Balder Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) Got this deactivated M1928A1 today, it will be suspended from the ceiling with an L-drum. It came with a horizontal grip, but I like the looks of the vertical better. The vertical one looks old but a bit funky. The gun appears to have been heavily blasted, due to deep rusting or just plain poor workmanship, and then parkerized. Good enough for display. Deactivation consists of cutting the bolt face at an angle and a welded bolt through the receiver and chamber. Balder Edited August 30, 2013 by Balder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphinvet Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Very cool wall hanger. Weird that they put a sling swivel on top of the buttstock. Does anyone know if that was common? I've never seen it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balder Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Very cool wall hanger. Weird that they put a sling swivel on top of the buttstock. Does anyone know if that was common? I've never seen it before. Dolphinvet, This was common procedure with Thompsons used by the Brits. Balder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banjo Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 British thing, so are the two brass screws on either side of the reinforcing bolt. I guess they put the screws in first and later added the bolt, maybe. They often put a swivel on either side of the vertical grip but I've never seen one squared off on both sides like that. I wonder if the butt stock has a patch on the bottom where the sling swivel was located originally? Nice gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphinvet Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Very cool wall hanger. Weird that they put a sling swivel on top of the buttstock. Does anyone know if that was common? I've never seen it before. Dolphinvet, This was common procedure with Thompsons used by the Brits. BalderI learn something new everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted August 30, 2013 Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) Balder, thanks for posting the high quality photographs on your latest acquisition. Do you have any photographs of the rear stock from the top and the bottom? The vertical front grip shaped like no other I can remember seeing. Edited August 30, 2013 by Bridgeport28A1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balder Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Some pictures of the horizontal front grip (note the small nails on the right side) and butt stock. The Brits did a nice job of filling in the original sling swivel slots. Balder Edited August 31, 2013 by Balder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Thanks for posting the additional photographs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavediver Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Did you finish the M3 you were working on. I'd like to see a picture of it finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balder Posted September 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 cavediver, On Dec 30 2010 I sent you an email with pictures to which you responded. Not much has happened to it since then. Balder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 Could this have been one of the guns supplied to Norway's resistance during WWII? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balder Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 TSMGguy, I doubt it, supposedly this one was imported from the UK some years ago. The rather heavy-handed blasting it was subjected to has erased any British markings that may have been there. Balder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaforth72 Posted September 14, 2013 Report Share Posted September 14, 2013 The British and Commonwealth armies (e.g. Canada) often modified their Thompsons this way - moving the sling swivels. An image of the Canadian Army modification instruction sheet for this change is in Tracie Hill's book. The reasons are that when the slings are on the underside, the weapon can be slung over the shoulder but it is not "ready" for instant action. By mounting the sling swivels on top of the butt and on the left side (usually) of the fore grip (be it vertical or horizontal), the Thompson Machine Carbine (as they originally called it) could be carried in the ready position with a sling over the shoulder, butt under the arm, hand on the pistol grip and muzzle pointing forwards. This modification would have started with the early deliveries of the 1928 Thompson guns to the British. The vertical fore grip did not have a sling swivel as delivered. You will see photos of Commando soldiers doing cliff climbing and river crossing on rope bridges with Thompsons slung so they had to be able to use a sling. Have a look at the photo on the cover of THE SUPER COMMANDOS of the First Special Service Force soldier carrying an M1 or M1A1 Thompson in this position but with the sling swivels in the U.S. position underneath. It can easily be seen that the gun would tend to flip over to the right if he did not restrain it. Many years later in Vietnam some soldiers modified their M16 rifles with slings that went on both side of the butt and joined on top, and with the front attached to the mount for the front-sight to get a similar ready carry position. My father was attached as a Lieutenant to No. 4 Commando but he refused to carry a Thompson. He preferred the Lee-Enfield rifle that he had salvaged after the Dieppe Raid when it was written off as damaged (I now have that rifle) partly because he was an expert shot (he outshot the unit's snipers who had the telescopic sights!) and partly because German snipers would target people carrying Thompsons as they were likely officers, NCOs or members of crew-served weapons. Colin Very cool wall hanger. Weird that they put a sling swivel on top of the buttstock. Does anyone know if that was common? I've never seen it before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balder Posted September 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) Seaforth, My "live" M1928 S-245XX was in one of the first batches of Thompsons delivered to the UK early 1940. It has the sling swivel mounted on the bottom of the butt stock. Balder .......This modification would have started with the early deliveries of the 1928 Thompson guns to the British. The vertical fore grip did not have a sling swivel as delivered. .... Edited September 16, 2013 by Balder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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