For the Tommygun experts......

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RDCL

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Is there any estimate or wild guess as to how many legally purchased before 1934, yet un-registered Colt Thompsons may be packed away and forgotton in some senior citizens attic or basement?

I was just reading a chapter in one of my Thompson books that relates the story of an elderly woman who discovered a Colt Thompson among her deceased husbands artifacts......she attempted to have the gun registered only to have it confiscated by the ATF.....no, she did NOT get into trouble as she was deemed completely innocent & honest, yet naive in the matter. It is an old story....nothing recent, but still. It begs the question.

Think about it. Colt made about 15,000 guns. As a guess I think around 2500 or so are legally transferrable today.....a few hundred are frozen in police depts. Some guns went to the coal mines of West Virgina & Kentucky. Maybe a couple thousand went out of the country. (The 500 "Irish-guns":D).

As I look through the original purchase serial number list in my book....and these are off very OLD records pre-1934 I assume.....I'm just guessing there are a lot of undiscovered & forgotton Tommyguns out there.

....and NO....I'm not looking for a Thompson, but the thought of undiscovered relics as these fascinates me.

Russ
 
tommyguns

Colt made the M1921 which only approx 1500 may still be in the US, from what i read. the Navy didn't like the rate of fire, they changed some parts to lower the rate of fire and over stamped the 1 with a 8 making the over stamped 1928 Model Navy. semper fi
 
Many were used up. Barrels shot out, broke down, etc., and there's no way for them to get replacement parts legally. Most of the missing guns were probably junked by the 1950's.
 
There are probably more floating around than anyone knows, largely from the war. The commander of the Enola Gay mentioned in his book that he was moving in Europe and found the Tommy Gun he had been issued in WWII in his personal stuff. I believe he said that he dropped it in a deep lake.
I am also aware of an old family story of someone that I know stating that this relative was on a bomber crew in Europe in WWII. After completing their prescribed number of missions, war was over, whatever the reason, they were flying back to the US because the war was over for this crew. They decided they wanted the weapons that were the kit on the bomber. They flew low in circles to burn fuel and then declared an in-flight emergency and jetisoned everything except one duffle bag each. Guess where the weapons went. I am sure they went into the ocean. Maybe true, maybe not, but told as gospel.
 
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