Thompson Auto-Ordnance

[briney11]

I just got an old Thompson A-O (West Hurley) 1911. It will need a new barrel for sure, plus a few other parts. But, other than some minor rust, the frame and slide seem to be in pretty good shape. I bought it because my son told me that he wanted to save up his money and buy a 1911. So I thought that this would be a fun little project for us. My question is this. What barrel fits the best on these??? I tried to put the barrel from a S-A Mil Spec in it, but it didn't fit properly. I was gonna get an Ed Brown or something. But should I just get one from A-O? I really don't want to have to take it to a gunsmith at all.

 

[JTQ]

Unless you are very lucky, chances are you will need a gunsmith to fit the barrel.

 

[Fremmer]

Can he measure the link size and buy aftermarket, and maybe get a book about the .45? Might as well start somewhere...

 

[Skylerbone]

Briney, for what it's worth, a few thoughts:

1. Without proper instruction the 1911 is not a project candidate, every part must be fitted and fitted correctly. This and other forums are filled with cautionary tales of woe that should not go unheeded.

2. The old Auto Ordnance 1911s aren't known for their quality, they are known for their problems. The amount of time, effort and money required to make one truly reliable could easily buy you an entirely new 1911 without consideration to your original purchase price.

3. Just for curiosity's sake, why do you believe it needs a new barrel? Barring obvious physical damage, very few need replacement. There may be accuracy issues but that is more often separate from the issue of need.

Now for my .02: you may not want to hear this, dump it. Sell that thing off, buy something else and never look back. There are a slew of inexpensive 1911s that have recently gained a reputation for reliability and a number of reasonably priced 1911s from companies with a long-standing reputation for building excellent pistols. Take the loss, learn the lesson, have a garage sale this spring and finance a better 1911.

 

[briney11]

A gunsmith checked it out and said that the barrel was bad. That and there isn't much if any rifling in it. I got it for $100, so not much of a loss. I might just get it running for as cheap as possible and then sell it.

 

[Skylerbone]

Do yourself a favor and get thee to a retailer with a few 1911s in stock. Have a look down the barrels and I'll bet you'll notice they all appear to not have much rifling left. I wouldn't go by word of any old smith on that and I was fairly sure what your response was before you made it. Many 1911s come with an ill-fit barrel but no need to toss good money after bad.

At $100 you're really not out anything, take it to the range and give it a try, making sure to start with 2 rounds in the first magazine. I'll stand by my original statement that you should not put any money into an Auto Ordnance beyond feeding it (if it feeds).

 

[briney11]

Even the frame and slide are junk on those??? My thought was to put in new parts and just use that frame and slide. So instead of having to save up $500+, my son could just buy new parts and learn how to install them over the next few years. And then only be into it $3-400 but have a decent shooter.

 

[JTQ]

You'll need a few tools which you may not have. That may up your planned costs considerably.

You may want to take a look at this How I did It 1911 article. I've linked to the Lessons Learned section which is probably the best place to start.

http://how-i-did-it.org/1911-project/lessonslearned.html

 

[CEmberg]

For what it's worth, I had one for many years (it was well used when I got it) and had no trouble with it, was a decent shooter, no prize or anything, but a fun way to burn up some ammo. Recently sold it to my nephew who still shoots it. Biggest problem I ever had was occasional FTEs. I eventually put a new extractor in it and pretty much fixed that.

Have fun with it, like the others said though, just don't put a lot of money into it.

 

[Skylerbone]

I'll link to a thread from a piece back regarding AOs in which I included pictures: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=676360

The included pics are NOT of an Auto Ordnance but of what a 1911 should look like.

 

[briney11]

Thank you for all of your input Skylerbone. I don't want you to think that I am arguing with you at all or telling you that you are wrong. I just want to make sure that I have all of the info I need in order to make the best decision. Right now it appears that I need to take your advice and get rid of it. This one has a serial # in the 01500's. I don't know if that matters or not though.

 

[Skylerbone]

By all means give it a range session and see if it runs, nothing lost on that. If all goes well, you got a bargain that can provide plenty of enjoyment while you save for any potential replacement.

Even a pistol with less than ideal dimensions can function, I wouldn't stake my life on it as a duty sidearm but it may not be as bad as I proclaim; my main goal was to caution you on spending money needlessly or unknowingly on a pistol that is not ideal.

From a fellow Hawkeye, I wish you luck, let us know how it goes (if it ever warms up).

 

[briney11]

What part of Iowa are you in??? I'm in Butler county. Originally from the Madison/Warren county area.

 

[Skylerbone]

Scott Co. but I spent a few years in the Cedarloo area while at UNI.