klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 This is the second thompson I own. It came with a few stick mags, a dated wartime sling, horizontal foregrip and the vertical (english?) grip as well as the drum. I am not sure in what configuration it left the factory. Anyway, from what I've read on smallarmsreview website and if I understood it correctly the lyman & finned barrel seems to be correct for the serial number as this one was made by Savage. Also note the flaming bomb on the left side of the receiver and the GEG controller stamp. From what I have read on the forum the Drum looks to be a WWII United Specialties Co., Bridgeport Address L-Drum right? The gun is fully functional and I just love looking at it with the drum & vertical grip configuration :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliaferro Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 You have a good WWII Thompson. Upper and Lower don't match but that is not unusual. What I find interesting is the ejector. I don't know if I have seen one where the detent pin side is a dimple on the back side as opposed to the rivet. Very interesting. The GEG is the cartouche for George E Goll who was the AO inspector at the Savage plant. and the RLB is the military inspectorRoy L Bowles(may not have the spelling right). Tracie Hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Thanks for the reply Mr. Hill. The serial number on the upper & lower are equal so I am not sure what you mean by don't match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliaferro Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 The trigger frame was made by AO Bridgeport and rest amped by previous owner and not factory.The receiver is made by Savage. Tracie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Thanks for the information. Curious that under the butstock AO + sn is located. On the 'inside' of the lower, we can see the last 4 digits of the SN. Just for the record, are you saying both of the numbers are not factory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliaferro Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Correct neither of those numbers is factory. Can you take a close up of the ejector on your gun. Thanks Tracie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliaferro Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 I am also guessing the barrel has been replaced. The fins don't look right even for WWII. Tracie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Here are some pic of the ejector & fins. Do you have a picture for reference in regard to correct wwii fins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcar Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 WOW! I thought the ejector was interesting too...until I saw the proofs on the barrel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 WOW! I thought the ejector was interesting too...until I saw the proofs on the barrel! The proofs are from the Belgian proofhouse. They just point out that it was imported at some point in time to belgium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMG28 Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Klocker, Welcome to the board. Nice gun. You should be proud to own both it and the M1. Great that you can still actually shoot these things in Europe, which is becoming more rare by the day. Are you in Luxembourg or Belgium? I think the collector laws are a bit different between the two countries. A number of thoughts in addition to what Tracie has already pointed out. 1. It appears that the ejector plate may be a replacement piece of metal that was attached to the threaded ejector itself. The shape looks a little irregular compared to an original. This might account for the dimple instead of rivet.2. The barrel appears to be a smooth barrel that someone cut the fins into. It may be an original USGI barrel or an aftermarket. Not only is the fin count wrong, but the closeup of the Belgian marking appears to show the the fins were machined and refinished at some time.3. The grip mount projection toward the barrel should actually be pressing against one of the fins, but there appears to be a gap between the mount and barrel. This could either be the barrel out of spec or something with the grip mount.4. The pin in the comp appears to be a replacement. It should be rounded on each end. The flattened end may be from removal and reinstallation, which would have been necessary if the barrel was removed for modification or replacement, or a different pin was used.5. As Tracie noted, the serial number on the bottom of the trigger frame is a forced match. It appears that someone ground off the original AO number and replaced it with the Savage number. However, they didn't realize that they should also replace the AO with an S for Savage as stamped on the receiver. I have seen this kind of modification on a number of Thompsons in the UK, but with the Belgian marks, this may also have been done in Belgium. The ones in the UK typically have the entire number ground off including the AO or S.6. The vertical foregrip appears to be a nicely done aftermarket with a U.S. swivel attached to the right side like was done by the British and the Commonwealth cousins. Most early swivel additions by the Brits used the Enfield swivel rather that the U.S. version, so that also suggests a later addition.7. The drum is indeed a United Specialties drum (or more specifically, United Air Cleaner Company, a division of United Specialties) which was made for Auto-Ordnance. Yours appears to be the fifth version with the outlined U on the back. The cover/front may be V5 or V4. The only real difference is the letter height of the WIND TO 9 OR 11 CLICKS. V4 is 0.180 inch high lettering, while V5 is 0.220 inch high lettering. Either would be correct, as we have seen NIB examples where the V4 and V5 components are intermixed. The drum should shoot very well if you have ever tried it. I have been fortunate enough to visit the Bulge area several times in recent years. Beautiful area, and a great place to learn a lot about the battle. Lots of great museums to visit, and nearly every town has one or more Sherman tanks on display either in the square or at an entry to the town, or both. Enjoy your toys!! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Hi Roger thank you for the reply. I do believe the Barrel was replaced at some Point indeed. Funny to hear some artist was at work here. The drum works Well indeed :-). I am at the Belgian part of the bulge so no idea how gun laws are in Luxembourg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpbcps Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) Klocker, That is a nice 1928A1, I am amazed that anywhere in the EU, following the recent new rules for deactivations, that anyone is still allowed to own full-auto weapons. Further to Tracie Hills comments on the AO lower, this link will explain the subtle differences found between the AO & Savage Thompsons. http://www.machinegu...showtopic=20691 Best regards Richard Edited October 13, 2020 by rpbcps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 (edited) Klocker,That is a nice 1928A1, I am amazed that anywhere in the EU, following the recent new rules for deactivations, that anyone is still allowed to own full-auto weapons. Further to Tracy Hills comments on the AO lower, this link will explain the subtle differences found between the AO & Savage Thompsons. http://www.machinegu...showtopic=20691 Best regards Richard Richard, Yes, over here it is possible to own full auto's. But is is difficult and expensive. Lots of regulations in regard of security to the house you live and store the guns. You need to motivate a "theme" for your collection that is limited in time. So for example wwi&wwii guns. Also, you had to be a sportshooter prior to this because you need to own 5 guns that are fitting in your theme and the only way to own this 5 guns is to be a sportshooter. It is complicated. Within the theme you are not allowed to shoot the guns. You can only testfire them when you did a repair or cleaning. I believe in the EU, Belgium, Luxemburg and Czech are still able to own these. Probably some other countries as well I am not sure. But it is very exceptional PS. The link you provided is to this topic? Edited October 13, 2020 by klocker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpbcps Posted October 13, 2020 Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 Klocker,That is very interesting, thanks for the information, it is appreciated. So as I understand it, although you have full auto Thompsons, you can not go to the range to fire them on a regular basis, "Within the theme you are not allowed to shoot the guns"? The link is to the topic of 'Identifying Savage and Auto-Ordnance Bridgeport Manufactured Thompsons', found in the pinned topic 'Machinegunboards.com TSMG Reference Thread Index'. I personally find links easier to navigate. Stay safe Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klocker Posted October 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 Richard, Yes, you are correct. You cannot go to the range and shoot them on a regular basis. + you really have to find a range that allows full auto fire. Almost impossible :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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