Talk:Thompson submachine gun

Removed for possible copyvio

The following was removed due to possible incompatibilities between the source's copyright terms and the terms of our licence (GFDL).

When John Thompson set out to build his gun, he knew that the heart of a machinegun lies in the design of it’s breech locking and feeding mechanisms. Thompson was aware of the designs used in other guns of the day, but none was appropriate for his needs.

Recoil actuated systems were popular in the heavy and medium machineguns of the era, but these used many moving parts that were heavy and prone to failure. The Recoil system uses the rearward thrust of a movable barrel to unlock the breech, eject the spent cartridge case, insert a fresh cartridge, re-lock the breech and fire the next round.

The Gas actuated system had the same drawbacks as the Recoil system. The Gas system employs a small vent hole drilled into the barrel that bleeds off some of the high pressure gasses that propel the bullet down the barrel. The vented gas pressure is routed back to the breech area where it drives a piston that performs the same unlocking, ejection, loading re-locking and firing sequence as the Recoil operated guns.

The third system, used mostly in semiautomatic handguns, employed a technique referred to as ‘Blowback’. These guns relied on the propellant gas pressure to literally ‘blow’ the bolt rearward. This action powered the sequence of ejecting and loading the next round. Guns using the Blowback process are simple because they do not have a locking breech. They depend on the forward inertia of a heavy bolt, driven by a recoil spring, to keep the breech closed at the point of peak chamber pressure. The Blowback system would seem to be the ideal choice for use in a lightweight machinegun because of it’s simplicity, lack of heavy moving parts and reliability, but in practice it’s only usable with low powered pistol ammunition. High power rifle ammunition creates much higher chamber pressure. Pressure at this level that would overcome any inertia in the bolt, blowing it back prematurely. This would cause cartridge cases to be ejected during peak pressure; exposing the operator to the hazards of ruptured brass and explosive gasses.

To build his personal machinegun Thompson had to find a way to make a simple but practical breech lock. This one technical problem had him stumped. Finally, after more than a year of research he found the answer to his problem. While searching the United States Patent Office files, he came across patent No. 1,131,319. A “Breech Closure for Firearms”. The patent was granted to a retired Navy Commander named John Bell Blish. The ‘Blish Lock’ was essentially a breech locking mechanism that could be used on a Blowback operated firearm. The lock delayed the Blowback of the bolt until the chamber pressure had diminished to an acceptable level. What this meant to Thompson was that it was now possible for him to build his gun.

Some time in 1915 Thompson contacted Blish. Blish was very excited about Thompson’s idea, and was sure his lock was suitable for the purpose. So Thompson worked out an arrangement where he could use Blish’s breech lock, in exchange for a block of stock in the Arms company that Thompson planned to start. Now, all that remained for Thompson to do was to secure the financial support needed for such a large undertaking.

Thompson found financial backing for his machinegun project from Tobacco tycoon Thomas Fortune Ryan. In 1916 Auto Ordnance Corporation was founded, with Ryan providing all of the development and operating funds. In exchange he was given a controlling interest in the company. Of the 40,000 shares of stock authorized, Ryan was given about 18,000. 1,500 shares were given to John Blish for the use of his patent, and about 10,000 were divided up among Thompson’s family; including his daughter-in-law who was the daughter of Ryan’s friend and business associate, George Harvey. Although this arrangement gave Auto Ordnance Corp. it’s start, it would later lead to the eventual near ruin of the company.

Auto Ordnance Corp. began operations in the spring of 1916 with two employees. Theodore H Eickhoff and George E. Goll. Eickhoff was Thompson’s assistant at the Army Ordnance Dept., and was given the title of Chief Engineer. Goll was an unemployed railroad fireman when Thompson hired him as his chauffeur. Recognizing his intelligence and mechanical aptitude, Thompson offered him the job as Eickhoff’s assistant. Under Thompson’s direction, it was these two men who would become the principle designers of the Tommy Gun. Later on Oscar Payne would join Auto Ordnance Corp. and be responsible for many of the design innovations that made the gun a success; including the self-oiling system and high capacity rotary drum magazine.

At the start, Auto Ordnance Corp. was pretty much a corporation in name only. They had no offices, property or machinery. So all prototypes and machine work had to be contracted out. For help, Thompson turned to his friends, W.R. Warner and Ambrose Swasey; whom Thompson had come to know from the contracts that their Cleveland, Ohio based machine tool business, the Warner & Swasey Co. had with the Army Ordnance Dept. Warner & Swasey were very interested in the project and provided Thompson with several of their best engineers and machinists. They also provided a testing room in the basement of their plant at 5809 Carneige Ave. By 1919, Auto Ordnance Corp. would occupy office space in the Meriam building on Euclid Ave., and move it’s operations to a larger machine shop at the Sabin Machine Company, also on Carneige Ave.

By late spring in 1917, work at the Cleveland plant was going full pace. But it wasn't’t long before a series of problems were discovered with the Blish Lock. First, the lock would work fine for several shots, then jam up. Then it was found that under the pressure of high powered rifle ammunition, in a short time abrasion would wear out the lock. Finally, and worst of all, cartridge cases would not extract reliably unless they were lubricated before being chambered (this was before the advent of the fluted chamber, which largely made lubrication unnecessary in a delayed-blowback firearm). This was an unacceptable requirement for a military firearm that would be expected to function under the most adverse conditions. By September 1917, tests confirmed that the only military service cartridge, currently in use, that would work reliably with the Blish Lock, was the .45 Colt Automatic Pistol Round. Eickhoff dreaded the thought of telling Thompson the bad news.

To Eickhoff’s surprise Thompson took the news very well. Eickhoff remembered Thompson saying “Very well. We shall put aside the rifle for now and instead build a little machine gun. A one-man, hand held machine gun. A trench broom!” Thompson’s comments obviously aimed at the trench warfare being waged in Europe. What Eickhoff didn't know, was that Thompson had already been thinking about the need for such a weapon. The War in Europe was stalled and causalities were mounting. 19th century tactics and 20th century weapons did not mix. The traditional cavalry charge was ineffective against the modern machinegun. But the contemporary machinegun was too large and too heavy to be used offensively. Thompson realized that firepower, and hit and run tactics were what was needed to end the War. He envisioned troops carrying compact machineguns rushing from trench to trench, sweeping the enemy with bullets, while firing at them from the hip. So, under Thompson’s direction, Eickhoff changed the project to work on a class of firearm that never before existed.

By the summer of 1918, all of the major design problems had been resolved. What was left was to address the guns durability and external features. The Annihilator I, as it was code named, was now capable of emptying a 20 rnd magazine in less than a second. Work continued until the fall of 1918, when the final prototypes were completed. Ironically, the first shipment of prototype guns destined for Europe arrived at the docks in New York city on November 11, 1918, the day the War ended. Thompson now faced a huge problem. What do you do with a trench broom, now that the trenches no longer need to be sweeped?

In 1919 Thompson gave Auto Ordnance the task of modifying their new gun for non military use. Eventually the question arose, of what to call it. Thompson wanted something different. Something that would distinguish the weapon from it’s larger bulky machinegun predecessors. They considered the terms “Autogun” and “Machine Pistol”, but finally decided on “Submachine gun” to denote a small, hand-held, fully automatic firearm chambered for pistol ammunition. So, at a meeting of the Auto Ordnance Corp. board of directors, the gun was officially classified as a Submachine gun. And, to honor the man most responsible for it’s creation, the Annihilator was officially named the “Thompson Submachine gun”.

With the War in Europe over, Auto Ordnance Corp. realized that the potential for military sales of their remarkable new gun was limited, but they continued to actively court both the Army and Navy with the hopes that the submachine gun would be accepted as standard issue. This was accomplished through various field trials and demonstrations.

The Thompson Submachine gun had it’s first public demonstration in August 1920 at the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Everyone who witnessed the gun in action was amazed at it’s compact size and massive firepower. The prototype gun shown, firing at a rate of about 1,500 rounds per minute, could empty a one-hundred round drum in four seconds. At this rate, the sound was described as being like “the loud ripping of a rag”. Everyone agreed that this was the most revolutionary small arm of its day.

Pleased with the guns reception in its public debut, Thompson approached the Colt Firearms Co. with a proposal to manufacture it under contract. Thompson hoped that the prestige of the Colt logo, and the company’s close relationship with the military, would hasten it’s acceptance into U.S. military service. However, after a thorough evaluation of the gun, Colt was so impressed that it instead offered to purchase all rights to the Thompson for an even $1,000,000. This could have earned Auto Ordnance a considerable profit, but Thomas Ryan, AO’s majority stock holder, told Thompson that “if it’s worth a million to them, it’s worth more than a million to us.” So the Colt offer was rejected, and the original contract was signed.

In addition to the Colt contract to make 15,000 basic firing mechanisms for $680,705.85, and another $9,105 for spare parts, Auto Ordnance let contracts with Remington Arms for walnut gun stocks for $65,456; and Lyman Gun Site Corp. for adjustable sites worth $69,063. With the signing of the Colt contract, Auto Ordnance shut down its Cleveland research operation and moved to a rented building on the Colt company grounds in Hartford Connecticut where it would oversee the production of the Thompson.

The first Colt guns came off the assembly line at the end of March 1921. These first guns marked "Model of 1921" were sent to Auto Ordnance salesmen, and the Army and Marines for evaluation. Auto Ordnance salesmen demonstrated the gun to the military throughout Europe. But, in-spite of the enthusiastic response it received wherever it was shown, sales were minimal. The submachine gun was simply a class of firearm that was ahead of its time. This, and the depressed economic conditions of a post War society, left very little money for governments to purchase ‘experimental’ weapons with no battle history. Even the US Army was willing to overlook the Thompson’s bargain price of $225, and pay $650 for the outdated Lewis Gun.

With military purchases almost non-existent, Auto Ordnance decided that it had to beef up submachine gun sales to State and Local Police departments. AO was quick to take advantage of the public’s concern over the new “motorized bandits” that were terrorizing small towns. These were criminals that would rob a bank and quickly leave town in their get-away cars; often exchanging gunfire with the local police who were hot on their trail. But even with sales to the PD’s of New York, Boston and San Francisco, and to the State Police in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Connecticut and Michigan, sales to law enforcement hadn't materialized in the quantities expected. By 1925 only three thousand Thompsons had been sold. To help boost sales, Auto Ordnance soon resorted to advertising the Thompson Submachine gun as the answer to every possible solution that a firearm could provide. The most notorious being one that depicted a Cowboy blazing away with his Thompson, defending his ranch from Mexican cattle rustlers and bandits.

This sort of advertising may seem incredible today, but in 1925 anyone with $225 ($2400 in 2005) could purchase a Thompson Submachine gun either by mail order, or from the local hardware or sporting goods store. And with military and police sales being flat, Auto Ordnance sold it's machineguns through every legal outlet it could. It wasn't until 1934 that machineguns, and other classes of firearms such as suppressors (silencers) and short barreled rifles and shotguns, were eventually placed under strict Federal Regulation with the passage of the National Firearms Act (NFA).

While Auto Ordnance Corp. was selling the TSMG on the open market in the 1920’s, it was uncomfortably aware of what it’s guns could do if placed in the wrong hands. It relied on its dealers to restrict sales based on an agreement that stated “Thompson Guns are for use by those on the side of law and order, and the Auto-Ordnance Corporation agents and dealers are authorized to make sales to responsible parties only.” Unfortunately not all of its dealers would abide by this agreement.

January 16, 1920 marked a turning point in American history. With the enactment of the Volstead Act, the United States government made it illegal to import, manufacture and sell alcoholic beverages. It wasn’t long before criminals realized that immense profits could be made by providing the public with the alcohol it wanted. So, like a carpenters hammer, the Thompson Submachine gun became a tool of the trade, employed by many of the bootleggers and gangsters of the 1920’s and 30’s.

To John Thompson's distress, his namesake Submachine gun turned out to be the perfect weapon for gangland murders. Being compact and easily hidden, and possessing tremendous firepower, it could easily kill one or more targets without requiring the gunman to get close enough to be exposed to return fire - which usually wasn’t a problem because anyone near the intended victim was either also killed, or diving for cover. Even heavy doors and automobile bodies could not shield a victim from a TSMG firing armor piercing ammunition. It was these fearsome qualities that inspired the nicknames bestowed on it. Chopper, Gat, Chicago Typewriter and Tommy Gun all became popular terms used by criminals and the public at large. Eventually, individuals like Al Capone, John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly became permanently associated with the gun.

Interestingly, even though Thompsons could be legally sold to anyone on the open market, in the underworld they commanded exorbitant prices ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 apiece ($10,000 to $20,000 in 2005). This phenomena was attributed to the eventual crackdown on the many dealers who were more than happy to sell machineguns to known gangsters. One dealer in Philadelphia, Edward Goldberg, would oblige his gangland customers by grinding off the serial numbers before delivery.

Ironically, it was during this same time period that the TSMG was finally adopted for service by an official military branch of government. The United States Coast Guard began issuing Thompsons to patrol boats along the eastern seaboard. The guns proved to be very effective for boarding parties inspecting watercraft suspected of rum-running. Shortly after that, another government agency purchased 250 Thompsons. The United States Post Office, responding to attacks and robberies of mail trucks, purchased the guns to be used by United States Marines assigned to guard the mail. In 1927, these same Post Office guns would be used successfully by Marines fighting in the jungles of Nicaragua; prompting the Corps to order 200 more. The popularity of the Thompson with the troops, and it’s successful role in close quarter fighting led the Marines to officially adopt the Thompson in 1930, years ahead of the Army.

In 1928, at the same time the Marines were fighting in Nicaragua, the Navy had re-evaluated the Thompson and decided to adopt it for use on Naval Gunboats. Deciding that the rate of fire was too fast, and that the Tommy Guns trademark vertical foregrip was too delicate, the Navy agreed to adopt the Thompson if these issues would be addressed. Auto Ordnance agreed, and replaced the foregrip with a horizontally mounted one. The rate of fire was reduced by replacing the Thompsons actuator with a much heavier unit. This increased the mass of the bolt, and reduced the cyclic rate down to an acceptable 600 rounds per minute. The new Navy model of the Thompson was released as the “U.S. Navy Model of 1928”. The number 8 being stamped over the number 1 on the Model 1921 guns used to build the order.

In March of 1932, after years of appeals, Auto Ordnance Corp. finally convinced the Army to adopt their submachine gun as a “non-essential limited procurement” weapon for use in armored vehicles in the cavalry. Eventually, in 1936 the cavalry changed it from ‘limited’ to ‘standard’ procurement. However it wasn't until September of 1938 that the TSMG became officially designated: Submachine gun, Caliber .45 M1928A1. Although the Army orders were important to A.O., the number of guns actually sold were small. A.O. still had some 4,000 of the original 15,000 Colt Model 1921 guns in stock. And the A.O. financial books were in trouble.

By 1939, having undergone a power struggle to gain control of the company, and a resulting change in management, combined with years of sluggish Submachine gun sales, the future of the Auto Ordnance Corp. was bleak. Then, on November 1, 1939 everything changed. The French placed an order for 3,000 Thompsons worth a contract price of $750,000. This was soon followed by inquiries from the British for similar large Submachine gun orders. This meant that Auto Ordnance would finally sell off all of their inventory of Colt guns produced nearly 20 years earlier. To fill these new orders, AO had to build more Thompsons.

Auto Ordnance tried to get Colt to build another order of Thompsons, but was turned down flat. Colt was already committed to building other guns, like the Browning B.A.R. for the Army; but more importantly had not forgotten the bad publicity they received from the misdeeds of gangsters using Tommy Guns bearing the Colt Trademark. So instead, A.O. signed a contract with the Savage Arms Company in Utica, NY to build it’s Thompsons.

It wasn't long after the French order, that the Second World War created an enormous demand for submachine guns. Between February 1940 and the end of the year, the British placed a total of thirteen orders for 107,500 Thompsons with contracts totaling $21,502,758. In March the French ordered another 3,000 guns, and in December the US Army ordered 20,450. Unfortunately, France fell to the Germans before it could take delivery of the 6,000 guns it had purchased from Auto Ordnance.

Knowing that as the War progressed demand for submachine guns would increase, in August 1940 Auto Ordnance Corp. leased an old brake relining plant in Bridgeport Connecticut and began converting it to produce Thompsons. The first Bridgeport guns came off the assembly line in August 1941; just in time for the Army’s largest order yet, 319,000 guns. Although A.O. was assembling Thompsons at the Bridgeport plant, they only manufactured upper and lower receivers. All of the other parts used to build their submachine guns came from Savage and other sub contractors.

By February 1942 Auto Ordnance Corp. had delivered it’s 500,000th gun. By summer of the same year, the combined output from the Savage and A.O. production lines reached a rate of 90,000 guns a month. Finally in 1944 when TSMG production ended, a total of 1,750,000 completed guns, and spare parts equivalent to another 250,000 guns had been produced. Most of these guns, some 1,250,000, were made at the Savage plant. Savage guns can be identified by the “S” prefix on the serial number located on the left side of the upper receiver. The remaining guns were made at the Auto Ordnance Bridgeport plant and bear an “A.O.” prefix.

At the start of the Second World War, the Army finally recognized the need for submachine guns. It also recognized that the Thompson was already obsolete. Compared to German submachine guns, the Tommy Gun was heavier, more complex and costlier to produce. But it did have one major advantage that the Army couldn't ignore. The M1928A1 Thompson was the only submachine gun being mass produced in any Allied country. This alone gave it a huge advantage over any would-be competitors.

Throughout the War, the Thompson underwent design changes that would make it faster and cheaper to produce. The first change eliminated the finely machined Lyman rear gun site. It was replaced with a simple stamped “L” shaped battle sight; which would later have protective ears added to prevent the sight from be caught up in a soldiers clothing, belts and slings. Next the fancy checkering on the Fire Selector and Safety switches, and Actuator knob was eliminated. The smoothly finished barrel fins were left square cut, and eventually eliminated entirely. However, these changes were minor compared to the changes introduced by Savage.

Savage produced a completely remodeled gun. They eliminated the Blish lock (which had been proven to be unnecessary in a submachine gun) in favor of a straight Blowback design. This eliminated the separate actuator and “H” piece, and allowed the cocking knob to be mounted directly to the bolt. In this configuration the knob was moved from the top of the receiver to the right side. Other changes were made that: Permanently attached the buttstock to the receiver; Prevented drum magazines from being used; And removed the Cutt’s compensator. The new gun was standardized in April 1942 as Submachine Gun, Caliber .45, M1. In October 1942 the M1 Thompson was replaced with by M1A1. This version being simplified even further by eliminating the firing pin and hammer. Instead, a fixed firing pin was machined into the face of the bolt.

To make up for the inability of the M1A1 to use the 50 rnd drum magazine, a new 30 rnd magazine was created to replace the standard 20 rnd magazine. The M1928A1 would be able to use either the 20 or 30 rnd box magazines, or the 50 rnd drum. The M1A1 was limited to box magazines only.

An M1A1 could be produced in half the time of a M1928A1, and at a much lower cost. In 1939 Thompsons cost the government $209 ($2742 in 2005) apiece. By Spring of 1942 cost reduction design changes had brought this down to $70 ($878 in 2005). In February of 1944 the M1A1 reached a low price of $45($480 in 2005) each, including accessories and spare parts. But by the end of 1944, the M1A1 was replaced with the even lower cost M3 “Grease Gun”.

At the start of the second World War the Thompson submachine gun was already an obsolete design. But it was also the only design available for use by Allied troops. Throughout the War, the government wanted to replace the Thompson with something that was lighter, cheaper, and faster to produce. This led to design submissions from many companies in different countries.

In 1939 the first design submitted for evaluation was the Hyde Model 35. George Hyde designed machineguns for Germany in the first World War. But his Model 35 submachine gun, bearing a close resemblance to the Thompson, proved to be inferior in several ways.

Hyde’s Model 35 was soon followed by the Spanish Star, the Finish Suomi, the Reising (from the Harrington & Richardson Arms Co.), the High Standard (from Gus Swibelius at High Standard Manufacturing Co.), a semi-auto carbine from Smith & Wesson, and the British Mark II STEN (named for its designers; Sheppherd, Turpin, and the Enfield Armory). Interestingly, even though the STEN was ultimately rejected by the Army, in a series of tests where the guns were rated on a scale of 100, the Thompson scored a 57, while the STEN scored an 88, highest of all guns tested.

Even though it was rejected, the British STEN had a profound affect on the U.S. military way of thinking. Unlike traditional military firearms, the STEN was cheap, crudely made, and ugly. It was a simple design of stamped metal welded together and painted. This was in stark contrast to American military firearms that were made from machined steel, blued or parkerized, and adorned with hardwood gunstocks.

The STEN represented a new breed of ‘disposable’ submachine gun designed for the needs of modern warfare; battle at close range with high firepower. The British STEN, patterned after the German Schmeisser, and its sibling the Australian AUSTEN could be produced in vast numbers at the bargain basement price of about $10 ($125 in 2005).

In 1942 the Army Ordnance Dept. took another look at the British STEN (Mark III). But again it was rejected. This time though, the Department told George Hyde, who had developed the unsuccessful M2 (submachine gun, not carbine) while working at the Inland Manufacturing Co. of Dayton Ohio, to design an all metal submachine gun as cheap and capable as the STEN. Amazingly Inland returned one month later with a prototype gun that met all the requirements. It was smaller, lighter, and could be made for under $20 in less than half the time. The gun fired at a much slower 400 rounds per minute, which the Army deemed as more desirable, and would eventually prove to be more reliable than the STEN.

On December 24, 1942, after one month of testing, the new gun was designated U.S. Submachine gun, Caliber .45, M3. The Thompson and Inland M2 were downgraded to limited standard, and six months later the M2 was dropped entirely. In the summer of 1943 the M3 was put into production by the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. But because of M3 production problems, Tommy Gun sales continued until February 1944. By the end of the War some 600,000 M3 Grease Guns were produced.

(Thanks to http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/)

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The above website has this copyright notice;

"This Internet Web Site, and its Author, are in no way associated with The Auto Ordnance Corporation of West Hurley, NY. or any of its affiliates. Private use of the information and images presented here (except for those in the On-Line Edition of the Thompson Collectors News) is granted with the following conditions: (1) Although much effort has been made to provide information that is as accurate as possible, it is understood that no claim is made as to the accuracy of the information presented within these pages. (2) The information and images may only be used if they portray the private use of firearms, and firearms owners, in a positive manner. Use of these images or information, by any anti-gun oriented organizations or individuals is prohibited."

1) Our NPOV policy states that our articles must show both sides of an issue, therefore views that are critical of firearms must be included. 2) Wikipedia cannot be considered to be private (or for that matter non-commercial) use - our license explicitly allows for these uses. --mav

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Note:

Concerning 1) No matter the content of the relevant Wikipedia page, the information used, which was taken more or less verbatim, was not used in a manner that would violate the copyright aggreement. The material used portrays only the message that the author intended, and nothing more. As they were presented in the manner desired, and no other manner is possible (unless someone decided to change the article, inserting "evil" and "bad", etc. in front of any reference to firearms), there is no conflict that would prevent the posting of this material. After all, an NPOV would prevent any so-called "anti-gun" spinning of the topic as well as it would the glorification of it.

Concerning 2) I can contact the author of the article to determine if the inclusion here would be offensive. Arguably, this is no different than posting the information on a personal web site, so there should be no difficulty.

In short, contacting the page administrator will clear up any confusion as to whether this is an appropriate usage of his material.

 --Banshee

Yes the page administrator needs to be contacted and made aware of the ramifications of their text being placed under terms of the GFDL. Another thing is that our NPOV policy does require the inclusion of the other side which may be offensive to the original author. There is also the fact that there is nothing, whatsoever wrong with an anti-gun group to copy this Wikipedia article and spin it to their liking (so long as they provide a link back to the version here and abide by terms of the GFDL). So just because we have an NPOV policy which prevents too much spin does not prevent others from spinning the text. In fact the GFDL encourages derivitive works. --mav

Origins of the tommy gun

I Notice that the place of origin is noted as Euclid, Ohio.

I believe the part taken out of the article as "copyright infringement", says it was CLEVELAND, OHIO. and was built in the basement of Warner & Swasey. NOte this site http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/web/history.htm

Being a Euclid person and familiar with Cleveland, Warner and Swasey, for whom my father consulted, was indeed in downtown Cleveland.

I suggest the article reflect origin as Cleveland, not Euclid.

Argentine Thompson Gun

Installed with a Halcon compensator[1]

Dastare 01:59AM 12/06/2010 (UTC)

climb off target

Iconic film images of the tommy gun show it sweeping horizontally. Was it commonly held side-down? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.148.53.46 (talk) 03:15, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

U.S. Marine shooting a Thompson At Okinawa

A retired United States Marshall shooting his privately owned Thompson. Note the empty shell cases

The images to the right show the correct way to fire a Thompson SMG (or any other similarly type weapon). The Thompson is shot from the shoulder like a rifle. The soldier looks through the sights, aims and preferably fires short control bursts. If necessary longer bursts can be fired in the same manner. In either case, it is important to concentrate your fire on the target for maximum effect.

Remember; in the real world, you are fighting for your life and you do not show off or take any unnecessary chances. It is important to kill your opponent as quickly possible using the maximum level of force at your disposal. Shooting a Thompson from the hip and sweeping back and forth is very photogenic, and often used on T.V. and in the movies. However, to do so in real life is foolish to say the least. And, perhaps the last mistake you will ever make.--71.22.156.40 (talk) 20:24, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

30-round box magazine in the Mod. 1919

There were two main experimental models of the Thompson. The Persuader was a belt-fed version developed in 1918, and the Annihilator was fed from a 20 or 30-round box magazine, which was an improved model developed in 1918 and 1919. Additionally, the 50- and 100-round drum magazines were developed.

I never heard about it. -- hmaag (talk) 16:32, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Red Jacket Firearms Version

Didn't RJF make a more modern version of this gun and debuted it in Sons of Guns?