"The Last Colt Model 1921 Thompson Submachine Gun to Leave the Colt Factory" RIA Auction

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

Estimate $55K -$85K

May 9, 2026

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/1302/colt-1921-thompson-class-iiinfa-cr-machine-gun

 

GH Serial Numbers 1995:

#11943 1921A (but auction shows Cutts Compensator)

Knight Industries  Vero Beach, Florida

"Receiver cane from Colt Factory collection without lower frame and rear sight.

Appears to be in new and unused condition."

[mnshooter]

Very interesting, "AF".  Thanks for posting.

I wish the auction post had mentioned the lower serial #.

TATA members will absolutely recognize another name on page 980.

Edited April 26 by mnshooter

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

Even though RIA didn't include a pic of the frame # they did bury the # at the bottom of the description:

"trigger housing is numbered "4959" on the stock rail, with knurled controls; per page 510 of Herigstad's listing, this number tracks to a 1921AC that was part of the first U.S.M.C. contract in 1926, which in turn would pass through China, Nicaragua, Paris Island, San Diego, and Quantico." 

I guess this 1990  find of stripped receiver #11943 inside a small room at Colt's Patent Firearms was  a Colt  employee's failed attempt to smuggle out a "lunch box special."  It is odd AOC (who at the time had been granted a facility on the Colt premises)  paid for 15,000 Colt 1921 TSMGs,  yet tnever noticed or inquired about missing #11943. Or maybe they did which stymied the employee's plans to remove the receiver from it's hiding place.

[Bridgeport28A1]

1 hour ago, mnshooter said:

Very interesting, "AF".  Thanks for posting.

I wish the auction post had mentioned the lower serial #.

TATA members will absolutely recognize another name on page 980.

I saw that name as well.

Tracie told the story of Reed Knight Jr. and his Colt factory visit at TATA one year when he passed trigger frame #41 around with the attendees. There was trade offer from Reed Knight Jr. regarding trigger frame #41.

[rpbcps]

5 hours ago, mnshooter said:

Very interesting, "AF".  Thanks for posting.

I wish the auction post had mentioned the lower serial #.

TATA members will absolutely recognize another name on page 980.

Belay last pipe... Arthur answered it already...

Edited April 26 by rpbcps
Answer already given

[Cincylance]

Interesting story behind this.

That pistol grip doesn’t have the front profile of a Colt. It looks like the later World War II style.

I’ve always been told to buy the gun, not the story but very interesting province linking Colt to Knight so in this instance, I see someone buying this gun because of that connection and not because of the correctness of the gun.

Edited April 26 by Cincylance

[TSMGguy]

 

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

Too bad Knight doesn't show photos of the stripped (no internals, no frame, no barrel/ring sight,   no Lyman Sight,  no wood furniture,  yet serial numbered,  completely stamped wih Colt, AOC,  and Patent information- blued receiver) as he found it in Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing .

What does require some further explanation are the 12 patent dates on a Colt receiver under serial number 14,000.

Every example of Colt Thompsons in this #11943 range have the usual 9 dates ending with  December 28, 1920. 

 

[Arthur Fliegenheimer]

This is from RECOIL online magazine interview with C. Reed Knight, II. 

Perhaps SOT board members could provide the method used to get BATFE to add to the registry this particular Colt TSMG #11943 (currently on a Form 3) that was never registered prior to the 1968 Amnesty period. Knight makes a point in the interview about selecting pre-ban 1986 machine guns from the Colt storage room. 

 

Quote

I went up there,  [to Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company] and they had these old shopping carts like you see at Publix with the wheels all messed up. So here we are, wheeling these shopping carts on the wooden floors all through the Colt factory, loading old machine guns into the carts — 300 of them. Every kind, every manufacturer … an original 1919 Thompson, FG42s, MG42s … everything in the world that you could ever imagine. They had a room with the stuff just piled in it.

Here I am, and they agree to it; we get the paperwork going, and Stoner [Eugene Morrison Stoner/ArmaLite AR-15]  gets there and says, “Let me tell you something, if you think I’m going to take those damn guns, you’re out of your mind. You’re going to have to take those guns.”

“No problem,” I said.

His deal with me was — he didn’t want any money, he just wanted me to pay for the jet fuel, and pay for his plane and the stuff he played with. Because I could expense it and he couldn’t. So, I was using the jet; he had three jets and five helicopters … all this stuff that I was busy managing for him. And that was what I brought to the table.

So little does he know that those guns ended up being worth 10 times what we ever got paid for the deal ….  Figure, 300 machine guns. This is after 1986, but I knew enough to pick the pre-ban guns … So I gave $200 a piece for M16s, and today they’re worth, what, $25,000 each? Right time, right place.

 

[TD.]

Arthur,

The first thing that jumped out at me when I saw NO 11943 was the 1922 patent dates on the right-side receiver. The 1922 patent dates are reported to be found on Colt's from serial numbers 14,500 to 15,040. I have found one exception to this rule, NO 14488, pictured in my Amateur's Guide book in Chapter 14, pages 92 - 95. Of course, many of the earliest NAC Thompson submachine gun were manufactured by Numrich Arms with Colt receivers with 1922 patent dates - see Chapter 7 in, A Thompson Compendium. 

There is little doubt this NO 11943 was manufactured or at least roll marked at the end of the Colt production run in 1922. I doubt we will ever know the why. It is certainly an interesting piece of history, but buyers need to judge the product, not the story. But having Reed Knight in the story is always a good thing!

NO 11943 was assembled from a parts kit that was offered for sale at an Ohio Gun Collectors Association (OGCA) Show in March 2021 for 16K. It was later advertised on gunboker.com in May 2021 with a "Buy it Now" price of 15.5K; it sold for $11,925 plus whatever fees were associated with the sale. Several members of the Thompson community and I inspected the parts kit while it was at OGCA. It was an obvious re-blued kit, verified by the person at the seller's table on Sunday. 

The grip currently on NO 11943 is not the same as was advertised with the parts kit (good eye Cincylance). Of note, the barrel appears to have 30 fins. I believe the barrel is the same as in the parts kit, but the compensator is now not affixed properly (loose as per the auction description). One look and it is obvious something is wrong with how the compensator is affixed to the barrel. 

The receiver of NO 11943 shows some wear. It is in nice condition but not new. 

What you are looking at is a shooter grade incomplete Colt with a mis-matched early Colt frame. The story is nice but judge the gun. If I was interested, I would definitely go see it in person to find out what else is missing or not correct, i.e., Savage marked Blish lock. 

Attached is a picture of the frame serial number. 

 

[jpw43]

According to the guy in the video this Thompson has a fluted barrel!

Must be one of a kind.

[TD.]

Colt Thompson submachine gun NO 11943, a 1921AC with a mismatched frame (NO 4959), hammered at $100,000 plus 17.5% Buyers Premium at Rock Island Auction on May 9, 2026.

Simply amazing! 

[mnshooter]

Yowie!

Have to wonder if the buyer is someone we know.