Frank I.

Gordon would be pleased that his creations have become Thompson collectors' items.

The Sterling is one of my favorite subguns, light, ergonomic, easy to control on FA. I am lucky enough to have an original PreMay dealer sample, its a late production model, the selector is marked 0-1-32

Never leave any money in a Pay Pal account! When I complained about the seizure, they sent me a copy of the agreement I signed when I joined and told me to read it. Apparently, they will hold you liable for violating their policies, and by signing, you agree to it. I hate the way gun owners are treated by CC companies, banks and PayPal. Legal gun owners have passed a background check, NFA owners undergo even more scrutiny.

Be careful using PAY PAL! If you try to file a loss or claim for anything gun-related they will not pay and they will permanently freeze your account and seize any money in it. (I know) Pay Pal also does word searches on gun sites to freeze accounts, that is why you will sometimes see sellers type Pay Pal as P**P** BTW a Dana Reed from the Pittsburgh, PA area was/is a well-known scammer for years.

Back when 7.62x25 was impossible to find, I made reloadable cases out of .223 brass. I shortened the cases with a pipe cutter and sized-trimmed them. I had to ream the inside the necks because the brass was too thick in that area. I had a local lead bullet caster resize 85g .32 caliber bullets to .311. Worked perfectly in Tokarev pistols and a PPD40 I had at the time. The problem was recovering the (labor-intensive) spent cases, which the PPD would eject pretty far. "Necessity is the mother of invention."

A few years ago I had a minty almost new one, I had a hard time getting $50.00 for it.

The Ingram? M6 or MAC 10?

I posted this on the Reising Board, but I thought it would be of interest here as well, Federal Labs was also a Distributor for Thompson Submachine Guns. Just about every Police Department in West PA had several Reisings, probably because Federal Labs, a large Police equipment distributor, was on 41st Street in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. They were also a distributor for Thompsons. The late Gordon Herigstad took these pictures of the former Federal Labs building. That's Gordon's white Cadillac (with Oregon plates number 1921 A) sitting in front. I added a few related documents; it appears that the first ad was (U.S.) pre-war, around 1940. The last document states Federal Labs sold 4,119 Thompsons.

This article may help... https://smallarmsreview.com/sten-magazines-a-love-hate-relationship/

The one with a slot was originally for a 1928 Model, modified with the "step" at the back to fit the M1 and M1A1 models. The grips originally made for an M1-M1A1 do not have a slot. The modified grips are somewhat common.

During my research for my Reising book, years ago I found a lot of Marine Corps documents at the National Archives in College Park, MD. I though I would post a few here to stimulate this thread. Many explain Marine requests that resulted in the Reising M50 2nd Model, often (incorrectly) referred to as the "Military Model". There was no official designation by H&R or the Marine Corps other than the Model 50 or 55. Unfortunately, There isn't enough room for all of the documents.

Just about every Police Department in West PA had several Reisings, probably because Federal Labs, a large Police equipment distributor, was on 41st Street in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. They were also a distributor for Thompsons. The late Gordon Herigstad took these pictures of the former Federal Labs building. That's Gordon's white Cadillac (with Oregon plates) sitting in front.

moved

Straight from West Hurley AOC

Well, there have been some positive events in the NFA world recently... The LE signature being eliminated, FAST transfers via Eforms, many Pre-May guns are now transferable, and the removal of the $200.00 tax on SBRs, SBS and suppressors. There is a lot of pushback on the elimination of the tax, citing that since no tax is being collected, they should not be NFA. That could very well backfire, it is very possible that many states will ban them if there are no federal controls in place. In fact in Pennsylvania, a bill was already proposed to ban any shotgun with a barrel under 18" (and FTRs). The bill was defeated by ONE vote, but is sure to be presented again. Just my 2-cents

My first machine gun was a converted Colt AR-15, I bought it new as a semiauto for $400.00. I did a form 1, and Charlie Erb milled it for a GI sear for $50.00. During the 1980s the economy was not like today, $200.00 was a lot of money, and the LE signature was a problem for many. I sold that gun in the 1990s for $1500.00 and had a hard time finding a buyer. I also had a semi-auto Norinco AK I bought new s/n 0000031, for $295.00 Charlie Erb converted it for $125.00. After the 1986 ban, prices were increasing fast, I offered it to all my friends for $2300.00, they told me I was crazy, I was able to eventually sell it for that price. The 7.62x39 ammo was expensive and hard to find. I posted this article before, but it is a look at how machine gun buying was "back in the day". https://archive.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=3854

That was a common occurrence. Charlie Erb's Sten tube guns were $150.00, I often heard the phrase "I'm not paying a $200.00 transfer tax on a $150.00 gun." Those same Sten guns sell for as high as 10k today. Who knew?

From 1987, I love reading the old publications from the 1980s...totally different vibe in those days. $3k WAS a lot for an M3 back then, they were always priced slightly higher than military Thompsons, primarily because there are fewer of them available.

No, I don't have that info... BUT H&R Sale M55s 1A, 0001, 114310, M50s: 206, 654, S4855, S4948, S5017, S4764 S5100, S5102, X17, (.45) X15 (9MM) M65 X16 Reising Submachine Gun Dates of Production From records submitted to ATF 1941 Serial Numbers: 101-8500 1942 Serial Numbers: 8501-73600 1943 Serial Numbers: 73601-114317 1950 Serial Numbers: K101 to K973 1951 Serial Numbers: L101 to L3589 1952: No production 1953 Serial Numbers: N111 to N327 1954-1956: No production 1957 Serial Numbers: S4700 to S5607 Former Marine Reisings in storage at the Quantico Marine base (2019) MODEL 50: 154 11372 15696 53097 113539 MODEL 55: 13189 15296 44531 62230 62934 62818 Model 60: 1333

I have documentation from H&R verifying that Reising submachine guns with an S serial number prefix were manufactured by H&R in 1957. In addition, there were six S-prefixed serial number Reisings (S4855, S4948, S5017, S4764 S5100, S5102) sold at H&R's 1985 asset reduction sale approved by the bankruptcy court. Despite popular internet lore, there was no bankruptcy auction. The asset reduction (gun) sale was approved so H&R could keep its factory operating. In addition to the Reisings, there were 29 H&R M14s, and 60 U.S. marked H&R M16A1s. There is a lot of H&R history in my 2nd edition M14 book. After H&R went out of business, Numrich bought Reising parts and they did assemble guns from those parts, which did include receivers. A 1988 SGN ad listed them for $695.00.

I got lucky a few months ago, there was a M3A1 barrel assembly on GB for a "buy it now" price of $125.00, I bought it. After it arrived, I discovered that the barrel was one of the rare Vietnam-era chromium-lined barrels, mounted in a Guide subcontractor DTD (Detroit Transmission Division) barrel collar. I had one before, but reluctantly sold it. Oddly, M3 and M3A1 parts are getting somewhat hard to find, except for the magazines. At SAR West 2025 just about every vendor had GG mags on their tables, as low as $25.00 NIW. Many were post-war, Vietnam era Parkerized finish, made by Jahn (J marked)

While pursuing tables at SAR West 2025 I saw two Savage milled grip mounts with broken retaining tabs, the seller had no details. I always thought that perhaps a carry sling attached to the front swivel put stress on the grip mount? And thus the introduction of the front grip barrel band, primarily for the later riveted grip mount.

Not sure if this was posted before...

A few years ago, Phil invited me to the NRA headquarters in VA to give a presentation on the M14 rifle. Afterward, we went out to dinner. While BSing I just happened to mention that I had just bought a silencer on a form 4, he asked if I had mailed the paperwork in yet. I said no, and I had the forms with me. I gave them to him, and it was approved in two days! This was back when form 4 transfers were taking 6 months. The approved forms came from DC, not Martinsburg, WVA. Phil and Mark Keefe were also helpful during research for my M14 book The Last Steel Warrior, by sharing vintage photos and taking guns off the museum's display for me to photograph. RIP Phil, it was a privilege to know you! Frank I.

What I have seen happen over the years; a gun gets posted at a higher than normal selling price, and gets sold rather fast, that now becomes the "new" benchmark price. Most recently, auction results have had a similar effect. "The prices you balk at today, you will be glad to pay tomorrow."