Thompson 1927 owners, can you answer a few questions for me?

[bernie]

I have always kind of wanted a semi-auto Tommy Gun and I am beginning to get serious about it. What kind of range can one expect and what kind of accuracy? How reliable are the drum mags? With the horizontal M1 forend, can you use a drum comfortably? If you bought one again, what model would you buy and why?

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't own one and don't want one, but am personally acquainted with two people who did.

The fun factor wore off pretty fast and both imitations have been traded off for more conventional guns.

As to quality, one was pretty nice, the other was dismal.

 

[TexasRifleman]

At least for the Kahr/Auto Ordnance models out now, you can't use the drum magazine on the M1 model.

I have the M1 model at a gunsmith being SBRd and having a reliability/ WWII look package being done so I don't know how reliable it will be yet when worked over but out of the box it was not particularly good.

 

[nwilliams]

I had one but sold it recently. Mine was the A1 Deluxe and although very heavy and not much of a target rifle it was fun and at short range pretty accurate. There is practically no recoil and even though the sights are crappy I could get the shots on target, granted I wasn't shooting it much past fifty yards though

The 50rd drum mag I had seemed to work fine, never had any issues with it, I preferred the stick mag since it was easier and faster to load and use. I put about 500-700 rounds through mine and never had any feed issues, it also ate whatever I fed it even Wolf ammo.

Really I have no complaints about the one I had, its not a gun for everyone but it was fun and interesting. The only reason I sold mine was that I needed the extra money and I wanted something more practical in my collection.

 

[ElToro]

i dont own one, but have shot one FA
there used to be a indoor gun range in Reno/Sparks that would rent you full auto. and they had vintage FA like MP44 and tommy gun as well as MP5 and UZI

i paid to shoot a tommy at 25 yards indoors. of course they wanted you to just hold the trigger down and in 2 seconds your mag was empty. i did a few mag fulls like that and its not that easy to shoot accuratelky with no formal training trying to shoot semi auto was a trick as it take a while to figure out he trigger pressur to just shoot one or 2 and not havea 3 or 7 go down range. i didnt have teh oppotunity to shoot it semi only.

cool factor is definitely very high.

practical? maybe if i was clearing houses in urban combat in WW2 germany... or needed a prop to go with my pinstripe suit and 2 tone wingtips and fedora on halloween

 

[Art Eatman]

I regret not getting one prior to the '86 law.

I've shot a few stick magazine's worth. On a 30" target at 100 yards, I aimed at the center. The first shot hit low; the second shot was center, and the third was high. Easily repeated.

Holding the buttstock between my arm and ribs, it was easy to hit multiple targets two or three times each, at around ten to fifteen yards. Again, easily repeated.

Tapping off only three shots is easy; two is a bit more difficult but doable. Recoil is no big deal, although it will definitely give you a "vibratory massage".

All in all, Tommyguns are fun.

 

[dfariswheel]

I've owned three different versions of the semi-auto, and gunsmithed a number of them.

Accuracy with good ammo can be astounding, but is limited by the crude standard sights.
If you find and afford one, the fully adjustable Lyman-type original rear sight that has fine adjustments for windage and elevation will allow far better accuracy.
I've gotten and seen some really fine groups at 100 yards, and accurate shots can be made at even longer ranges.
The longer barrel helps, given that the gun is firing a .45 ACP cartridge.

Reliability with the drum or box magazines is mostly a function of the ammo used.
Cheap ammo tends to give problems, but there is some history of the early Kahr-made 50 round drums having some issues.
In off-hand shooting the drum will have at least a little interference with both the forward pistol grip and horizontal fore arm, but this is quite acceptable, especially considering what the Thompson gun was originally designed as.

The gun is an absolute HOOT to shoot, and always draws a crowd at the range.
This can be bad, due to the guns ability to just EAT ammo quickly, and everyone wants to shoot it.

The 1927-A1 Deluxe is the nicest and most impressive model, while the M1 versions would be most appropriate if you want a WWII look.

 

[TIMC]

I have the Commando version which does take the drum mags but have not ever tried one. Accuracy is decent for the sights as said above. also as said above it does peek the cool meter. Mine is for sale in the rifles for sale section. I don't really want to get rid of it but I'm trying to finance another rifle project.