Auto Ordnance Tommy Gun

[nwilliams]

I love my Thompson 1927A-1 Deluxe! I have about a thousand rounds through it so far and its has zero issues. The last few hundred rounds have been Wolf and even that feeds through it just fine. The charging handle is difficult pull back at first but now I can do it with no problem at all. There is no recoil to speak of and yes this gun is not a tack driver nor is it very practical or ergonomic and its as heavy as a barrel of bricks. Still it is it a hoot to shoot and ranks way up there on the cool factor. I picked up mine brand new for $1200 and that included the 50rd drum, 30rd stick, violin case and regular foam fitted hard case, not bad at all in book especially for the steel receiver version.

Now to your question, I'm sure its possible but I have to agree with others that its not going to look very good. Why turn a classic looking firearm into an ubber-cool mall ninja special? I say buy one and enjoy it but leave it the way it is. Its not going to make a very practical home defense weapon anyway at least not in my opinion. Mine has been very reliable on the range and seems to go bang every time, however I wouldn't trust my life to it. In a home defense situation my Thompson is not something I would grab unless I had no other choice, especially since I have my AR sitting right next to it.

Still you can do what you want with your own guns and I'm sure there is a way you could attach something to the barrel that just clamps on. Maybe even tap the side of the receiver and install a side mounted rail system

 

[TexasRifleman]

ounds like one hell of a defense piece, especially with a C drum attached.

Defense piece implies that it would function reliably.

The Auto Ordnance Thompsons are ANYTHING but reliable.

 

[Zach S]

and a good roll of duct tape

West Virginia Hard Chrome...

sounds like one hell of a defense piece, especially with a C drum attached.

The drum rattles too much and makes it akward to handle.

The Auto Ordnance Thompsons are ANYTHING but reliable.

Dont tell the two I own, they haven't given me any problems in the past several thousand rounds.

 

[mukluk]

And I'm not crazy about the fact that the Tommy Gun only shoots FMJ rounds (according to the manual on their website).

Mine shoots hollow points no problem, the caveat being you must use a stick mag, they will not feed out of the drum.

These interest me as well. Do the aluminum-receiver models hold up OK? The weigh in at about 8 lbs instead of 12 or 13, and cost less to boot.

The most common complaint I've heard on the aluminum version is the feed ramps wear rather quickly. If longevity is important to you get the steel receiver version. Regarding weight, if installing a 10.5 inch short barrel is an available option to you, that would trim the steel receiver Tommy down to about 9.5 pounds.


Over 6000 rounds and still fun as hell

 

[madcratebuilder]

Second, you can't practically shorten the 16 inch semi-auto barrel due to the taper of the barrel.
If the barrel is shortened, the taper will not allow remounting either a band-type front sight, nor can it be threaded to mate with the Cutts compensator muzzle brake.
The area where the cut would be will be too small to fit the sight or Cutts device.

I have been debating if I want to do the barrel myself, I have shorten several barrels on my lathe, it's not rocket science. This shop does Tommy guns only and are very reasonable in their cost for barrel and comp work. I would prefer to make this a sbr, but it is unregistered and I want to keep it that way.

The Auto Ordnance Thompsons are ANYTHING but reliable.

The first thing I did to mine was clean up the feed ramp, I have about 1500 rounds without a failure after I got rid of one defective GI mag. The 50 rd drum works great, would like to find a good deal on a 100 rd drum.

Mukluk, nice wood man.

 

[cluttonfred]

I don't want to add anything to this discussion except to say that I fired an original Thompson M1A1 many times growing up (my grandfather was a gun dealer with a Class III license) and it was great fun. Short bursts, shoulder or hip, plenty accurate for the purpose, just fantastic. Rugged, reliable and deadly as long as the targets is no more than 50 yards away (OK 100 yards in a pinch). I would carry one in an urban SHTF situation without hesitation.

I would also add that the new Auto Ordnance Thompson is available with a 16 1/2 in barrel and aluminum receiver or you can get an SBR model directly from the factory. There is also a new Thompson pistol (!) with no shoulder stock and a 50-round drum that should get anyone's attention right quick.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Dont tell the two I own, they haven't given me any problems in the past several thousand rounds.

Well mine was the opposite. It never would even run through a complete magazine without some kind of stoppage.

When I had it SBR'd the smith worked over the thing and now it's fine, but that was $600 later. (Some of that was the SBR, seems like it was around $200 for the reliability mods and the mag release mod).

 

[M2 Carbine]

The reliability thing.
My Thompson is totally reliable with RN ammo but jams on SWC bullets.

Since rifle sights are blurred for me anymore I use a lot of Red Dot sights and scopes. Also use a lot of laser/lights.

I made a mount that attach's to the original rear sight mounting holes.



If I wanted to attach a laser/light (I use Streamlight TLR-2) I'd buy a spare forearm from Kahr and attach a rail to it. Either underneath, near the front of the forearm or I'd see about making a mount that would hold the light up against the front of the forearm, like the lights are positioned in front of the trigger guard on pistols.

For something really temporary I think a short rail could be attached to a stick magazine. If you can't get the job done with 30 rounds, you are in big trouble.

 

[Zach S]

My Thompson is totally reliable with RN ammo but jams on SWC bullets.

Mine eats most JHPs without a problem from the stick mags, havent tried SWCs though.

M2, every time I see that pic I want to add a red dot to one of mine...

 

[44AMP]

Mine feeds everything

RN (ball), RN (lead), SWC (lead) and JHP. My gun is Kahr marked, but works well. 30 rnd Sticks work fine. I have a 50rnd drum, which has not yet proven reliable. I have only tried it 3 time, but have had several failures, using only 230gr ball ammo. It may get better in time, and with some tweaking, but testing it is a pain, and expensive with factory ammo.

My gun is accurate enough to shoot one hole 5 shot groups at 25 yards, and hit the 200 yard gong using the ladder sight. Miserable long spongy trigger pull though. It does take some strength to cycle the action, but it takes some strength just to hold the beast up in firing position! If you can't work it, grow stronger!

At 12+lbs empty, fairly long, and deep, the civilian Tommygun is a far cry from a good defensive weapon for indoor use. On the other hand, the visual impact of the gun is just tremendous! If you have something like a trespass situation (in daylight), and you want to ensure intimidation, the sight of the Tommygun works as well or better than the racking of a pump shotgun!

For checking out a noise in the night, there are many better tools than the Tommygun, even with a laser or light. On the other hand, the Tommygun would be a very effective defensive tool if you hit someone with it. I don't mean shoot them, I mean hit them with that heavy chunk of steel! Or just drop it on their foot! Either way, it's going to hurt!

I really love mine, it is a lot of fun to shoot, and impresses the heck oput of the kids, but practical? No.