaloosa stores have it for that price also. There is a dealer or someone that keeps buying up all the boxes they have, so hopefully they will have some in stock. At that price, a dealer could buy it there and make more of a profit than ordering it. E-mail me sometime and maybe we can go shoot some Thompsons, since you live so close. E-mail address rob_nance@yahoo.com Rob

Joel, I thought the same thing about the machining marks, as far as I can tell there are no breaks on the top of the receiver, and just the vertical scratches below the ejection port. I hope you guys are right, because this gun has matching upper and lower receivers, I have the original barrel, and I think it is rare to find WW2 Thompsons like this in original condition. Rob

I am using a Nikon D200 with an 18-135mm zoom lense. I just used available light in a shaded area, with no flash. The camera and lense lets me zoom in very close, but once I took the pictures, I cropped in a little closer with photoshop, and sharpened it a bit, and adjusted the lighting slightly. You could probably get by with an ordinary photo editing program that allows you to do the same things. Let me know if you have any questions on camera settings, and I will be glad to help. It also helps to use a neutral background, nothing too light, or dark. Rob

That is a very good question! I haven't really thought about it, but maybe it should be called a WELDED gun. Oh well, probably cant change that now, everyone is used to calling them rewelds.

Rob, Sounds more and more like it was not rewelded. In that case, the finish may indeed be original. If so, the finish on the barrel will still look quite different than the receiver; barrel and comp will be a high polish blue, while the Dulite on the receiver may almost look like parkerizing. Is that what you see? Hard to tell even with excellent pictures, lacking closeups of well-lighted barrel/receiver in same shot. But I'm guessing it is original, if not rewelded. I have the original barrel, and it has a compensator that has several dings in it, as well as being more of a patina finish. I am working on rechambering the original barrel, to hopefully put it back on, and make the gun original. The compensator on the original barrel is of the pressed on variety, I haven't seen too many of those. The receiver of my gun appears to be a very faded parkerizing, when I oil it, it makes the receiver shiny, so it really doesn't clash with the shiny barrel and comp that much at all. Rob

Thanks guys very much for the input! As for this gun being dewatted, my dad bought it with a plugged barrel, I think mainly to avoid the transfer tax. The form 5 my dad had it on said nothing except that the gun was made unserviceable by welding the chamber closed at the breech. The only thing I did was rebarrel to reactivate it. You guys may be absolutely correct on this gun not being rewelded, I have looked and looked and found no evidence of it on the top of the receiver. I think the finish on this gun also says alot about the gun not being a reweld. From your experience guys, does this look like an original finish? Thanks again, I thought you guys would enjoy examining this gun! It also happens to run like a dream! Rob

I am not 100% sure it is a reweld but pretty close. I never heard my dad mention anything about it being rewelded, but a Class III dealer friend of mine said it was, and I can see a matching line underneath the receiver just inside the extractor slot (very hard to see). I believe that Bill Easterly from Wisconsin did the weld, but I'm not sure, my dad bought it from him in 1962. I spoke with Tracie Hill last year, and he said he thought Bill Easterly was deceased, I wonder if he passed his trade down to someone? I would love to bring it to knob creek in the spring and let some of the RKI's from this board look at it and get some more input. Thanks guys for your input, would any of you recommend refinishing this gun, or leave it like it is? I go back and forth on that decision, but I tend to lean on the side of keeping it like it is. Thanks! Rob

Thanks PhilOhio, I am a photographer by trade, so that helps, as for the welding, I sure wish I had that talent. A class 3 dealer friend of mine said it was the best reweld job he had ever seen. Rob

There is nothing sweeter than a Merle tuned C drum! Thanks Merle, and welcome to the boards! Rob

It wasn't my handywork, although I wish I could do that. My dad bought it in the early 60's from a Bill Easterly in Wisconsin, and I am not sure, but I believe he did it. If I could weld that well, I would probably have all the work I could handle. Rob

Thanks Bob, I think I have my original one working now. Rob

Sorry guys, I'm working on it, but I havent had this problem before. I am going to my photobucket account, highlighting my link, copying, then pasting on my post. Is there something else I should try? Thanks, Rob

BigDaddy, and others, Just wanted to post a few pictures of the weld on my reweld 28 savage. The weld on the ejection port side, should be in the center of the frame as two vertical scratches. It is hard to detect the weld on the top of the receiver, but it should be just in front of the actuator. On the ejector side, it is about 3/4 of the way to the right on the ejector. I believe this gun was arsenal refinished during or just after the war, but I am not sure. I have thought about having it refinished and would like some expert opinions also. Any thought or comments on this weld job, or the gun itself would be appreciated. http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...t=1928A1036.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...t=1928A1029.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...t=1928A1038.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...t=1928A1033.jpg http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x234/ph...t=1928A1039.jpg I hope this fixed it! Rob