from recguns.com
20. Thompson/Center Submachine Gun
by Mike Briski
The Thompson/Center submachine gun was the brainchild of John Thompson and Warren Center, two avid silhouette shooters and military firearm
designers.
The T/CSMG is a small drum-fed machinegun with interchangeable barrels available in calibers ranging from 0.17 Remington to 45-70 Government, as
well as 0.410 shotgun. Both pistol and carbine versions are available, as well as the "Carbine Conversion Kit" which allows the pistol to be converted into
a carbine.
Thompson and Center developed the gun in the 1920's as a military weapon, but it gained fame (or notoriety) because of its popularity with bootleggers.
The advantages of a gun which could fire .45 ACP ammunition during a raid on a speakeasy, and then be used as a .223 on varmints, made it a favorite in
the Chicago environs, where gangsters, federal agents and woodchucks were all abundant. Police forces and the "Feds" soon demanded that they be
similarly armed.
Gangsters used the .22 barrels for quiet basement practice and police forces, always short of funds, used then-economical .22 shorts to keep their training
budgets low. Everyone seemed to love the .45 Long Colt barrels, which also chambered and fired 0.410 shotgun shells. A fifty-round drum loaded with
alternating .45 hollowpoints and 0.410 00 buckshot loads was a popular self defense load, and was known as the "wall of lead".
Many collectors tried to own one of every available barrel, and several companies offered barrels which were not available from T/C. The 45-70
Government cartridge, which was almost extinct, recieved a new lease on life when barrels for the T/CSMG became available.
The T/CSMG spawned a host of wildcat loadings, as enthusiasts sought to optimize the performance of this strong and versatile gun. The 6mm TCU was
developed for the "St. Valentine's Day" silhouette competition, which featured teams of five spraying gangster silhouetes at various ranges.
The outbreak of WWII brought the first widespread military use of the T/CSMG. It proved far more popular with the troops than the comparably sized
M1 carbine, as a soldier with a Thompson could fire either .45 ACP or M1 Carbine ammunition in his beloved "Tommy Gun". Though the military
discouraged the practice, many rural fathers mailed their sons 30-30 barrels and boxes of Winchester softpoints, which made the Thompson into a handy
brush gun. A letter, written shortly after the Normandy invasion, says "Pa, thanks for the bullits (sic). I got three Germans and a nice four-pointer
yesterday. Say hi to Ma." Experiments with 8mm Mauser barrels, intended to allow the use of captured ammunition, were failures, as even the strong T/C
actions could not hold up under the high pressures they produced. 9mm Luger barrels were issued, however, and allowed scavenged German ammunition
to be put to good use.
The T/CSMG saw limited action in Korea and Viet Nam, though it was no longer a standard issue weapon, and is still popular with collectors today.
Semi- automatic versions, which are legal for civilian use, are still available, and there is a very active T/CSMG collectors asssociation.