Latch Release-Vertical Foregrip-Thompson SMG
- Thread starter Ed Frank
- Start date
Old Dog
Member
Did you mean the movie Road to Perdition? (Road to Redemption is a Christian movie by Billy Graham Enterprises)
The scene where Tom Hanks slides on the VFG when assembling a broken-down M1921?
I noted this when I first viewed the movie (which otherwise was pretty good, firearms-wise). I suspect that's movie magic using a reproduction Thompson, accomplished by a creative armorer. The Tommy gun foregrips, before they were eliminated by the horizontal fore-ends on the M1928s, used a long screw from the bottom of the grip. I was actually privileged back in '79 to handle an original Colt M1921.
Ah, so the OP got me curious, and after extensive Googling, the consensus on the machine gun forums (link to one below) is that it was simply Hollywood doing Hollywood.
https://mp40modelguns.forumotion.net/t1126-thompson-m1921-1928
The scene where Tom Hanks slides on the VFG when assembling a broken-down M1921?
I noted this when I first viewed the movie (which otherwise was pretty good, firearms-wise). I suspect that's movie magic using a reproduction Thompson, accomplished by a creative armorer. The Tommy gun foregrips, before they were eliminated by the horizontal fore-ends on the M1928s, used a long screw from the bottom of the grip. I was actually privileged back in '79 to handle an original Colt M1921.
Ah, so the OP got me curious, and after extensive Googling, the consensus on the machine gun forums (link to one below) is that it was simply Hollywood doing Hollywood.
https://mp40modelguns.forumotion.net/t1126-thompson-m1921-1928
FlSwampRat
Member
[QUOTE="Old Dog, post: 12568264, member: 12473"I was actually privileged back in '79 to handle an original Colt M1921.[/QUOTE]
Ever since Combat and Chip Saunders carrying the venerable Thompson I have loved it. One day at the PD range my Dad got to shoot one. I told him he was doing it backwards.
Ever since Combat and Chip Saunders carrying the venerable Thompson I have loved it. One day at the PD range my Dad got to shoot one. I told him he was doing it backwards.
lysanderxiii
Member
The Thompson M1928 did not have quick detach foregrip.
The butt stock came off, but that was it.
Hmm? It's been quite a while since I've taken the foregrip assembly (grip + tang) off mine but I vaguely remember it might have come off once you've unscrewed the barrel. No tools required providing that you haven't overtightened anything when you've last put it together. Not really quick detach but close enough, the stock pops right off by pressing the release button, though.
Carl N. Brown
Member
You can see photos of the prop gun in its case on the IMFDb . org webpage on the movie ROAD TO PERDITION. And several photos of Tom Hanks with the gun. In the case,
_ barrel, receiver, grip mount are a unit, with
_ foregrip,
_ trigger frame & rear grip, and
_ buttstock, four units.
The Thompson barrel screws into the receiver very tightly, torqued together, and is usually removed only if the barrel needs replacing. Normally you treat receiver, barrel, grip mount as a semipermanent assembly. The foregrip or forearm is attached to the grip mount with a screw. A detachable foregrip would not gain anything in length reduction.
But when you look at 1930s gangster era underground weapons, like the full-auto m1911 machine pistol with Thompson foregrip in .38 super and extended magazine, it is not a stretch to surmise that a clever gunsmith could devise a Thompson with quick detachable parts.
_ barrel, receiver, grip mount are a unit, with
_ foregrip,
_ trigger frame & rear grip, and
_ buttstock, four units.
The Thompson barrel screws into the receiver very tightly, torqued together, and is usually removed only if the barrel needs replacing. Normally you treat receiver, barrel, grip mount as a semipermanent assembly. The foregrip or forearm is attached to the grip mount with a screw. A detachable foregrip would not gain anything in length reduction.
But when you look at 1930s gangster era underground weapons, like the full-auto m1911 machine pistol with Thompson foregrip in .38 super and extended magazine, it is not a stretch to surmise that a clever gunsmith could devise a Thompson with quick detachable parts.