Semi auto Thompsons, interesting.

Full-auto weapons are not illegal in the USA. You basically have to get a chief LEO, Judge, or similar to sign off on an application form, tell the BATFE the right things, give them fingerprints (your own, one assumes) more forms, give them your money, get the tax stamp, sell your children to get the dough, and buy it (as long as it was previously registered)

That said, The firearms made now by Auto-Ordnance are not the same 'poor' quality they were years ago. I'd buy a semi-auto Tommy. It's a novelty pistol-caliber semi auto carbine...but I'd still buy one. Somebody give me the money and I'll prove it
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It's just BS paper work, a $400 tax stamp and $$$$$ in ammo costs.

The Auto-Ordnance Thompson seems to have better reports than the Khar made ones.

I agree the barrel is much to long and this makes it feel unbalanced. Most problems with drums are with the cheap ones. My Hurly 50rd drum works good, as do the 30rd GI sticks. I need to get off my lazy butt and send the paper work in to SBR mine. They have a very high "fun factor". If you have several hundred extra rounds of hard ball it makes a fun afternoon.

tomgun.jpg.jpg
 
Hmm, now I'm a bit confused. So are the semi auto Thompson "replicas" worth the price tag? It's a lot of money they're asking for essentially a gun that's cosmetically similar to the Thompson. If my financial situation permitted, I'd certainly consider picking one up if it can justify the price tag in the quality of the gun.
 
I have the M1 semiauto model. Yes, you're supposed to use ball only--but mine runs flawlessly with any and everything you can stuff in it. I have fired ball, JHP, and my cast lead bullets as well.

There are two things I did with it, though...

a. I installed an adjustable rear sight, to deal with different bullets and loads.
b. I also installed an extended cocking handle--the small one was a pain to deal with.

I REALLY like my Thompson!
 
Its a mixed bag. I just dont see the point, considering either you have no shoulder stock and standard barrel, or 16" and stock. On the other hand, as seen here some people see a point to it, for the money they want I personally see no point. If it was a semi auto only, open bolt thompson that was 90% the same I'd say yes. My opinion? Go put the cash you have and put it towards a Thompson, I've seen 17k on some shooter ones, so about 17 times what they want :).
 
True, I'll probably be waiting to buy a real one for many years, but it would be real nice to have the real deal. You do lose that sense of history from a reproduction model of a historical weapon.

I don't think I'll ever have the disposable income to do just that, but if by chance I do get that lucky, I'll definitely look into it :P.
 
semi thompson

Owned a West hurley M-1. It did not like hollow points. Other than that it ran fine. Pretty accurate considering the 400 pound trigger. Original production Thompsons did have an open bolt semi only. Its very rare. But get the ATF to aprove any open bolt gun, semi or not, ain't gonna happen.
There is a Thompson forum on the net. Lots of info there including serial numbers of the West Hurley guns.
 
I have one of the Kahr built M1 SBR's. Runs like a top with 230gr. ball ammo. Only complaint, after about 200 rounds 3 of the rear sight screws backed out and I almost lost the entire sight! A touch of loctite and they've never moved since. The few times I've taken it to a public range the SBR gets a lot of looks.
 
I have one. It is fun to shoot. Factory reccomends ball ammo only. I have both 30 rnd stick mags and a 50 rnd drum; there is a reason the military used only stick mags. I have yet to get the drum to cycle a full 50 rounds, no problems with the stick mags. Hope this helps.

GeorgeStrickland
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My father (deceased) used the Thompson with the army in the Pacific theater in WWII. I've had pics of him with it and a drum magazine. The military did use them. He said on a banzai charge it would knock the enemy right off their feet backwards. He later carried a small M1 carbine as the Thompson was heavy.
 
I owned an earlier West Hurley Auto-Ordnance. It was ok, accurate and fed reliably, but the handgrips and stock were poorly finished. The grips, in fact, looked more or less like blocks of 2x4 cut with a bandsaw. Since Kahr bought them out, they have invested a lot in tooling and from what I've seen the newer Auto Ordnance Thompsons now have the better, smoother grips and a finer finish.

To clarify one point above, Auto Ordnance was formed by Col. John T. Thompson and backer Theodore Eickhoff prior to WWI, and was bought prior to WWII by Russsel Maguire. At one point after WWII, the company ceased to exist for awhile except on paper. In the 1980's Numrich Arms of West Hurley, NY, acquired the rights and began producing Thompson's once again. And of course, Kahr Arms bought Auto-Ordnance not terribly long ago (ten years?) and has further refined them. So, in all cases, there has been only one Thompson produced by the Auto-Ordnance Company. As others have said, there are a number of "copies" such as the Commando model and a few others, which are just similar-appearing.

And it is correct, the semi-auto versions have been completely redesigned to comply with BATFE requirements having a closed bolt. They look identical, but have no transferable parts in common with the SMG. It IS possible to buy the short barrel rifle version, as a civilian, which looks identical to the SMG's of the old days in terms of barrel length. If I can afford to, getting the military M1 version of that gun is on my short list.
 
I HAD an early-90's pre-Kahr West Hurley Auto-Ordnance 1927A1 Deluxe "lightweight". Sold it and never looked back.

Stick mags were fine, drum was a cumbersome PITA. You only have to struggle with a drum-jam in a closed-bolt semi TSMG once to understand...

It was a ton of fun - literally - for being a simple .45 carbine. You pay a premo for kewlness to both buy and shoot.

It had it's share of problems and despite it's vintage, Kahr did me right on repairs when they could have just told me to scram.
I have handled the new Kahr-made guns and they have clearly made a big investment in trying to fix the pig-in-the-poke they got with the West Hurley Auto-Ordnance acquisition. I'd get another Kahr-made "TSMG" in a NY minute if they were about $600.00 vs $1200.00.
 
nfafan, agreed. Price is just too high for me to consider. I was at the Greensboro Gun Show in NC on Saturday and I was surprised I didn't see a single Thompson anywhere on the floor. Not even a demilled old war trophy, and usually you get several guys selling a few original parts guns. And no modern semi's either. I think Kahr would do well to come down on the price a bit. I do believe that the Thompson remains a decent self-defense weapon, as a .45 is one heck of a stopping round, and much less over-penetration danger. I'm going to start saving for a 1911 now, but the next gun will be a Thompson, if I can find one, in M1 military configuration.
 
I got one on lay away now have it paid off in a month is it like the originals no it is what it is. I would much rather preferred to have mine like the old militarys but financial restraints prevented me from getting one (I can get the first 1000 its the next 15,000 to 20,000 that's the kicker. :D ) I had to make a compromise the parkerizing verse Bluing, top actuator verse the side cutts comp vs none at all. It is what it is, its not a open bolt due to BATF restrictions sometimes we take what we can get.

I talked with Auto Ordnance about making one that was parkerized verse the bluing on the M1 repro types and they told me it wasnt possible. Why they made the M1 not being parkerizing is beyond me. I was looking to try and get it as close to original as I could but I had no luck with them from that part. It wasnt as though I didnt go with out trying, it was they refused to compromise. It is what it is.
http://www.auto-ordnance.com/imgs/mdtl_t1c.jpg
 
Thompson.jpg
Had one worst piece of crap I ever owned,broke three firing pins at $20 each, before having my smith make a properly heat treated one.Had to shorten the dual recoil springs 1/2" in order not to have a gorilla on standby to cock the bastard.Sold it at a gunshow for $650, took a $150 loss :(
 
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