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New Idea on an old wwll favortire

4K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  Viper Dude 
#1 ·
Has anyone looked at a Thompson kit lately it discusting, well Id like some input I think I have come up with a way that is afforadable,

1, why couldnt the upper and lower receivers be stamped, just thicker, could
maybe made out out steel that is thicker and could be stamped with a shop press and once its hardened its a done deal. mabe a template could be foiund or some could dontae one for all the measurements and cut outs , but keep in mind the home hobbiest gunshith dont have a cnc machine, so it would have to be made so ordnary tools could be used by the home builder

2. all us parts would be used so there would be no 922r issues, it would just have to be semi auto .I hade seen a tube gun plane that used washers as the bolt the only flaw I felt was that they are too loose. im sure something gound be done diffrently

3. it would the same standard M1A1 funnature

4, a template of a lower and the sides would be great for the lower grip receiver as well as the top, and when it comes to the FCG make te holes so its a semi auto only

5. use all us parts eathier from existting guns or make your own but when I make my own I place the time anad date the part was done but that is just me and I keep my invioces at the bottom of the case Im taking out jusy in case,!

6 parts are available th eonly part that may be a bitch it the mag well were it connects to the receive, but last i kNew BPR GUNS had some but its for another gun its bassically the same as an mp40 , but I have found these on Sleezebay

so what do you think Im sure a replica can be built to look as good as an
orgional just changing the parts and design.....Doc
 
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#5 ·
That was already done:

Volunteer Arms Commando .45. IIRC the lower was plastic.
Kernel, I had one of those a few years back. Traded it even for a numbers matching, unissued Polish underfolder AK kit. Thought it was a deal at the time, but now I really miss that gun. Fun shooter. Ate everything I threw at it. The lower was some kind of cast aluminum, not plastic though. Extremely simple blowback gun, that used M3 grease gun mags.
 
#6 ·
They must have went to plastic in the later years, I recall a review where the guy was complaining about the rough plastic casting flash in the trigger opening and filed it smoother. There were actually several makers of simple tube guns gussied up to look like a Tommy. A buddy had one, he called her "Bertha"! Pretty simple, just a round tube with endcaps held in place by bolts. The bolts also held on the lower trigger housing. The bolt was just a stepped piece of steel, rear was full size round that fit the tube and the front end was like 3/4" diameter to fit through the feed lips. The cocking handle was just reach in the ejection port and pull back against the rear section. Looked a lot like this except the muzzle had a weird cone flash suppressor on it. Open bolt, but grandfathered in as a regular rifle. He got nowhere near what these guys are asking when he sold it back in the day!

Eagle Open bolt .45 Carbine (built like a grease gun, looks like a thompson) $1800 - Calguns.net
 
#7 ·
They must have went to plastic in the later years, I recall a review where the guy was complaining about the rough plastic casting flash in the trigger opening and filed it smoother. There were actually several makers of simple tube guns gussied up to look like a Tommy. A buddy had one, he called her "Bertha"! Pretty simple, just a round tube with endcaps held in place by bolts. The bolts also held on the lower trigger housing. The bolt was just a stepped piece of steel, rear was full size round that fit the tube and the front end was like 3/4" diameter to fit through the feed lips. The cocking handle was just reach in the ejection port and pull back against the rear section. Looked a lot like this except the muzzle had a weird cone flash suppressor on it. Open bolt, but grandfathered in as a regular rifle. He got nowhere near what these guys are asking when he sold it back in the day!

Eagle Open bolt .45 Carbine (built like a grease gun, looks like a thompson) $1800 - Calguns.net

Wow, $1800.00?!?!?! Man I paid $450.00 for my Volunteer, and thought that was a lot, and this was back in 2007!! LoL. Of course it wasn't an open bolt. I had heard that folks did something to modify the Volunteer into a full auto only, and the guy I traded with inspected the crap out of it to make sure it showed no evidence of having been modified at any time. I really do miss that gun though. Not one of my smarter trades.
 
#8 ·
MOST open bolts were easy to make full auto, you just disabled the disconnect function and fun ensued. IIRC, the Spitfire was the only one declared an MG because you could move/hold the safety a weird way and it would disable the disconnect all by itself! Grandfathered OB guns command a premium. I dunno if it is a rarity thing for collectors, or if some owners like the idea that it is only a few minutes work with a Dremel to go FA in a SHTF sitch.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Glad I kept mine !!!! I did so to preserve the technology and perhaps one day see the carbine improved and back in production. Granted, plastic parts suck !!! Early Volunteer carbines did have sand cast aluminum lowers that used greasegun .45 ACP mags. There were also 9x19mm versions using Sten mags. The later plastic lower carbines used Thompson mags and worked well. No drums were ever employed AFAIK. Though some custom adaptions have been made both functional and decorator. These Volunteer carbines used square tube receivers.

Previous Thompson clones such as the Spitfire carbines were open bolt, round tube semi-autos later banned by the Feds. Eagle carbines I believe were grand-fathered as OB semi-auto items. I should check my notes. There is a Spitfire NFA collector-shooter website.

The Manchester Volunteer carbines (and pistols) production ended when Mr Manchester passed away. Revived popularity and current scarcity has driven prices of these "econo-arms" out of sight.

VD in AZ
 
#12 ·
As simple as they are to make, I would think a revived version would sell well. With HK G3 lowers selling for so cheap nowdays, I would think a tube upper with it's own magwell and the HK lower as the "drop in FCG" you could have a neat little toy. Heck, interchangeable bolt heads and magwells for different calibers would be easy as well.
 
#13 ·
Hello kernelkrink,
There is a hazzard of employing imported milsurp parts into any firearms design in that the availability may be cut off and/or pricing driven out of sight by some political thugs or "supply and demand".

These Thompson clones did use milsurp Thompson buttstocks but... those were made and found here in the US. Same deal with the mags used. However WW-II is nearly 70 years ago for much of that inventory.

Modern CNC manufacturing can allow better quality components which these simple pistol-caliber carbines really need.

Parts kits for these carbines and pistols is another idea...

VD in AZ
 
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