of steel, shaped like an L for rear sight. Front sight is a blade as part of a ring around the front of the barrel. The barrel is smooth and either blued (very early) or Parkerized (most com- mon). Foregrip is horizontal and two screws secure the walnut buttstock. As World War II got into full swing, the Auto-Ordnance Corporation fi- nally got a plant going in Bridgeport, Conn. Now this is a little confusing: All Thompsons made during the war carry the Auto-Ordnance Corp., Bridgeport, Conn. stamping even if they were made by Savage. However, if indeed made by the latter company, the Model 1928/1928A1s will have an S prefix to the serial number and M1/ M1A1s will have a tiny “s” stamped on the bottom of the frame directly behind the magazine well. Nominal rate of fire of an M1 or
M1A1 Thompson is 800 rounds per minute. However, it should be noted that all Thompson submachine guns operated by the blowback method; that is the recoil of the fired cartridge pushes the bolt back to cycle the weapon. Therefore, hotter ammu- nition gives a faster rate of fire and milder loads give slower rates of fire. (I checked my M1 Thompson with my favorite cast bullet handload, to be mentioned later, and got 701 rpm but it does cycle close to 800 rpm with .45 ACP military issue ammuni- tion from the 1960s.) Although the Thompson subma-
chine gun of all versions has a cult following among shooters, it must be said that it was far from the best sub- machine gun of World War II. There were three basic charges leveled at it: too heavy, ammo too heavy and too hard to control in full-auto fire. All that is true. The hard to control fac- tor can be cured with shooter training but nothing could make a Thompson and its ammo lighter. Empty, my M1 Thompson weighs 11.5 pounds and a loaded 30-round magazine brings that up to 13 pounds. A combat load was three 30-round magazines or five, 20-round ones (plus one in the weapon). That added another 6 to 7 pounds to a soldier’s load.
Why So Many? If the Thompson in all its forms
wasn’t so ideal, why did the US Gov- ernment buy over 1.5 million of them between 1939-1944? Because it was the only submachine gun available to them when the war started. Nearly every tank or armored car shipped overseas from the United States in World War II carried a Thompson, and they were given in large lots to paratrooper units because they pro- vided plenty of firepower as soon
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The US military’s idea with the development of the M1 .30 Carbine was to replace .45 ACP handguns. That it did not do.
For all his .45 ACP handloading Duke relies on these three bullets. At far left is military issue round from the 1960s. Cast 220-grain round- nose bullet at left is from Lyman mould #452374 with loaded round. Center is 230-grain roundnose from Oregon Trail Bullet Company with loaded round and at right is 230-grain FMJ roundnose from Zero Bullet Company with loaded round.
as the troopers hit the ground. In fact, in the book “Blossoming Silk Against The Rising Sun,” by Gene Eric Salecker, there is a description of American paratroopers getting ready to drop onto the island of Cor- regidor in the Philippines in 1945. An officer says, “… there are Japs on the jump field and I am sending in the tommy-gun men first.” Early in 1944 the US Government
ordered Auto-Ordnance Corpora- tion to cease making Thompsons because a new submachine gun was
adopted. It was the M3, which has come through history nicknamed “grease gun” because it so resembles that automotive accessory. Anyone familiar with both the
German MP40 and British STEN Mark II submachine guns can im- mediately see from where the M3 stemmed. Like the first two men- tioned, it was all metal construction and like the STEN it was spot-weld- ed together. In fact, some US Army Ordnance officers felt like America should just adopt the STEN instead
This small “s” on the bottom frame of a Thompson M1 or M1A1 subma- chine gun denotes that it was made in the Savage factory.
When Savage’s engineers redesigned the Thompson submachine gun they made the rear sight this simple bent piece of steel.
Lyman made the simple L-shaped piece of steel that served as a rear sight for the M1 Thompson subma- chine gun. Note the Thompson logo.
All Thompson submachine guns were stamped like this even in they were produced in the Savage factory.
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