I bought a Thompson.  Now here are the questions to keep this bad boy running.

1 - What spare parts should I have on hand to keep this thing running for the next 30 years and where should I get them?

2 - Where is the best place to get magazines for this?

3 - Anything I should be aware of or watch for as I operate this?

Congratulations. It will give a lifetime of joy.
For mags there are many sources. $20 ea xxx or xx. Get a pair of L drums. The new Crosby drums made in Taiwan are good $200 ea

Spare parts are plentiful.  Replace any worn parts you find. Use only USGI parts. They will last a lifetime. A set of fresh springs is good.


Do you reload 45acp?

Yea, congratulations and what timkel said.

What did your get 1921/1928/M1A? Colt/Savage/Bridgeport/NAC/West Hurley?

If it's a West Hurley gun ('28 or M1), spend the money on a complete parts kit , and do all your shooting with the USGI internals..


there is an excellent Small Arms Review article about which components are prone to fail.......

http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=224

Topic Moved

Thompson, M1A1, Bridgeport,

That is the model.  

Where should I get the mags and drums?

Are the 20 or 30 rounders better etc?

Gunbroker usually has spare parts and mags .
Save the search and get emails whenever things come up
Military surplus store will sometimes be a good resource .

Xx and xxx mags can be found here. There are other sellers


 

It's a personal preference. Either is just  as reliable. I like the xx, but have both. A box mag loader is nice if you like shooting full auto.

 

M1 and M1A1 only take stick magazines, no drums.

I have seen one M1 butchered to take drums, but it seriously weakens the receiver and destroys the value.

Only the 21 and 28 or 28a1 models take drums.

You have a fine firearm.

Trip on over to the machinegunboards.com website and visit the Thompson full auto forum.  The members there are the most Thompson knowledgeable people on Earth.

Enjoy!

As above. machinegunboards.com.   All the info you need.   Post photos of your Tommy.

The odds of anything breaking on your M1A1:  almost zero

The "almost" could be your grip mount -the metal bar that the forend is attached to.  
If it has a rivet visible just at the rear of the forend, it's a two piece mount, and these can break at the rivet point.
Some break, some don't.  Some break clean off; some just crack and are loose, but don't come apart. It doesn't hurt the gun, just no longer holds the forend in place.
The cure is to replace with a one piece milled GI grip mount.  The barrel needs to be pulled to do this.
This requires special tools and knowledge.  There are several Thompsonsmiths who can do this.

The one other issue might be to replace the M1A1 bolt with an M1 bolt.  
The M1A1 bolt has a fixed firing pin, and can fire a cartridge out of battery if everything goes wrong.
The M1 bolt has a firing pin and hammer, and is much less likely, -maybe even impossible, to fire out of battery.
The two bolts are completely interchangeable, and is the only difference between the two models.
If you do buy a parts kit, make sure it is a M1 or M1A1 parts kit.  They are getting quite expensive, and you will probably never need or use most or all of the parts.
A 1928 parts kit will have a 1928 bolt, Blish lock, Actuator, grip, and butt stock, all of which will not be usable on your M1A1.

As mentioned earlier, go to Machinegunboards.com
The worlds collection of Thompson experts are waiting to help you.

I would not get a parts kit.

You'll never use 99% of the kit and the kits are very expensive now.

if you use a part from the kit, then you have an incomplete kit and you'll end up buying the part anyway.

Get a USGI extractor and ejector

Get a spare recoil springs

then you're pretty much done

the gun is STRONG, actually way overbuilt, your trigger finger will wear out long before you wear the gun out

I would not bother with the M1 bolt, the M1A1 bolt works perfect, it's the same setup as the grease gun, UZI and countless other open-bolt MGs.


one item you should get for sure is a barrel band for the fore grip

the original 21/28 model Thompson was made so the grip only touched the barrel at one point, right dead center of a barrel fin.

So the front grip mount is cantilevered and the cheaper riveted WWII mounts can break.

to remedy that, they came up with a barrel band.  once the band is on the gun, the foregrip is held on the gun rock solid for forever.


your M1 should be mated with the 30 round mag.  don't feel bad about not shooting drums, they are overrated.  original drums are all in the $600+ range now on up to $5,000

you can find new productions drums that will fit on the M1/M1A1 models, just hang on the mag catch instead of sliding sideways into the receiver.  but the 30 round sticks are perfect so why bother with the drum

some idiots cut drum slots in the M1 models back when these guns were only worth $500 but it basically destroys the gun


the M1 and M1A1 are a genuine product upgrade from the 21 and 28 models, less fancy but simpler and more robust, a far better weapon

everything they stripped off the gun to make the M1 model was an improvement over the 28.  

you are going to be flat out amazed at what a great gun you have, the Thompson hoses out 45 slugs like it's airsoft pellets

if you cannot hit the target with that gun, you're doing it wrong.

Everything you need to know has already been said, and I would definitely suggest the machinegunboards forum for more knowledge about Thompsons than you'll ever realize existed...

I will say, I keep spare recoil springs, extractor, and ejector. Since mine is an M1 and has the M1 bolt, I keep a firing pin, spring and a hammer. I don't think I'll ever need any of these parts (except maybe springs), but they came with it and I know I don't have to worry about it if something should break.

I also have an M1A1 bolt from a parts kit I bought years ago. It's interesting that the M1A1 bolt with fixed firing pin does have a slower firing rate than the M1 bolt with floating firing pin. This is of course due to the little bit of extra weight of the M1A1 bolt since there is nothing cut out for the firing pin to fit in.

The subject of an out of battery explosion on an M1A1 bolt has been hashed out extensively on the machinegunboards. And it makes for an interesting read if you want to check it out. But the conclusion has been mostly that there is really a very very low chance of an OOB explosion happening from either bolt type.

Congrats on your purchase! Need to see some pics! I love the M1/M1A1 types because they have some WWII history attached to them. They're just so much fun to shoot... Good luck on your long wait!

Congrats on the Thompson purchase,

I would agree most everything has been covered.  The Thompson in general is a really robust firearm and the M1 and M1A even that much more.  There is a wealth of information on machinegunboards and you could spend days reading the archives over there.

I bought my first Thompson last year (1928 Savage) after years of indecision (WH 1928, M1,  wartime 1928, etc.)  and have really enjoyed it the handful of time I have taken it out.   Its interesting to see how many folks if given the choice of a table of machineguns to shoot will immediately gravitate toward the Thompson first even though its a 70 year old gun and close to 100 year old tech vs. a much more modern MG sitting right next to it.

I purchased a bunch of USGI 30rd mags from the Sportsmans Guide (of all places) many years ago and while somewhat covered in cosmoline and  missing some finish, all have all been 100% functional so far.  Looks like they still have then for $26 each.

Pics of my Savage

Nice ................. pics of my Bridgeport NAC 1928-A1 ..........................

There is something about Thompsons that fascinates people.

How many books have been written about the Thompson at this point?  20 or 30?


It's interesting that the M1 and M1A1 Thompsons jumped from around 18k to around 25k in a year.

It's like everyone suddenly realized that they are about the best WWII collectable firearm out there.

People used to think that the M1 / M1A1 was a "cheapo" version of the Thompson.

But the truth is that there is no cheapo version of the Thompson.  The Thompson comes in two varieties - incredibly deluxe or very deluxe.

The M1A1 version of the Thompson is like the Garand.  The gun is sculpted from solid steel bar and it's like a work of industrial art.

the 30s work perfect so why bother with the 20?

30 rounds seems to be an ideal size for a magazine

I have mostly 30s but a few 20 rounders for when people want to shoot it, and I tell them, "Sure - but you have to pay for the ammo.  $8 for the 20 or $12 for the 30."  After 20 rounds, they usually had the itch scratched.

MHO, YMMV, and so forth.

Great looking early Savage!!

Thanks guys.  Mine is a pre-86.  I paid 14K for it.  I have always wanted one so I am super happy it is inbound.

It seems like my life revolves around waiting for my loved ones to be released from ATF prison

14k for a dealer sample?  Holy crap.

Whoops.  Actually 12K.  Is that still to high?

I've seen plenty of pre-sample guns that price range.   Post samples lower, but that's a different category.

Paid $12.5 for my WH

Damn!

Win some lose some.  I guess I should be happy I got my fully transferable Uzi at 6K, my HK Fleming at 10k and my DLO 1919 at  11K.  

Hopefully time will ease the pain of overpaying.

My 1928 Savage was $20K and it came with a $500 drum (plus misc other accessories) so I figure I am into the gun itself for about $19.5K give or take.  That was Oct/Nov 2015 timeframe.

Here is a pre-may Thompson for $12.5k
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/561940534

Im not an expert on tommy guns but It doesn't look like you got ripped off. There is certainly a wide range of price. Just as an example M16s can go from $15 - 40k+

While one could consider almost all machine guns in the U.S. as 'collectible', like most collectibles of anything, the pricing on the Thompsons is very dependent on scarcity of the particular variation, condition (including originality of parts), whether the particular gun has any historical significance with provenance, and the accessories included with the gun (and their scarcity and condition).

For Thompsons, another factor is that the post-WWII Thompsons, whether they are those assembled in the 1950s and maybe later from left over parts or the 70s and 80s West Hurley guns, generally have a lower value.  [A similar scenario exists for the Ingram submachine guns.  Those made by some manufacturers are more valuable than others for various reasons.]

Add in the relatively few Thompsons that come up for sale, apples to apples comparisons are sometimes difficult to come up with.

MHO, YMMV, et cetera.

#3 - If you experience an erection lasting more than 4 hours, contact your doctor immediately.  

Sorry I was late to the party but your Thompson needs a .22lr conversion kit.

Merle Bitikoffer made mine for my Savage M1 Thompson.  Black Dog machine makes magazines (30 round) for it and Merle even has converted drums available.

The kit is well made and is steel where it should be and aluminum where it can be.

I think I paid about $500 for my kit.  A 10+ pound .22lr that runs at about 750rpm is ridiculous fun.  I call mine a "giggle machine".

 
how many rds in the drum.

Not trying to sound like an ass, but how did you buy this without knowing hardly anything about them? It doesn't really seem like an impulse type of buy.

50, I think.  I don't have one but Merle said he modified them to fit and they would even work in an M1.

Very cool weapon !
And you can actually fire it (perish the thought !) unlike a nice Colt.
I'm looking for a mint Colt but after seeing one for sale that had a squib round go off and devalue the weapon by 10 or 20K would sweat bullets actually using the thing.
Military parts are plentiful.
You can still get new in wrapper WW2 stick mags cheap.
Drums are sexy but bulky. Your M1 probably cant use them.
Go to machinegunboards and introduce yourself.

The drums are for the 1921 and 1928 models only.  They slide in sideways very securely, that's why the Thompson has that open mag well and the rib on the back of the stick mags.

They eliminated the drum mag and created a 30 round stick mag starting with the M1 model, the troops did not like the bulky and heavy drum mags.  So the M1s have no drum slots.

You can buy a newly made 50 rnd drum that has a rib welded to the back so it can be inserted vertically like a stick mag.  And then you can use it in the M1/M1A1 model, if that floats your boat.

occasionally you see an M1 or M1A1 that has had the drum slots cut into it by some pinhead.  That basically ruins the collector value of the gun and fubars the structural integrity, so don't buy any M1/M1A1 with drum slots unless it's priced way way down, like 50% off.