45acp cast bullets out of thompson sub gun

"...out of thompson subgun..." A real one or a semi-auto copy? You'd have to work up a load for it. Likely a bit hotter to deal with the barrel length and that big SOB of a bolt.

Likely a bit hotter to deal with the barrel length and that big SOB of a bolt.

If it is a genuine FA Thompson the load need not be any hotter than standard GI hardball which the gun was designed to run on.

Don't know how true it is but, I was told if you have a real full auto Thompson, not to use cast bullets as the barrel will get hot enough to cause a leading problem. LM

i dont know about using cast bullets in a thompson. my concern would be lead getting stuck in the operating parts in the gun. i dont cast bullets but i think it would be smart to cast them out of linotype.. something hard that wont lead the barrel or inner parts

I use my P95/1911/625 load in my Thompson: 4.6 - 4.9 grains of 700-X with a 225 truncated cone bullet. The bullet hardness is typically BHN 18 but that varies a little by the casters.

There is no excessive leading. Cleaning is routine. Mostly using the bronze brush followed by Hoppe's #9 and final dry patches. Nothing special.

Shoot away.

I shot a friend's real live legal M1A1 Thompson with cast bullets. Full charge loads shot normally with no major leading. But then we were actually trying to hit something with short bursts, not just hosing lead into the dirt like so many hobby machine gunners.

Light target loads were fun, you could shoot onehanded with just enough recoil to hold the barrel level. We were lucky on that, a slightly lighter load might not have seared up and let the gun run away until empty.

I fired thousands of hand loaded cast lead from 185-230gr out of my Savage M1 . RN and SWC . Loaded them to standard velocities and experienced great function whether firing semi or full auto .

As above as long as you keep them cool not a big deal. On one of our "play days" where newbies are just hosing for fun leading will turn it into a smooth bore pretty fast.

Might be an alloy issue . My typical outing would entail 500-600 rds fired in maybe an hour and a half . 3-5 rd bursts , some single fire at the water jugs at 50 yds and some 30rd magazine dumps . Very little build up for me .

The only issue I've ever had with lead bullets in a Thompson was in a 1928A1 Navy overstamp-lead would fill the slots in the Cutts Compensator eventually, requiring grinding a custom chisel to clean the slots. Otherwise no worries at all.

While not a Tommy, My Ingram .45 loves a TL 230 Lee,sized to
.453, with 4.3 GR, 700x. No leading in hundreds of FA Mag. dumps.....