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Thompson USMC pouch, real or fake?


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Yes, I agree. Original pouch, fake stamp. This scenario is covered in the PDF of the reproduction item lecture that is available in the repro item pinned post at the top of the page. Most likely someone marked one of

the Russian lend lease pouches...

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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A correct 1942 dated USMC marked 5 cell Pouch would have been for Reisings & not Thompsons, right?

Did the Marine Corps ever order 5 cell USMC marked Thompson Pouches?

Or did they just continue to order additional Reising Pouches after Thompsons were issued?

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The only legit USMC pouches I have seen are the three cell 30 round pouches and the 5 cells are for the Reising. Alot of collectors will think the USMC 5 cell is for the thompson. put them side by side and you WILL notice a difference.

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Where did you guys get the information that the Marine Corps never had a five-cell pouch for Thompson magazines? There are some five-cell pouches that have longer flaps that were supposedly for the Reising magazines. The common Russel Manufacturing Co.(R.M.) 1942 dated five-cell pouches marked USMC on the back are identifical to the pre-war Thompson five-cell pouches that were made for the twenty round Thompson magazines.

 

The reason the three-cell thirty round magazines are so plentiful is that they were probably only issued in small numbers before theThompson was considered limited standard.. The pouch shown in the post is original, the stamping are traditionally rather weak on many of these three-cell pouches. They are all marked with 1944 manufacturing dates and very few probably ever saw any service. Try finding a picture from WWII of Iwo Jima or Okinawa Marines wearing a three-cell thirty-round pouch. I have yet to see one.

 

By the way, sgt-leighton, the USMC stamping on the rear of your pouch doesn't look original as Dave Albert pointed out. There are, however, many 1942 dated R.M. manufactured USMC stamped pouches out there. Someone just tried to make the plain unstamped five-cell pouch more attractive.

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Chuck,

 

The R.M. Co. 1942 USMC pouches are for the Reising with the longer flaps. I am not aware of any with such markings that were made specifically for the Thompson, however the Reising pouches can certainly be used for Thompson magazines. The differences are shown in the Reising reference pinned post.

 

I'm leaning toward the 3-cell pouch being non-original, but would probably have to see it in person. There are some good repros of that pouch.

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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Dave,

 

Thank you for the clarification, I stand corrected. I didn't study the picture of the three-cell pouch very closely so maybe it is a reproduction. I know that there are reproductions of that pouch. My point was that there are many of the originals around in unissued condition and the stamp on the back seems to be faint on most of them. An original three-cell pouch shouldn't be too hard to find, I would imagine.

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