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The Elusive Russian Thompson Screwdriver


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Recently there was a discussion here about Russian Thompson screwdrivers which are in fact Mosin screwdrivers, this link is to a discussion on a Ukranian forum from 2018 on the very same topic.  Link can be translated with Chrome, contains a number of very interesting photos from a Russian Thompson manual.

https://reibert.info/threads/otvertki.1051699/?fbclid=IwAR2L5cW55TWc5tAZTwTyW4TtRRqcAlKGy_FyYxUf7Khzf03mvDGFDu5J-ts#post-11550998

Link was provided by forum member swat12.

 

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RoscoeTanner - Excellent thread. Thank you for sharing.

swat12 - Thank you for the translation. I thought that may be the serial number. 527949 would most likely be S-527949, a very high numbered Savage Arms Thompson gun. 

632329 CROP LT.jpg

I used several pictures in my Amateur's Guide book from the 1942 Russian manual shown at the bottom of the web site. This is the 4 cell pouch I would like to have for my collection. Has anyone ever seen one of these?

 

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yes, most likely the letter "s" is missing there. To be honest, I don't speak English well. Google translator did not translate correctly. this should be understood as an identity card of a Red Army soldier. As for the pouch from Thompson's Russian manual, I've never seen it. Magazines for 20, 30 and 50 rounds were supplied to the USSR. But I saw pouches only 5x20 for M3. as far as I understand, the Russian instruction was made by translating and compiling two American instructions, and the photos were simply copied without taking into account the real set of supplies.

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5 minutes ago, swat12 said:

yes, most likely the letter "s" is missing there. To be honest, I don't speak English well. Google translator did not translate correctly. this should be understood as an identity card of a Red Army soldier. As for the pouch from Thompson's Russian manual, I've never seen it. Magazines for 20, 30 and 50 rounds were supplied to the USSR. But I saw pouches only 5x20 for M3. as far as I understand, the Russian instruction was made by translating and compiling two American instructions, and the photos were simply copied without taking into account the real set of supplies.


Thanks for sharing that.  Soviet use of the Thompson is something that deserves more research for sure.

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  • 3 months later...

Russian screw drivers?
APEX Gun parts has received the ones shown with Mosin material and also Mauser material that originated in the former USSR.
The Communist's were not fancy, lots of weapon tools, slings and pouches were used interchangeably across firearms types.
The Communist Russians loved their "Gangster Guns" and asked the USA for as many as they could provide.

No need to buy tools out of Europe!

Mosin Nagant Takedown Tool

Mosin Nagant Cleaning Kit Tool

Russian Mauser Grease Bottle

Same outfit that brought many Thompson kits out of Russia also imported these pouches and Thompson crates.

Thompson SMG 5 (20rd) Magazine Divided Pouch, Canvas

Thompson 1928A1 Wood Storage Crate, T1, OD Green

Richard

 

Edited by APEXgunparts
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2 hours ago, APEXgunparts said:

Russian screw drivers?
APEX Gun parts has received the ones shown with Mosin material and also Mauser material that originated in the former USSR.
The Communist's were not fancy, lots of weapon tools, slings and pouches were used interchangeably across firearms types.
The Communist Russians loved their "Gangster Guns" and asked the USA for as many as they could provide.

No need to buy tools out of Europe!

Mosin Nagant Takedown Tool

Mosin Nagant Cleaning Kit Tool

Russian Mauser Grease Bottle

Same outfit that brought many Thompson kits out of Russia also imported these pouches and Thompson crates.

Thompson SMG 5 (20rd) Magazine Divided Pouch, Canvas

Thompson 1928A1 Wood Storage Crate, T1, OD Green

Richard

 

I have two of those Thompson wooden storage crates at home, obtained them from an arms dealer in the UK who imported a lot of Thompsons from the Ukraine back in the early 2000's. Also have some AK and RPK wooden crates which he received from Bosnia back in the mid 2000's, containing a large stock of kit in them. They are great for storing kit, and the dealer was just burning them, as they took up  too much storage, so he was happy to let me have some.

 

 

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On 2/15/2023 at 1:17 PM, APEXgunparts said:

Russian screw drivers?
APEX Gun parts has received the ones shown with Mosin material and also Mauser material that originated in the former USSR.
The Communist's were not fancy, lots of weapon tools, slings and pouches were used interchangeably across firearms types.
The Communist Russians loved their "Gangster Guns" and asked the USA for as many as they could provide.

No need to buy tools out of Europe!

Mosin Nagant Takedown Tool

Mosin Nagant Cleaning Kit Tool

Russian Mauser Grease Bottle

Same outfit that brought many Thompson kits out of Russia also imported these pouches and Thompson crates.

Thompson SMG 5 (20rd) Magazine Divided Pouch, Canvas

Thompson 1928A1 Wood Storage Crate, T1, OD Green

Richard

 

Man, you are on it! Wow, great research and links.

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21 hours ago, skoda said:

Just imagine the photos of the current war in Ukraine if they had kept and used those Thompsons. We've seen the Mosins in use there but a Thompson would be interesting.

The Yugoslavians had MP40's and Thompson's in use at the start of the Balkans conflict.
Somewhere I read the make-up of the squads that patrolled the border, and each one had a Thompson gunner.
The US provide arms to Tito up until the late 1950's, Browning's, Thompsons, etc..

Richard

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15 hours ago, APEXgunparts said:

The Yugoslavians had MP40's and Thompson's in use at the start of the Balkans conflict.
Somewhere I read the make-up of the squads that patrolled the border, and each one had a Thompson gunner.
The US provide arms to Tito up until the late 1950's, Browning's, Thompsons, etc..

Richard

M1 / M1A1 Thompsons in Yugoslavia, from the 1950's, could be border guards?

Yugo Border Guard 1950's.jpg

YUgo Borderguards 1950's.jpg

Yugoslavian Soldier 1950's Trg.jpg

Yugoslavian Soldier 1950's with dog.jpg

Yugoslavian Soldier 1950's.jpg

and from the Balkan wars in the 1990's

Croat with M1.jpg

Evstafiev-bosnia-sarajevo-serbs-toast.jpg

Marko Perkovic Croat.jpg

Serb Militia Croatia.jpg

Srb Militia Dubrovonik.jpg

Have a good weekend

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Here is also a photo I took of an M1A1 in the Spanish Foreign Legion (Legión Española) Museum in Ceuta.

Legion Museo Ceuta Balkans capture.jpg

This M1A1 was recovered by the Legión Española while on service in the Balkans, as was the Romanian AKS, (PM Model 65), below the M1A1, which funny enough has the wrong kind of front vertical pistol grip. The PM Model 65's are usually fitted with a vertical grip that is angled slightly towards the rear, which enables the oval-shaped cut out portion of the buttplate to fold up over the pistol grip, as shown in the example below from my collection.

 AO5567 RS.JPG

Edited by rpbcps
Typo... yet again
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