So, the USPS just delivered this Thompson to me

[Dolphinvet]

Well I finally took possession of a 1928A1 Tommy that I had started the paperwork on back in April of last year. I did get it transferred to me using my C&R, had purchased it from the widow of the owner just from a few pictures. I knew it was a little rough, but the price was fair (9k). It's parkerized, which I hate, and as you can see the receiver is pitted all over the place. I think the weld areas on the nose and right side of the receiver were repairs, but it could have been a dewat in a prior life. Anyway, it appears it was just bead blasted and then parkerized, as it is rough as hell. The "L" Lyman sight has got to go. I purchased a nice Lyman adjustable that appears identical to the one on my 1921AC, so that's going to be mounted. The welds need to be redone and re-machined. Then I want the gun blued. I have a very nice lower that I will put on it as well as a knurled actuator. I think I will replace the bolt too, not sure. The guide rod has seen better days and that too shall be replaced. When I took the gun apart, a piece was found to be missing (bolt oiler? What bolt oiler?). I need to order one of those. I also think I'm going to put a vertical foregrip I have laying around on it as well. Make it look a bit more like my '21. I have a finned '28 barrel with compensator at home too and will replace the M1 barrel currently on the gun. Well that's my new project. Chime in with opinions and suggestions.

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/00AAA1A8-F4B1-4D84-A5C9-64D64C2DBF2F.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/D8B4CA8E-78F8-44C1-9D57-CAA6590C9903.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/6CF46BF8-8E07-4D23-ACB7-CA2748524337.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/E1B41805-4018-4A6E-98D1-564206D7732A.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/D7BDA8CD-7673-4D7E-B3C4-3BE10147AEC7.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/82F077CA-15D8-4D11-AA4E-9A340461246E.jpg

[/url]">http://http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j331/Dolphinvet/3044976B-1258-4FB6-B330-CB5CDCA641F6.jpg

[Thompsonlover]

Congrats Dolphinvet! As you know I'm a novice at this but for the price and modifications, I think you will have a nice shooter. Who will be doing your machine work and how does that work with leaving the receiver with the person? Do you have to be there when he does the work?

[jim c 351]

DV,

Well , no getting around it, it does look terrible.

But it is a registered receiver and you only paid 9K for it. You could spend another 6 K and still have a gun many members here would fight over.

Or you could shoot it as is and leave the Colt in the safe.

Over on the Colt Collectors forum there is a photo section for semi Colt pistols. If you go to it you will find a picture of a Colt M1900 that was pitted much worse than your TSMG. There is also an after picture. It shows a gun that was put on a surface grinder until all pits were removed. The gun had the letters and numbers reapplied and then blued. It looks amazing.

It just goes to show, never believe those who piously claim there are no deals on Thompsons. You just proved them wrong again.

Congratulations.

Jim C

[pjr2412]

Dolphinvet, my impression is that your receiver looks it was a dewat that has been welded back together. The discoloration in the Parkerizing in the photos is an indication of that in addition to appearance of the bottom of the slot for the Blish lock and the front of the receiver in the last photo.

 

Also, the pitting shown in photos of the receiver side to the rear of the 'THOMPSON' stamping and in front of the rear sight look like weld porosity.

 

The area where the near the Blisch lock slot is located and in front of the rear sight are two of those typically cut during the dewatting process.

 

If the attached photo shows the part you are missing it is called a Breech Oiler. Both used originals and new-made reproductions are available.

 

Paul

 

Edited March 29, 2015 by pjr2412

[mnshooter]

Congrats Dolphinvet! As you know I'm a novice at this but for the price and modifications, I think you will have a nice shooter. Who will be doing your machine work and how does that work with leaving the receiver with the person? Do you have to be there when he does the work?

 

Any licensed gunsmith can do the work.

You can ship the gun to them.

You do not have to be there.

They can ship it back to you.

Edited March 29, 2015 by mnshooter

[Dolphinvet]

I am going to call Omega Weapons tomorrow and order a new bolt, knurled actuator, and bolt oiler. I have a very nice '28 lower that was from one of the guns sent to the USSR back during WWII and appears to have never been used. It's blued and will fit nicely on this gun. The parkerized lower that came with it is equally pitted, and icky. I'm not going to use the one it came with. The stock is ok though, although a bit stained. Well it's a project gun and if I can make it as nice as my M1 Tommy came out, I will be happy. I have a local Class 3 repair guy that does work that's incredible. I figure a few grand thrown in, and I'll have a very pretty shooter.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Jim B (Dolphinvet)

[Dolphinvet]

I've seen them labeled both breech oilers and bolt oilers. Anyway there isn't one inside this gun, so I'm going to order one. Omega has them for only 25 dollars. My Colt Tommy will remain in the safe. I have my M1 to shoot and it's very pretty. Richard Hoffman in Longwood Fl does my Class 3 repair work. He does amazing work. He will be gone to the creek so I won't be able to take my gun to him until after that event.

[Dolphinvet]

Dolphinvet, my impression is that your receiver looks it was a dewat that has been welded back together. The discoloration in the Parkerizing in the photos is an indication of that in addition to appearance of the bottom of the slot for the Blish lock and the front of the receiver in the last photo.

 

Also, the pitting shown in photos of the receiver side to the rear of the 'THOMPSON' stamping and in front of the rear sight look like weld porosity.

 

The area where the near the Blisch lock slot is located and in front of the rear sight are two of those typically cut during the dewatting process.

 

If the attached photo shows the part you are missing it is called a Breech Oiler. Both used originals and new-made reproductions are available.

 

Paul

 

Breech Oiler.JPG

The only place I'm sure were welded is just where the Blish lock is present on the right side of the receiver, and on the receiver nose both left and right sides. I can find no weld marks anywhere else, even when I wear head loops and look all around on it. Internally you can still see the original machine marks in the receiver, and they are not broken up by a weld line anywhere so that pitting is just from rust. I have to wonder if the thing was found buried somewhere and registered, and repaired crudely. If it's a DEWAT, then it was done some time ago since it transferred on my C&R.

[OCM]

Jim ( Doc)

Nice project, fun restoration ! I think you are way on the right track on this one. Bought it right too. If a local guy is doing the work you can always sneak down and take a peek at the project.

 

Nice going

 

OCM

[LSU Tiger]

It's definitely a diamond in the rough. But, so was this Spitfire... http://markonepartners.co.uk/

[laurencen]

years ago I had a Blanchard surface grinder, it would do a nice job of the receiver, had it for years and this would be the only job it could do well, it was too big for anything else, guess you will weld one side, grind it and weld the other side then grind it

 

lots of work first time I have seen a parkerized bolt and actuator

[Paladin601]

This will be a good candidate for the forum to see the progress on how it is brought back. I am curious on how the locks are addressed. Real nice Project DV

[OCM]

Yes, yes, agree with Paladin, this would be a great forum project to watch- We can all learn.

[MARK2112]

I agree with a blanchard grinder to remove most of the surface pitting.and if not that id use a thin coat of duracoats filler and go with a blued color.you only need to remove . 010" from the sides and top and re engrave the markings.life is too short to shoot an ugly gun.

[buzz]

Why did the transfer take so long?

 

Just curious

Edited March 29, 2015 by buzz

[Dolphinvet]

The guy who does the rebuilds local is Richard Hoffman. This is his website. http://www.bwefirearms.com/index.html

 

I'll take pictures of the gun as it sits whole, already have a bunch and posted maybe a third on top here. I will take more as the project goes on. I will ask if he has a blanchard grinder. He works out of his garage presently, and has a tremendous amount of equipment in there (big garage). He also shoots at the local match that I sometimes attend.

 

As far as why it took so long to transfer, part of it was that I used a paper form 4, part was that the widow of the owner inherited the gun then had to submit a form 5 after they looked at my paperwork...there was another month and a half delay. Then they had to determine it was ok to be a C&R weapon. Yeah, it took forever. Oh well at least I have it now. Time for the rebuild. I'll get it redone with a nice dark blue finish. Pictures will be posted as the project starts and goes forward. Stay tuned.

 

Also, the lady who sold it to me shipped a Crosby XXX third version magazine with the gun. Are they worth more than the average Seymour mag?

Edited March 29, 2015 by Dolphinvet

[laurencen]

Dolphinvet, a Blanchard would take up a garage, in the 70s we used them to finish large castings, the head was I recall 12 stones bolted onto the head, it spun vertical to the table, in its hayday you could likely put 60 or more receivers on the table at a time and that's why you get the ring finish. there are likely a few around but a good machinist could make a similar setup on a Bridgeport mill and it would look the same.

 

looking forward to the restoration process

[Dolphinvet]

Damn, big machine then...

What do I know about these things. I'm a doctor, not a machinist. (Ok, Star Trek reference off)

[Paladin601]

Doesn't Reconbob Blanchard grind his receivers,not saying send it tohim, just commenting

[reconbob]

This receiver is in pretty bad shape. The welds right thru the angle cuts for the bronze lock

and right thru the barrel threads will be very difficult to fix. The only way to do it properly would be to

completely machine away all of the pitted welds, then weld to build up the lost areas, then machine

the welds. This would mean building up weld of perhaps 1/2" or more and you have to reconstruct

the entire corner of the receiver, and also the front of the receiver. Remachining the angle cuts and

the inside and outside of the receiver... rethreading the thread for the barrel. Since the

receiver is already threaded you'd have to somehow time the new thread with the existing thread.

Or just weld the front into a giant blob and start all over with the thread.

I would guess also - I see one or two of these a year - that the receiver is bent because the

weld shrinks one side of the receiver. Building up large areas of weld will also warp the receiver.

If there really is someone who can do this he is without question a master. It would be great to

see photos of the progress of the restoration.

When people send me this type of gun they hope that I will... "wink"... completely restore

their receiver and... "wink"....completey re-engrave and resurface. What they want is for me to

put their engraving on one of my new receivers, make the old junky one disappear, and the new

receiver becomes a "restored" receiver. Of course, I cannot and will not do this.

But be careful. It would be easier and cheaper, and you'd end up with a better receiver for

somebody to make a new one and present it to you as "restored". I sell a brand new 4140 steel

Blanchard ground, engraved, 100% receiver for $950. Restoring this receiver by welding and machining

will cost at least double that.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

Bob

Edited March 30, 2015 by reconbob

[buzz]

So this receiver is a re-weld?

 

Or a re-watt?

 

It's welded across the slots like a lot of re-welds. It sure has a lot of weld metal on it for a re-watt.

 

Could the front end of the receiver be cut off and a front end of one of reconbob's receivers be welded on legally?

 

I would think that if you could weld on a new portion that had the slots and threads intact, that would be a lot better than trying to build up the existing slots

 

What part of the receiver is the actual receiver per ATF?

Edited March 30, 2015 by buzz

[buzz]

I saw in another thread that Phil K had put a silver-soldered sleeve of some kind into a west hurley.

 

That might not be a bad option for this gun.

 

I would not give this work to anyone unless he has performed similar surgery on Thompsons.

 

You need a sober assessment of the condition of the receiver and what can be done with it.

[laurencen]

I know one can not exchange receivers but in this case can the front of the old receiver be cut off before the serial numbers and welded to a brand new machined receiver front end?, it would be way less work than building up the old one then machining it and you have a clean weld to finish off instead of cutting old weld and filling it.

[Paladin601]

Buzz after it is fixed it will be a "re-weld" , now it is just a "welded" receiver. Also, I was thinking the same , graft a new section onto it, but that can be dicey, from unequal heating.

 

I have heard of a process called "Metal Spray" that builds up metal in cases such as this, then machined back to specs. But cannot find the process on the 'net. Might be to expensive.

 

I to would love to see a progress report with pic's on this.

[laurencen]

Paladin601, I have done metal spray on shafts, we usually heat the shaft in a lathe and then spray the metal while the shaft is spinning, not sure how you would spray a flat surface, unfortunately the gun and supplies I sold several years ago, only ever built up bearing surfaces