Thompson

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Thinking of getting a Tommy gun for some range fun. However I can't afford one with fullauto so...
I'm thinking of getting an auto ordnance semi auto

But I got a few questions

I see that there are steel and aluminum. Which is prefered and why?

Besides AO is there another company that I should be looking at?

Is there anything else I should know ?

Thanks dudes
 
Imho, semi-auto thompsons are pretty silly. Semi-auto 45 rifle that weighs 3 tons, what's the point?

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
 
Id go with the steel. A friend has one of the aluminum ones, and the feed ramp part of the receiver is all chewed to crap. If you get aluminum, DO NOT use steel cased ammo, as that was part of the problem, and it broke the extractor. (the manual says not to use steel case, at least the one I found online. He bought it used and didn't have the manual) There's also some wear where the bolt handle slides, because the edge of the bolt handle wears against the receiver as you pull it back. If your buying new, either/or would probably be fine, but if it will be shot more than "average" steel might hold up a little better. The older AO guns made in West Hurley NY are not warrantied by Kahr, so if its used and one of the older ones, you have to source parts and fix it yourself if it breaks & not all parts are compatible (so Kahr tells me).

Not sure how they're made now, but one other small issue was had with the mag release spring on this particular gun. The spring is coiled around the release, and essentially "wound up" to provide tension. It would sometimes slip out of the hole that the end went into on the mag release itself when the release was pushed and the spring stretched. A little JB Weld to hold the end in place and there haven't been any problems so far.

Most of the parts are pretty large. The firing pin is a big piece of metal, the bolt is a chunk of steel, and the internals are all fairly large pieces of metal. The aforementioned extractor was the only really small weak part, aside from maybe the two recoil springs.

ETA: The Aluminum one should be just fine for your use, but if you get GI mags or ones not made by AO, check the fit. This gun has been run with GI stick mags, but they are loose and sit a little low. This causes some of the cases to catch on the edge of the feed ramp, and has battered the edge some over time (the chewed up part I already mentioned was the first 1/4" or so) and caused a couple hang ups until it was smoothed out.
 
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The point is to have a tommy gun that doesn't cost 20 grand

Any useful knowledge on semi auto Tommy guns would be greatly appreciated.

I figured the nes braintrust could point me in the right direction.




Ps. Who says Whats the point of owning a gun? Stop acting like a liberal dude
 
twinbrook86:2010381 said:
The point is to have a tommy gun that doesn't cost 20 grand

Any useful knowledge on semi auto Tommy guns would be greatly appreciated.

I figured the nes braintrust could point me in the right direction.




Ps. Who says Whats the point of owning a gun? Stop acting like a liberal dude

To be fair, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a question of owning a gun.. it was the more practical point of getting one that is quite heavy that doesn't run full auto..

Not that all heavy guns should be full auto capable but, man that Tommy sure is fun to go full retard with.. thanks oneeyedjack.. hehehehe...

-Chris
 
I owned a 1927 semi-auto and now I own a 1928 full auto. Here are the differences that I know of: The semi fires from the closed bolt and the full fires from the open bolt. It takes much more force to retract the bolt on the semi. Magazines are not interchangeable. Full auto mags can be easily modified to lock into the semi auto but once modified, will be too loose in the full auto. The full auto is 15 to 40 times as expensive depending on who made it. My semi auto was steel and I never had any problems with it
 
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The point is to have a tommy gun that doesn't cost 20 grand

Any useful knowledge on semi auto Tommy guns would be greatly appreciated.

I figured the nes braintrust could point me in the right direction.




Ps. Who says Whats the point of owning a gun? Stop acting like a liberal dude

To be fair, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a question of owning a gun.. it was the more practical point of getting one that is quite heavy that doesn't run full auto..

Not that all heavy guns should be full auto capable but, man that Tommy sure is fun to go full retard with.. thanks oneeyedjack.. hehehehe...

-Chris




To be fair I'm sure he didn't mean they weight 3 tons too? But that's not helpful either
 
To be fair, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a question of owning a gun.. it was the more practical point of getting one that is quite heavy that doesn't run full auto..

Not that all heavy guns should be full auto capable but, man that Tommy sure is fun to go full retard with.. thanks oneeyedjack.. hehehehe...

-Chris

Who gives about practicality? He wants one, he is going to get one. Have you ever done something "impractical"....I bet all people have!
 
Auto Ordnance is the only semi-auto game in town, If you see any from "Volunteer Arms" stay away.

If you want to try one out come to one of our American Zootshooters Events:

MoreFilling-TastesGreat.jpg
 
I was up at KTP and they had 2 or 3 on the used rack. One was what I would call the "Gangster" version with the veritcal hand grip. The other looked to be a mil spec version couldn't see the prices,sorry.
 
Sure they are big and heavy, but they are fun and it's a Thompson. Get the steel one, shoot 230 gr ball and have fun. Get the paperwork and put 10.5 inch barrel on it, if I want practical, I'll shoot anyone of my other practical guns that shoot practical ammo at a practical target. By the way, I'm very impractical. Get one because you can and you want one. Have maximum fun. I'm glad I have a house in SC. CT Sucks.
 
I was up at KTP and they had 2 or 3 on the used rack. One was what I would call the "Gangster" version with the veritcal hand grip. The other looked to be a mil spec version couldn't see the prices,sorry.

There were plenty of vertical grip Thompsons used by the military.
 
How do I tell the know that's it's a steel receiver ? If it was used

Any Leads on where to find them?


Also if I did get the 10.5 barrel and wonderful tax stamp. Would another ma LTC holder be able to borrow it, bring it to the range if I wasn't there? Silly question but it is MA
 
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How do I tell the know that's it's a steel receiver ? If it was used

Any Leads on where to find them?


Also if I did get the 10.5 barrel and wonderful tax stamp. Would another ma LTC holder be able to borrow it, bring it to the range if I wasn't there? Silly question but it is MA

If your holding it? The aluminum ones are anodized, assuming the steel ones are blued, it shouldn't be too hard to tell.
 
The current production guns are made in Worcester Mass.
I have one of their 1927A1 models.
It takes either stick or drum mags, the side-cocking M1 version accepts stick mags only.
However, stick mags are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, while drums are mucho expensive.
Even the Mass compliant 10 round drums go for nearly $200.
 
I bought a steel AO from a member here, and sold it a little while later to another member. It was one of those guns that I wanted until I got it, then not so much.

Mine didn't like anything but 230gr jacketed ball ammo. It worked OK if I kept it clean and ran it wet, and like Gerry said, the bolt is really hard to pull back.
 
The current production guns are made in Worcester Mass.
I have one of their 1927A1 models.
It takes either stick or drum mags, the side-cocking M1 version accepts stick mags only.
However, stick mags are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, while drums are mucho expensive.
Even the Mass compliant 10 round drums go for nearly $200.

Same here.
Issue with the G.I. stick mags is the latching hole needs to be extended for them to
fit into the 1927A1's by Kahr.
 
Mine didn't like anything but 230gr jacketed ball ammo. It worked OK if I kept it clean and ran it wet, and like Gerry said, the bolt is really hard to pull back.

Mine works fine with my reloads of 230gr LRN, 200gr LSWC and 200gr Truncated Cone.
It didn't care much for the 185gr LSWC's.
Yeah, that heavy bolt spring is a real bitch to pull back, trying to install or remove a drum mag is major PITA.
Even with the "Third Hand" tool (which holds the bolt open) it still isn't easy.
 
Ive had my thompson commando for a few years now. Replaced the black wood with usgi m1a1 wood, and installed an ez pull recoil spring set to make the bolt pull like the full auto ones. 10k plus round no issues, very fun gun. Def get steel, as aluminum receivers trends to crack. Can answer any questions about them if needed. As for the pita drum problem, theres a company that fits a full auto lower into the semi receiver, and mod the full auto selector switch to work as a bolt hold open to do away with that easy to loose piece of metal.
Matt
 
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I too have a AO 1927A1, fun gun to play with. I have a 40 something round drum and a couple of the 30 plus stick mags modified for a semi. Everything Zap said... I concur.... think I need to break it out...

ACtually in my avatar you can see the Thompson and the dRum is on thE table..
 
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