The Thompson Submachine Gun Read online

  2 Report by the Chief Inspector of Small Arms, RSAF Enfield (9 July 1921). Courtesy of the Pattern Room Library, National Firearms Collection, Leeds.

  POSTAL SERVICE AND MARINE THOMPSONS

  Meanwhile, the undeterred Auto-Ordnance sales team had continued to demonstrate the gun across America. Their first major order came from an unexpected source, the US Postal Service, who following a series of brutal robberies ordered 200 M1921A Thompsons to provide security for mail trains. These guns were actually supplied to the US Marine Corps, which was tasked with guarding these trains, and the Marines instantly took the Thompsons to their hearts. It was due to this early ownership that they conducted further tests in 1927. Although impressed, the Marine Corps asked Auto-Ordnance to try to reduce the rate of fire, so Oscar Payne (who had by then left the company) was tasked with finding a solution. This he did in a typically simple manner, by weighting the actuator with a riveted steel block and reducing the strength of the recoil and buffer springs. These measures dropped the cyclical rate to a far more manageable 600rpm and the US Marines’ postal service Thompsons were retro-converted to the new design, as were all stocks of earlier guns, which were re-stamped ‘1928’ over the original ‘1921’. The M1928 was officially introduced on 1 January that year and the left side of the receivers were marked ‘U.S Navy’. Tests were carried out on 12 M1928s by the Chief of Ordnance at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland through mid February 1928, and the new weapon proved very acceptable: ‘2010 rounds were fired with only three malfunctions, these being a failure to extract on gun number 7510. These were perhaps due to both corroded ammunition and a slight burring of the bronze lock.’3 The result was a very favourable test report, with only some faint criticism:

  The guns which were submitted for test are in excellent firing condition.

  That for tracer firing the mechanism opens a little too quickly this results in the gases getting into the eyes of the gunner.

  That the twelve guns as received from the Auto-Ordnance Corporation are satisfactory for test by the Infantry, Tank Corps and Cavalry.

  FBI agent on the range at the US Department of Justice building, with a Navy M1928 Thompson fitted with ‘L’ drum magazine.

  The M1928 is probably the most iconic and instantly recognizable of all of the Thompsons, with its finned barrel, bulbous Cutts compensator on the muzzle, drum magazine and wooden double pistol grips. As a result of this testing, 1,500 guns were accepted into US Navy service on 14 March 1932 as the ‘Gun, Submachine, Caliber .45, US Navy Model of 1928’. The Tommy gun was finally beginning its military career.

  3 US Ordnance Department report of 7 March 1928.

  THE NEW MODELS

  The years 1928–29 were crucial for Auto-Ordnance, as General Thompson retired from his position as head of the company in 1928, and the following year Fortune Ryan died. Sales of the Thompson had not been good, the Colt-made weapons having more or less kept the company afloat. Some 10,300 models had been sold in the United States and abroad, but they were insufficient to keep the company viable. The Thompson’s increasing use by the lawless elements of society had done nothing to add to its reputation either, and the Ryan heirs were keen to liquidate the company, which was valued at a mere $412,000 but with colossal debts of $2,200,000. Yet John and Marcellus Thompson (the son of General Thompson), still majority shareholders, blocked any and every attempt to shut down the company.

  This unhappy situation continued for the next decade, with Auto- Ordnance teetering on the brink of extinction but managing to continue on the basis of limited government orders. How long this situation could have continued is debatable, but coincidentally Marcellus died in 1939 and John Thompson the following year, enabling a suave and smoothtalking entrepreneur named Russell Maguire to purchase the ailing company for $529,000, on the understanding that the outstanding debt was written off. He cleverly managed to acquire a majority 50.8 per cent holding in the company, and thus the new Thompson Automatic Arms Corporation was formed. His acquisition did not endear him to either the arms industry or government, for he had something of a reputation for being, in today’s terminology, an asset stripper. However, like it or not, the future of the Thompson was in his hands and there was little that could be done about it.

  A 50-round ‘L’ drum designed by Oscar Payne, illustrating the positioning of the cartridges with the front plate and winder removed.

  Meanwhile, events outside of America were set to change not only the fortunes of the new company, but also the course of world history. While the outbreak of war between Britain and Germany in 1939 did not initially involve the United States, it led to a sudden upsurge in demand for small arms of all types from Britain, whose small professional army was woefully under-resourced. (See section ‘Britain adopts the Thompson’ below.) The evacuation from Dunkirk in May and June 1940 resulted in huge losses of materiel and weapons that British industrial production, still on a peacetime footing, was unable to replace at sufficient speed. The constant rises in demand put pressure on Thompson Arms, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 raised the stakes even higher. Two major problems faced Thompson at the start of 1939: the slow production of the M1928 guns, and their high cost. Larger-scale production was the answer, as large numbers reduced costs, but this step required a manufacturer with the capacity and experience to produce a product as complex as the Thompson. Colt had by this time ceased production of the Thompson, as it was no longer commercially viable, so Maguire approached the Savage Arms Corporation with an offer of manufacturing the M1928 under licence. Despite their misgivings (they had turned down a similar suggestion back in 1920), they agreed on the basis that all the existing tooling was supplied to them by Colt, and that 50 per cent of the contract price was paid in advance. Clearly Maguire’s reputation for being fly-by-night had preceded him. The initial contract of 13 December 1939 was for the supply of 10,000 M1928A guns at a cost price of $32 each ($496 or approximately £800 in current value), less the Cutts compensator or Lyman rear sight, as both were purchased directly from Lyman. Barrels would be threaded to accept a compensator and the fore-grip was attached at an extra cost of 67 cents per gun.

  The initial hope was that production would be started within ten weeks of the contract signing, but there was a complex chain of supply problems that seemingly no-one had understood. In fact, many of the parts for the original Thompsons had not been made by Colt at all, but had been subcontracted to a number of different suppliers. Although Colt had mainly been responsible for machining of the receivers and breech-blocks of the M1921 guns, the unmachined forgings were provided to them by Billings & Spencer of Hartford, Connecticut. The butt assembly, including buttplate, quick-release mechanism and barrel blanks, had been supplied by Remington Arms of Ilion, New York, who bought in the wood blanks from several suppliers. Originally both Colt and Savage had undertaken machining work on the barrels. The compensators were made by the Lyman Gunsight Company, who also supplied the sights, and some of the original tooling was still in use by both Colt and Remington, who were supplying spare parts for existing guns. Savage decided to begin production at its Utica factory in New York, but the proposed start date of January 1940 was very optimistic, and it is to their credit that production actually began fairly soon afterwards, in May 1940. The guns were sold to Thompson initially at $67 each, but this figure dropped to $59 by 1942, as production was simplified. Sale price to the US government was $130 per gun and a whopping $200 to the UK or other foreign buyers, which equated to about £45 at the time (about $3,320 or £2,070 in today’s currency). Almost all Savage-made guns have components stamped ‘S’ and serial numbers prefixed with an ‘S’, with the exception of one contract for 50,000 guns, unmarked for reasons that have baffled firearms historians ever since.4 Otherwise, all of the Savagemade guns are identical to the Colt ‘Navy’ Models of 1928, albeit some later guns were parkerized rather than blued.

  Up until this time, the US Army had shown little interest in the gun, but g
radually realized that there were no other viable options. Back in March 1932 they had placed the Thompson on a ‘limited procurement list’ for weapons they regarded as useful but non-essential. Initial cavalry interest in replacing their rifles with Thompsons had waned, and while a few guns had been purchased the cavalry formations preferred to wait for the issue of the new Garand M1 semi-automatic rifle. Later comparative tests actually showed that for cavalry use, which by now was predominantly service in armoured vehicles, the M1 was actually ill suited, being too long and overly powerful. They belatedly turned to the Thompson, which in September 1938 was re-designated as the ‘Submachine Gun, Caliber .45, Model of 1928A1’, and was at last placed on the official weapons supply list. Even then, the army did not look seriously at purchasing the guns for infantry issue, and it was not until June 1939 that they issued their first order to Thompson Arms, for 950 guns. Events moved quickly after that, for by late 1940, this number had been increased significantly to 20,405 M1928A1s, although a large number of these were destined for Britain. Post-Pearl Harbor, however, attitudes changed markedly, and the Ordnance Board began to realize that the supply of firearms was inadequate for the army’s needs. By February 1942, half a million Thompsons had been manufactured. Eventually, US troops in every theatre of war were carrying these submachine guns.

  4 Contract G-4, dated 6 November 1940.

  THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN CUTAWAY

  M1928A1

  Thompson Thompson models varied considerably in external appearance as the demands of a war economy forced a change from the traditional rich glossy blue-black exterior to a far more functional matt grey Parkerised finish. While the internal mechanisms were also simplified and cheapened, the basis function differed very little from the early Model 1921s to the last Model M1A1s. Specifications given are for the Model 1928A1.

  1. The Cutts compensator, showing the slotted vents that helped keep the barrel down when firing on fully-automatic.

  2. The sharp blade foresight. In combat this snagged on clothing and accoutrements and in its final incarnation, the M1A1, the foresight was a rounded pattern with no angular edges.

  3. The unique walnut fore-grip. It aided aiming and steadied the weapon but was expensive to manufacture and like the foresight it was not entirely practical in combat.

  4. The 10.5 inch (266mm) barrel, with six-groove, right-hand twist rifling. It made the overall length of the M1928A1 33.75 ins (857mm).

  5. The 50-round drum magazine. With a cyclic rate of 800rpm this could be emptied in 3.7 seconds, firing its .45 calibre bullets at a velocity of 910 fps (277m/s).

  6. The centrally mounted actuator, or cocking handle. Practical for either right or left-handed shooters it blocked the view of the foresight, so had to have a slot machined through it.

  7. The recoil or buffer spring. This soaked up recoil but more importantly provided the motive force to return the breech block to the firing position, stripping a fresh cartridge from the magazine as it did so.

  8. The walnut pistol grip. A comfortable design that did not change, it was retained by a single large internal screw.

  9. The protective wings for the delicate Lyman sight. Omitted from the M1, they were reinstated on the M1A1 models.

  10. The walnut stock. A quick-release design, it also held an oil bottle accessed via a small flap in the steel buttplate.

  11. The sling swivel. Many combat Thompsons had the rear swivel moved to the side or top of the butt and the foregrip swivel screwed to the left or right side of the grip providing a more comfortable position for the sling.

  IMPROVEMENTS, AND THE M1A1

  Despite Savage’s initial lack of enthusiasm for producing the Thompson, it was gradually proving profitable, for by the end of 1940 some 20,450 guns had been ordered. But there still remained the practical difficulties in manufacturing a gun with the close internal tolerances required by the Blish system and the amount of machining required for items such as the expensive walnut stocks and pistol grips, finned barrel, compensator, adjustable sights etc. To make a gun soldier-proof is very difficult indeed, as any weapons designer will confirm. It must be robust, have minimal working parts, be simple to strip and re-assemble, have nothing that requires adjustment (if a soldier can fiddle with something to ‘improve’ it, he will do), be relatively unaffected by dirt, sand and lack of oil, and be tolerant of a poor cleaning regime. The M1928s fell short in a number of respects, for beautifully finished as they were, they required a reasonable level of care, the fore-end grip protruded awkwardly and the adjustable rear sight was unnecessary on a close-range weapon. The drum magazines were also awkward to fit and heavy to carry, as well as being prone to rattling, as one soldier reportedly remarked, ‘like a can of ball-bearings’.

  Left and right side views of an M1A1 clearly showing the cleaner lines of this variant. The actuator has been moved to the right, the plain fore-end and short muzzle make for smoother profile. The under-mounted sling swivels were not ideal though, as the gun tended to hang upside-down when carried across the chest. This weapon was used during the battle of Guadalcanal.

  The original M1 peep-rearsight (director) on the right, compared to the improved M1A1 with its protective wings on the left.

  From 1940 there began a slow process of evolution that was to lead to the Thompson becoming a much leaner and more workman-like side-arm, but initially there was not a coherent policy. As with any production item, variations occurred depending on when changes were introduced, the availability of certain components and sometimes simply what was in the parts bins at the time. Therefore Thompsons could, and did, appear with any number of parts variations, due mainly to the vagaries of production in the years between 1940 and the eventual production of the wartime M1 models in 1942. This evolutionary period was interesting from the point of view of understanding the shortcomings of the original design when put into military use. Generally, guns commercially supplied to law-enforcement departments or private citizens are seldom given the sort of harsh use that a combat firearm will receive in its lifetime, and weaknesses show up very quickly.

  Internally, the time-consuming machined ejector was replaced with one made of spring steel, with the ejector being riveted over to retain it. The distinctive rounded barrel fins, thought vital for cooling when the gun was used at maximum rate of fire, were first altered to a simpler, squared section, then eliminated altogether. In practice, the Thompson was seldom used with an ammunition supply greater than 50 rounds, and mostly with 20-round box magazines. Changing the smaller-capacity magazines gave sufficient time for the barrel to cool and short bursts of fire were normal in combat, hence the capacity of the larger drums was more hindrance than help. An unfinned barrel was found to be sufficiently robust not to require additional cooling. The Lyman rear sight was discontinued, being replaced with a very simple riveted ‘L’ shaped peepsight that was later given additional protection by the fitting of angular ‘wings’ similar to those used on the Lyman. Lighter, cheaper hardwoods were substituted for the lovely but costly American walnut stocks and the fore-end grip, which often snagged in clothing or on equipment, was eliminated. Instead, a horizontal fore-end with finger grooves was introduced in March 1941. Sling swivels were inserted into both fore-end and butt stock. All of these improvements were based on practical experience in the field, but they did not greatly speed up production, and demand for the Thompson was growing by the day.

  Although by this stage in the war the M1A1 was the commonly issued Thompson, this 1943 War Bonds poster still chose to feature the classic shape of the M1928.

  Production guns being inspected at the Savage factory.

  A request by the British government for assistance with the supply of war materiel subsequently led to the creation of the Lend-Lease programme in March 1941, whereby ships, tanks, vehicles and small arms were to be sent to Britain in exchange for use of vital military bases in Canada, Bermuda and the West Indies. Initially some 4,700 Colt-manufactured M1921A Thompsons were set aside for shi
pment to Britain. Clearly production at Savage was going to be insufficient to meet the demand, and the site for a new Auto-Ordnance plant was purchased in August 1940 at Bridgeport, Connecticut. Production did not begin until January 1941 and was limited to the manufacture of receivers and trigger units, with Remington still being the major contractor for the supply of barrels, most internal parts, butts and fittings.

  In the face of complaints from the US government about the high cost of Thompsons, Auto-Ordnance needed to lower the unit price of their guns. Although they had managed to lower it to $108 by the end of 1941, it was still expensive in comparison to other guns – an M1 Garand rifle, for example, was half the price. At this point, Savage engaged the fertile brain of an ex-patriot British engineer named John Pearce, who had become their chief engineer. He and co-designer Nicholas Brewer took a long hard look at the Thompson, in particular its complex Blish lock. They were well aware of the test reports from two decades earlier, in which Thompsons had been successfully fired without the lock in place, and they were sure that workable guns could be produced if it was eliminated. They set to work, and by the winter of 1941 had produced a test piece that they demonstrated to F. Hickey, president of Savage Arms. It was test fired for 10,000 rounds and performed excellently; indeed, so confident were Savage and Pearce that they submitted the ‘New Model’ to the US Army Ordnance Board for testing in March 1942. The most fundamental change internally was the total omission of the Blish locking system, for with the breech-block and recoil spring properly matched to the power of the .45- calibre cartridge, the Thompson functioned perfectly as a simple blowback weapon. As military use of the drum magazine was almost negligible, the locating slots for it on the receiver body were also removed, allowing only the use of box magazines. The centrally mounted cocking handle, always contentious on the M1928, was moved to the right-hand side of the receiver, although this was possibly a retrograde step, as it made the gun more difficult for left-handers to cock and carry across the body. (An experimental ambidextrous M1A1 was manufactured later in the war, but never put into production.) The lovely chequered fire selector and safety levers of the original guns were altered to simple rotating studs with steel pins through them. Internal parts such as firing pins, recoil springs, extractors and trigger units remained basically the same as on the M1928.