Armat M41A Pulse Rifle

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Why not start it as a pistol (the .45)? Avoid NFA. Your parent can transfer a pistol to you in most states sans paperwork iirc.

There are rifle uppers for the 1911, for one. Just saying. Super lightweight... though capacity would be 'off'.
 
I don't quite... get what you're suggesting. I mean, I already "own" a Springfield Mil-Spec 1911, but I'm having trouble with the transition of 1911 --> M41A

~GnSx
 
I think he is saying to build your M4A1 around a 1911 pistol using some sort of mocked up Mec-tec carbine upper instead of the thompson. Probably a pretty good idea and it would save you a TON of weight. Since the thing isn't going to have a 99 round capacity either way, whats the difference between 7 and 20 if you are just going to be plinking at the range? Thompsons are HELLA heavy and have a trigger you probably can't squeeze more than 10 times before taking a break anyway. Since almost all of the rifle is hollywood fantasy instead of practical technology (even though I love it ALMOST as much as you) why not keep the cost down and the build time a lot shorter by using the simpler 1911 upper instead of retrofitting a thompson?

Personally I think you will quickly become bored with the weapon once it is done (how exciting can a square range be for something like that?), and it will probably be a constant maintenance headache. An airsoft pulse rifle would give you a lot more flexibility in where you can use it and how. Plus, if you can do it better than the other guys out there, you could make a decent amount of cash on the side :)


BTW, I posted a lot of the "official" stats a while back, do a search for my name and "pulse rifle". Most of it concerned the ballistics though, which you won't be replicating.
 
The reason I'm so keen on making it out of a thompson and a shotgun (and making it a "bang bang!" gun) is that it's the M41A with which I'm so enamored, and an M41A is made out of a Thompson and an 870. That's what an M41A is, and I want to build one. The gun is an end to itself. Its primary purpose is to exist and be mine, and to be cool. Along the way, I'd prefer if I could make it a device that doesn't suck awfully for anything but looking nifty, but that's a bit of a secondary goal to building a genuine (well, as close as I can get without spending 20 grand to make it out of a _real_ Tommy Gun) replica gun.

That said, can anyone tell me how much the buttstock and forearm actually weigh on an Auto-Ordnance Semi-Thompson?

~GnSx
 
I dunno.. seems to me one of these days someone's gonna come up with an aluminum receiver for the Thompson. Especially now in these days of hadly any civvie full-auto fire, it don't make much sense having that much weight.

Heck, I think it'd be cool to mill out an M41 reciever from aluminum to start with, leaving off the parts ya' don't need under the shroud, fixing the two-selector problem the Thompsons have, so forth and so on.. just make an "idealized" M41A from scratch.

Now.. that'd be fun. :)
 
Actually, the lightweight model from Auto Ordinance does have a reciever made of aluminum. That's the 1.5lb difference in weight.
 
Here's a cost-effective suggestion. Use a G-3/Cetme and a short Mossberg or 870 with an extended tube. Mate them and then have a polymer housing machined to look like the M41. The shoddy with stock removed will protrude about 4" past the G-3 muzzle, so have a long flash supressor made to even them up. It would be a bit longer than the movie prop and you'd have to work out your stock, but you can get 40 round mags for the G-3. G-3's also weigh about the same as a Thompson. G-3's can be had from $400, so your gun cost could be kept to less than $800, then figure $600-$1000 for materials and labor on the polymer, depending on exactly how detailed. If you deal with a machine shop that can use a CNC file you create on your computer, you could drastically reduce machining costs. Building a telescoping stock is easy. This is the route I would go, rather than trying to acquire and then butcher/devalue two NFA guns. And .308 is much more fun!
 
Why not go all out and get yourself a Class III Thompson? There are even a few chambered in 10mm Auto out there. I suggest a second mortgage on your home or a all-or-nothing trip to Vegas or Atlantic City.

Myself personally, I'd get a VP70 and call it a day. I already have a pistol-gripped Remington 870. For close encounters. :D
 
G-3/Cetme and a short Mossberg or 870 with an extended tube
Click to expand...
Except for the tiny fact that it'd look nothing like the M41A, that's a decent idea. Cheap and easy is not the goal. It's all about the blood, sweat, and tears to make a dream come true. (Geez, that sounded poetic.)

And that was a Winchester for close encounters. :scrutiny: How much are Hk VP70s anyhow?
 
I can say that I have gone frame by frame using zoom and whatnot through the 'Aliens' DVD to identify the 'stock' movie guns, such as the VP-70 pistol, the S&W Model 59 used by Vasquez to shoot the Alien in the air duct, and the Ithaca Model 37 stakeout model. If you do a Google using the terms 'Aliens movie shotgun', and wade through the numerous hits, you will see that many others also identify it as an Ithaca 37. The characteristic bottom ejection port is seen on several frames.

I plead the Fifth as to if 'Aliens' was a major influence in my decision to purchase a parkerized Ithaca Model 37 with a 18" barrel..... :rolleyes:
 
The idea to use a CTME or US HK G3 clone and flashider so you can keep a stock 18" bbl shotgun underneath is not a bad idea. It shouldn't be too hard to modify it with an A3 HK stock. (the prop stock looks worthless IMO)

It would be cheaper, (heavier, although I doubt GunnySkox would care) and that would leave you more money saved on NFA fees to build the round counter and the "pulse rifle" shell pieces.

The way GunnySkox would need to look at it is that he would then have the only Armat M42-A1 Colonial Marine DMR (Designated Marksmans Rifle) Kind of like how the M14 is still issued in limited numbers today to fill a role similar to how the Soviet Dragunov was deployed. I'm sure there's room in the USCM warfighting doctrine for 100+ meter shots on Xenomorphs. :D

Put an M60 bipod on it and you're all set. (and a dolly to wheel it around 'cause it's gonna be heavy...)

Actually, it's going on my "If I win the lotto" project list myself. Just to get the looks at the range.
 
:D :D :D

That's a nifty concept and all, but the USCMC doesn't deploy Designated Marksmen, and the concept of the DMR is never mentioned in a book. There's nothing really... between the Rifle Platoon and the Scout-Sniper individual, with the possible exception of the M577 APC for moderate/long-range work (out to ~1000m, with its turret-mounted Particle Beam Cannon(s)).

And, besides, even if you were building a DMR, would the extra-long grenade launcher really be neccessary?

~GnSx
"Neccessary." Said the guy who wants to build a thompson with a shotgun on it weighing in the range of 12-20 pounds.
 
They said the props used in the movie were made from real Thompsons and Remington 870 and SPAS parts and they ended up weighing around 40lbs.

How'd you like to hump that around all day?

You could cut some weight by using plastic parts instead of all metal like the firing props, but then you would have to worry about the plastic pieces melting.

I'd just spend $500-800 on an Airsoft pulse rifle and save myself $29500. (yes c&r Thompsons are going for that much or more)
 
You said something about making it semi-auto. If you have to do NFA for the short barreled thompson, why not go the whole nine and make it FA?

Oh. Wait.

:banghead:
 
I don't plan to make a semiauto thompson. I want to use one of those Auto Ordnance Lightweight Semiauto Thompsons and a chopped-down 870. The way I see it, the thing'd come out to about... 2000-2500 dollars (Figure ~1000 for the Thompson. Can be had substantially cheaper used; 200 for an 870; maybe 200 necessarily for the modifications to the guns themselves [barrel shortening, relocating that little ring that holds the barrel onto the mag tube on the 870, various other little modifications], 200 for the SBS tax stamp; the rest is for purchasing, fabricating, and otherwise acquiring the rest of the parts to turn the thing into an M41A-alike.

~GnSx
 
Save your money, become a fan of the new Battlestar Galactica, and buy a Beretta 4X Storm. You can still imagine yourself to be a colonial marine, just from a different colony, and without going broke on a project that will likely make you cry more than its worth.

Of course, if you're successful, you'll be the envy of every movie gun geek on the planet (not that I am one... :D )

Do we really think that an actual working model would weight 40 + pounds? The cast were all able to swing firing versions around without looking like they weighed that much.
 
Yeah. I can't imagine that a 12 pound thompson (that 13 lbs with the wooden stock and forend) and a seven pound 870 (that 7 pounds with the stock and forearm and a full-length barrel) could possibly weigh 40 pounds with the addition of a plastic/fiberglass/other polymer shroud and some SPAS crap on it.

~GnSx
"What're we supposed to use, man? Harsh language?" ~PFC Frost
 
While we are at it, can the 870 work with Aguila minishells w/o mods? That would probably give you three or 4 rounds intead of 1+1.
Keep us posted on this. It is a cool idea if nothing else.
Also, didn't someone make a Thompson knockoff with a polymer frame? I think they were cheaper and would also be lighter. May be worth a look to save you few hundred bucks and make the gun a little lighter.
 
The counter is easy...

With all the plastic junk on the side of the magazine you have plenty of room for a long resistor. Just set up contacts on the magazine follower to run along the resistive rod, run the value thru an A to D convertor, fiddle with an second adjustable resistor to make the value correct, and plug the number into the 2 digit LCD.

With steel magazines, you could probably insulate the followers, and use the mag tube itself, but you would need a wheatstone bridge to get teh sensitivity you would need.
 
GunGeeks Unite

I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a volunteer Arms Commando .45 cal Mark III carbine that is a very close cousin of the Tommy...you can see it here on THR in the for sale section. It is made from stamped aluminum and weighs A LOT less than a Thompson.

Consider using Aluminum square tubing in your mock up instead of bending sheet metal. You would only have to cut and weld (do you weld or solder aluminum?) instead of trying to bend into all manner of contortions, etc.

I have a source for the patent drawings on the Volunteer Arms also, if that would be helpful. PM me if you want them.

I can't believe I am posting in this thread...:eek:
 
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