45 Cal. Full Auto WH 207TF

[Normal1959]

This shows listed as a 22 but is not added to the converted list?

I did add or upgrade to all GI parts. Runs great.

I am a little confused.

Eric

[TD.]

Normal1959,

Do not be surprised at the inaccuracy of the West Hurley serial number data. Nothing that came out of Auto-Ordnance Corporation (AOC), West Hurley (WH), New York was perfect!

 

Obviously, No. 207TF was one of the serial numbers that ATF allowed AOC WH to manufacture in .45ACP instead of .22 rimfire. Upgrading to all GI parts is a smart move, especially the buffer pilot. It does appear No. 207TF has a two-piece riveted grip mount. I suggest looking for a one piece milled grip mount as these later manufactured GI grip mounts can break. The milled grip mounts are getting hard to find. I would also strongly urge you to replace the old red buffer disc with one of the new polymer discs manufactured by Board member PK. The cost is about 10 bucks. It may just save the back of your receiver from cracking.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Normal1959]

Thanks very much for the info. I assume it was probably made in 1981 and the gun does look new.

Best way to order this?................... new polymer discs manufactured by Board member PK

Gracias

Eric

 

Is this grip the correct one? (milled)

Edited November 20, 2016 by Normal1959

[mnshooter]

Edit: I responded while thinking the above poster was referring to the wood foregrip. He apparently was asking only about the grip mount. I may have confused things by talking about the wood grip.

 

If you mean (the wood foregrip) is correct in being original with the gun -probably.
In every other way, it's not.
The flat sided, wildly off dimension, gloss finished, 3/4" horizontally slotted example is typical of WH wood.

The grip mount is a 3/4" WH; it may already be pulling apart, judging from the gap at the rear, or that may just be WH tolerances. The WH grip mounts can be steel or aluminum, one or two piece (not counting the separate round pin at the front).
You don't show a photo of the rear wood grip; it probably resembles the front, but could be a GI grip.
As TD stated, you will be better off to get a GI 1/2" front grip mount installed; the barrel has to be removed to do this.
Then, you'll need a front (wood)grip with the correct 1/2" slot. Originals of both pieces can be found, for a price.
Reconbob is making his excellent reproduction grip mounts; contact him directly for information.
Someone advertises reproduction mounts for under $75.00 online, but I don't know who made them.
Dan "Deerslayer" Block can make new reproduction wood.
Either one can do the grip mount installation, and other Thompson work.

You might also have the WH reproduction rear sight. It usually has an aluminium base and a more basic slide assembly. Original Lyman adjustable rear sights are also out there, but also getting scarce.
You could also have this changed out when doing the other work. Rear sight riveting is most often not a home gunsmithing project.
If you don't know what an original rear sight looks like, you could post a photo of yours.

Edited November 21, 2016 by mnshooter

[Normal1959]

I looked every which way and these have to be one piece.

I was wrong once.

Eric

[Normal1959]

Top and bottom of sight.

Thanks

Eric

 

 

In case anybody likes to track values. I probably overpaid but gave $45,000 for a mint HK53 and this WH. It looks new and shoots perfect. This was over a year ago. I bought them at a local range. Forgot to mention 4 position, registered receiver and collapsible stock.

Eric

Edited November 20, 2016 by Normal1959

[TD.]

It appears a prior owner has already installed a Lyman rear sight. The brass screws are interesting but I assume it works. If the guns shoots well enough to satisfy you then there is nothing you need to do immediately other than upgrade the buffer disc. Almost all West Hurley's are out of spec. If you have not done so, research the board for the work Board Member PK. does when he re-manufactures a West Hurley Thompson. PK. is the best Thompsonsmith, bar none. His posts contain a lot of information relative to your Thompson. Learn about his queue, something you may want to consider joining. I believe his contact info is in the FAQ section, above.

 

I know you mentioned you have changed out all parts with GI parts. Make sure the buffer pilot is marked with an "S" or "AOC" marking. If not, let us know.

 

If not already a member, consider joining The American Thompson Association (TATA) and/or the Thompson Collectors Association (TCA). Attending one show and shoot will provide you a wealth of information on the Thompson gun. These events are usually held in Ohio between July and September.

[mnshooter]

Top and bottom of sight.

Thanks

Eric

 

 

In case anybody likes to track values. I probably overpaid but gave $45,000 for a mint HK53 and this WH. It looks new and shoots perfect. This was over a year ago. I bought them at a local range. Forgot to mention 4 position, registered receiver and collapsible stock.

Eric

Edit: was writing while TD was answering, so some repeat information here.

 

Your rear sight is an original Lyman, but mounted with machine screws. The majority of WH rear sights have screws or pop rivets in place of the correct original flush rivets. The original sight base may have some added counterboring on top for these screw heads.

This could be corrected to a large extent by fabricating some custom rivets and remounting the sight. I'd do it just to get rid of those slotted screw heads.

 

Also: I edited my previous answer regarding your grip and mount. I didn't mean that any wood was multi piece; only your grip mount bar.

Another thing regarding this type of mount: What appears to be a rivet at the rear is actually a stud that provides the flange retained by the barrel. This is what holds the grip mount in place.

As this stud is a separate piece, an inaccurate positioning of it's mounting hole could put the mount bar slightly forward of the correct position. This could account for the gap at the extreme rear of the grip mount bar.

If the grip mount bar is steel, it's actually pretty strong, and could probably be used as a shooter, if you want, but, you're still stuck with using an incorrect 3/4" front wood grip. It will just never look right, because it isn't.

These grip mount bars made of aluminum have much less strength; it might also work ok, unless it decides to break at just the wrong time, when you'll suddenly be holding the front grip, and watching the rest of the gun take a dive onto whatever is on the ground (concrete, asphalt, gravel, rocks, etc.).

One of the first things I did to my WHs was change all of these parts (mount bar and wood grip) to the correct items.

Edited November 21, 2016 by mnshooter

[Normal1959]

Guys. Thanks so much. I think i get it now. I will address everything i think, because i am really loving this gun. I will get some more guns and will get better guns but i don't mind paying for some mistakes since it's really all good. I still want an original 1921 and M1A1

I am up to 13 various FA's and shoot all but the M2

Eric

[giantpanda4]

Let us know when the M2 goes for sale...! LOL!

[mnshooter]

Would that be the M2 Carbine or M2 .50?

[buzz]

I don't think I would put original wood on the gun, I would find nice reproduction wood with a real nice color and grain, maybe some of the curly walnut type.

 

Otherwise you'd just spend a lot of money on expensive collector parts and you'd get no real benefit out of it.

 

Since WHs are shooters and not collector arms, if I owned one I would focus on making it look pretty and run good.

 

There are some WH parts that should be replaced with USGI parts for the sake of function, like the two-piece WH buffer pilot.

 

But if the gun is running good I wouldn't spend a lot of money replacing parts on it.

 

that's my 2 cents

Edited November 21, 2016 by buzz

[Normal1959]

Would that be the M2 Carbine or M2 .50?

I'm pretty sure the guy said M2 carbine? I bought it either way

Eric

Edited November 22, 2016 by Normal1959

[Normal1959]

I don't think I would put original wood on the gun, I would find nice reproduction wood with a real nice color and grain, maybe some of the curly walnut type.

 

Otherwise you'd just spend a lot of money on expensive collector parts and you'd get no real benefit out of it.

 

Since WHs are shooters and not collector arms, if I owned one I would focus on making it look pretty and run good.

 

There are some WH parts that should be replaced with USGI parts for the sake of function, like the two-piece WH buffer pilot.

 

But if the gun is running good I wouldn't spend a lot of money replacing parts on it.

 

that's my 2 cents

100% agreed. I have some shooters and some collectors. This gun looks like it came out of the box and runs great. I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Thanks

Eric

[buzz]

I actually came within 1 mm of buying two NIB West Hurleys when I first got bitten with the Thompson bug a few years ago.

 

I was planning on swapping everything on the guns for USGI parts and priced all the parts out prior to the sale.

 

That's why I offered the opinion, I remember that it was going to be pretty expensive.

 

There are some WH parts that the experts will tell you to replace to keep them running good so I would probably change those as a minimum.

 

Of course on the other hand, swapping the all the parts for USGI certainly wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

Apparently there are sometimes dimensional problems with the blish slots on the 28 models and the mag wells on the M1 models, which can fixed by the gunsmith Diamond K.

 

I thought the two NIB WHs I was going to buy were really nice looking guns, the bluing was perfect and they had excellent walnut stocks.

 

The reason I didn't buy them was the fact that at the time the price of NIB WHs was just a few 1000 less than USGI, so I went with USGI. Plus I got an excellent deal on two USGI guns from a local seller.

Edited November 23, 2016 by buzz

[mike in pa]

Almost all West Hurley's are out of spec. If you have not done so, research the board for the work Board Member PK. does when he re-manufactures a West Hurley Thompson. PK. is the best Thompsonsmith, bar none. His posts contain a lot of information relative to your Thompson. Learn about his queue, something you may want to consider joining. I believe his contact info is in the FAQ section, above.

 

Yep and the West Hurley fear mongering continues.

 

 

 

If its running fine, keep shooting it.

[buzz]

More like "reality mongering"