just4grins

My favorite quote isn't from a movie or particularly historical. My son took a tactical carbine course from Larry Vickers. During the course they started talking about FA weapons, and Larry told him: "You're not a real American until you've fired a Thompson submachine gun." It may not meet the criteria, but it's still a great quote (and sentiment).

What brand is it?

You're correct. My son has a Lula for his Uzi, which is an absolute necessity.(maybe the stiffest mag spring I have ever tried to push bullets against). It's also the only Lula I have ever seen with metal-faced cam surfaces. I considered modifying an Uzi Lula for the Thompson stick mags, but have decided that, given how well this works, it's not worth it. I have a speedloader for my 10-22 where you just put the bullets in a hopper, turn a knob, and it loads the mag. Really cool.

It's the fastest way to turn money into noise yet invented. Fun, too....

I was going to make a speedloader from an Uzi Lula, but was given this speedloader for Christmas. It works amazingly well! (see link below). Much easier on the thumbs, and reasonably priced. http://www.tommygunshop.com/cgi-bin/itemdetail.asp?itmid=913

Very nice. Congratulations on your purchase!

I got the best deal through Collectibles Insurance. (They are listed in the thread previously furnished). About half of what my homeowners policy insurance company wanted for the same coverage.

I have found this board to be very helpful, and slow to "slap someone down". Every board has people who have lower frustration limits than others, and the tolerance for "silly" questions, for them, is pretty low. This one seems much better, and more tolerant of newbies than almost any other of which I have been a member. The worst thing on a forum is to be afraid to ask a question or relate an experience because you feel that you will look foolish by doing so. I have never felt that way on this forum, and have never received anything but honest and well-meant input to any question or response that I have posted. There is also a much larger "wheat to chaff" ratio here. (Less nonsense to filter through, posted by people who feel that any response, however ignorant, is better than none). If people respond with an answer or opinion here, it is almost always based on personal experience or authoritative documentation, not another thread or urban myth. I.E, this is a really great forum, in both absolute and comparative terms.

There is an outfit out there that makes one (they have, among others, 45 ACP and 40 S & W dies) Pricey, though. $515.00 for the press and one set of dies. http://www.casepro100.com/

I think I will send the die back to have it checked. I tried lube (per Dillon's first recommendation), and had the sizing die screwed down until it touched the shellplate. The cases improved, but still did not always fit the gage. I agree, Dillon's product and customer service are first-rate. This is the first issue I have ever had with a Dillon product. As I said, the issue would probably not have come up at all if the chamber were the proper size.

I believe the design failure was not Dillon's but WH's for not manufacturing the barrels to original specs. Not arguing that the WH chamber dimensions are an issue, and probably make the problem worse, but the finished rounds do not always fit in the case gage when the Dillon die is used. They do with the Redding. I also bought a .001" undersized Lee die (the various posts on reloading "bulged" 45 ACP cases recommended it) but I haven't needed it yet to get the rounds to fit the gage.

I'm not knocking Dillon. I have been reloading 45 ACP with my Dillon dies for years without an issue, and shooting them in a 1911 and an HK USP. (They go into the chambers on those guns, even if they don't fit the gage). On rare occasions, one would fail to go fully into battery, and a light tap to the slide with the palm would fix the issue. (Like once a year). This only seems an issue with the WH. I like Dillon products a lot, and have mostly Dillon dies for the pistol calibers, and .223. I use a Dillon 550B, have a Dillon super swage for decrimping primer pockets,have a Dillon 1200B case trimmer, and use a Dillon powder scale. This is the first problem I have ever encountered with a Dillon product that seems to be design related. Every failure or wear problem I have ever had has been instantly resolved by the customer support folks at Dillon. Good products, unbelievably good customer support (except for this one). I envy RoscoeTurner finding 1500 rounds. Folks out here are waaay too careful about policing their 45 brass. Find lots of 9, lots of 40 s&w, very little .45.

At the risk of looking silly, I admit that, after 40 years of reloading with no problems, I learned something new (at least new to me). I am shooting my 1928 WH sparingly until it get's PK'd, but even so, I was having extraction problems (ripped-off rims, broken extractor). After two occurrences, I decided to look at my reloads more carefully. I always use case gages on rifle cartridge reloads, but have never bothered with that on pistol reloads. You bottom the sizing die on the shellholder, back it off very slightly, and you're good to go. (and they have always fit in the chamber of whatever I was shooting them in). Not so on my WH. I bought a Wilson max pistol gage (simulates the worst case chamber) and checked the loaded rounds. Abut 1 in 5 failed to fit, with an oversize condition about 1/4 of the way up the case as the cause. I have heard of this "Glocked" condition on 40 S & W when the cartridges have been fired in a gun with a partially supported chamber, but I thought it was rare in 45 ACP. The Dillon sizing die has a very large entrance radius to make the cases self centering even if they are significantly off-center, and it doesn't size all the way to the web. I spoke to tech support at Dillon about this and their response was, basically, "yup", that's how it is. I bought a Redding sizing die (has a smaller radius and sizes down farther), put it on the press, and the problem disappeared. I sized brass from cartridges which had this problem and they fit the gage afterwards. Fired these in my WH with no issues at all. The only down side is that I occasionally have to guide the brass into the sizing die. Maybe this isn't an issue on anything except a WH, which I understand can have pistol-dimensioned chambers which are considered undersized for a Full Auto application. ( I should mention that I was using range brass - a no-no according to some, but again, never has been an issue with my reloads) I will probably get some "of course" sort of responses, but I thought I would share in case someone is making the same error that I was.

I too am in queue for my WH. I'm sorry to hear that the queue time has gone up, but the results are clearly worth the wait. Looking forward to getting the work done.

I know of people who have tried to legalize an unregistered FA weapon by modifying the receiver in that manner. (They missed the registration amnesty or a got the weapon from someone who did). Doesn't work - it's still an unregistered FA weapon as far as the ATF is concerned. I can't think of any reason to turn a registered FA weapon into a semi-auto either (seems brain-dead). What put me on that track was the title of the patent.

Am I correct in assuming that you have to start with new receiver to legally do this? Otherwise, it would seem to violate the ATF's "once a machine gun, always a machine gun: policy. I. E. , if you weld up the 3rd axis hole on an AK-47 or 74 that mounts the autosear, making it impossible to fire FA, it's still a machine gun in the eyes of the ATF. If you replace the receiver wih a semi-auto one, you're golden.

I appreciate all of the info and good advice. This forum is fun not only because of the knowledge of the people involved, but the courtesy with which they treat newcomers and people with questions which have "obvious" answers to the experienced, but are not so obvious to the newbie. Although I have been a shooter since I was 5, reload, and have a fair sized collection, I am an absolute newbie to the Thompson (it's my first FA weapon). My son got an UZI (FA), got me hooked, and I've always wanted a Thompson. The timing seemed good, the future uncertain re: gun ownership, so I took the plunge and bought mine about a year ago. No regrets, just the ear to ear smile that accompanies shooting it. Again, thanks not only for the help, but the great attitude that goes with it.

When I was examining and cleaning my WH today before reassembling it, I noticed that the extractor is broken! Is this the result of the stuck case or the cause of it? Oddly enough, there are wear marks on the end of the extractor as if it had been broken for a period of time before the malfunction. On all of my other guns, this would not be a possibility. Is this possible on a 1928? Doesn't seem likely, but I don't know of the blowback is sufficient to eject the case in the absence of an extractor.

Got it out! I ended up making a custom easy-out: tapered screw with a custom thread diameter that just tightened up inside the case. Then tapped it out with a brass rod - no problem. I probably would have used the .308 case method if I had read it before I tried this. Thanks again for the help.

Or just wait and let PK remove it when he has it to do the work you mentioned. I'm not tempted to remove the barrel in view of the work which will, at some point, be done to it. I'll try the methods indicated, and if they don't work just wait until my turn in the queue comes up and ask PK to remove it as part of his process. (I'm not going to shoot this any more anyway until it is reworked. Too many feed issues.) Thanks for the suggestions - I'm going to try all of them, short of removing the barrel.

I had the rim tear off a shell, leaving the rest of the case stuck in the chamber of my 1928 WH. I can't seem to find anyone who makes a broken shell extractor for 45 ACP. I know the chamber can be undersized in a WH, and I am in queue for PK to work on it. I shoot it very sparingly in the interim, but my son was visiting and he had never shot it. I tried a 90 degree pick very carefully (like an icepick with a bent tip) but it's pretty thoroughly stuck. Does anyone have a source for a broken shell extractor, or any suggestions of how to get the stuck shell out? I have a decent machine tool capability (lathe, drill press, small mill) so if anyone has made a custom tool I could potentially do that.

I also have a Dillon 550B. Works well, easy to use. Another choice from Dillon, if you're only loading one caliber, is their square deal B (lower price). If you're going to eventually load more than 1 caliber then the 550B is a better choice. I used to have my 550B on a workbench, and broke it down when not in use, so would work well with limited space. Also comes with a good instructional video.

One of my son's friends is back from Iraq. He has seen AK's made from scratch in Pakistan (Khyber pass area). They are prohibited from shooting them - the AK's tend to blow up after a few rounds.

That's a cool case! Looks ALMOST post-office proof! Just kidding...looks like it could outlast the Samsonite gorilla! It's big and heavy, has wheels, but it's bombproof. Pelican 1650.

I do have a CCW permit, so even if the law made the proximity of a magazine to the weapon a concealed weapon, I think I'm still OK. I tend to load at home to maximize the shooting time on the range. Gets hot in a hurry in the morning here in Arizona. It's a dry heat (but so is an oven). Not worried about dropping them. (see photo) All good advice, though, and I appreciate the input. http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss248/just4grins1/Thompsoncase003.jpg