M1 Auto Ordnance Advice

I've always wanted a Thompson, know I'll most likely never have a full auto version unless I win the lottery (which I rarely play). I managed to get my heart set on an Auto Ordnance semi Friday night only to have it dashed when the rifle had already sold by the time I could call them Saturday. In the meantime I decided to put out some feelers via a want ad and got a hit immediately.

Only problem is, and I don't know that it is a problem, is that it has an aluminum receiver. This is the Kahr lightweight version of the M1.

My preference is steel, I don't know that I will be happy with an aluminum frame, especially if something happens to it.

What is known about these, I did see a lot of negatives but they were all pretty old. This has been manufactured in the past two years.

I want something that will last but like my other firearms,I probably won't shoot it a lot.

Spent last evening looking around and found nothing good and a lot of bad on the aluminum receivers. In general, extremely mixed reviews on the Kahr rifles as well. Seems people either love them or hate them with little in between. I don't think I'm going to rush into this one.

I wouldn't be buying an aluminum M1 receivered anything. Not with the amount of good ex GI out there.

Guys that owned them said that the cartridges had to create their own groove to the chamber. Meaning that cartridges from the magazine were gouging the aluminum in front of the magazine. After 50 rounds or so it stopped and functioned fine. Others said they started to show wear quickly and were only good for about 15,000 rounds. Now that seems like a lot but it also seems like a bad resale option as who wants to buy something they have no idea how many rounds went through it.

No GI stuff around due to the full auto capability so these are our options. I can't afford a real one.

You can't find a GI Carbine? Not at all? Strange...they weren't all F/A. Or is it a state law?

Jim,

I'm talking about the M1 Thompson (submachinegun), this is their semi auto reproduction of the late war Thompson. Barrel is longer but other than that and the necessaries to make it a semi, supposed to be a pretty close example. They do make an SBR model also along with the older style Tommy guns that take the drum magazine.

Cabelas locally had one and with my points and a nice check I just got for serving in Desert Storm 25 years ago, I had more than enough to cover it. They have a bad habit of not updating their website however and it was gone. I placed an ad locally and a guy responded with one that was $150 less than Cabelas but it turned out to be the aluminum receiver model, the "lightweight". Most everyone that had one seemed to have problems with it and had to do smithing to get them running right.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

the M1 Thompson

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That's different...but the same still. The aluminum receivers were less than stellar in those. I know of one man that CNC'd an aluminum upper and lower from some super aluminum alloy and the whole gun weighs under 5 lbs... Thompsons I've had lots of hands on, and I'd look for a steel receiver. Wait a minute. It'll show up...

It showed up. Cabelas so it did not cost me much out of pocket. Just got it this evening. I don't believe it has ever been fired. No scuff marks on the finish in front of the chamber. Wood doesn't have any defects. Finish on metal worn along the charger and one ding on a sharp edge. Wife wanted to go to the outlets, I said I'd go so long as we went to Cabelas. Checked online and they had this one listed. Went up and no where to be found. They just got it in and still had it in the back. I was the first guy to look at it.

So...I'm guessing you have it in hand? Love to have a look. You'll see now, the steel receiver will never do you foul. Pics...?

A rare event for me but I didn't take it out of the box they wrapped it in yet. Got home and had a few things to catch up on and then a promised movie night with the wife. Jurrasic World which we thought was great by the way. Now it's after midnight and I'm trying to get settled down from the movie and the box is in the bedroom. I'll post some pics soon. I believe it to be an older model before Kahr took over but I do not know that for sure. Markings are sparce. Has the Thompson arrowhead on the rear top of the receiver and Auto Ordnance on the one side. I think the Kahr models have a whole series of patent numbers on them which I didn't see on this. It is the late war military model without the muzzle break and drum magazine. Extended barrel to make it legal. Heavy bugger and a real bear to get the bolt locked back. It seems to be something that once you figure it out it's not so bad, kind of like the safety on a Mosin Nagant. I had to set the butt on the floor the first time but after that was able to do it normally. Pretty nice walnut stock, too nice really, but I got it to shoot it so I'm going to do my best to not worry about the stock.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Has the Thompson arrowhead

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A bullet my brother...it's a bullet.

Bolt shouldn't be so hard to draw back, it does fire from an open bolt? The long barreled ones I had occasion to shoot were a closed bolt affair and yes, they were hard to cycle a round from the mag. They were a different design to original T-Guns though.

This fires from a closed bolt. Design is supposed to be almost identical to the originals with the exception of what is necessary to make it semi-auto and commercial legal and that negates the open bolt operation. I read that some guys swapped out various parts to make them as original as possible but I don't plan to do that.

I had one in hand some years back...about '95...and it had the long barrel and fired from a closed bolt. It had a huge actuator knob, twice as tall as original. It fired from a closed bolt. When stripped for cleaning, it had three springs in the bolt. One regular center spring, two smaller ones, located on each side up top. All three were in the bolt. The bolt was an M1 bolt and the gun was called the 1927A1. The lower had not been machined to take F/A parts, only half the machining was done and the parts had been altered. The bolt had a firing pin inside that used a long hook downward to catch the trigger and the big center spring drove it. Putting a drum on was a two man thing. One hold the bolt back and the other mount the drum. When shot, the gun actually had recoil... Eventually I swapped the 16" to a 12" barrel. It worked OK but was far from being able to just swap parts to make it F/A... It MAY have been an Auto Ord...long time ago.

I don't think these can be easily converted to F/A. They usually make the bolts smaller or something similar to originals won't work. That's the way the Soumi rifle are. I read where guys like to swap out the stocks and stuff like that. I wouldn't mind doing that maybe to make it look more used but not a huge deal. Original magazines need something filed off the top so they work I think they are slightly taller or some such thing. This one will not accept a drum, strictly stick, like the originals, it also has the knob on the side rather than the top like the older, more expensive to build type. This is the military simplified version that started service in 1942 or so.

The mag catch hole was usually stretched with a drill bit upward, looking oblong. Yes, yours resembles the M1, the one I had in hand was a copy of '28. It took a drum. The bolt was an M1, just more holes. The lower needed massive milling to change to auto parts.

Now, to get pics and take it out and go through a case of ammo...and tell us...

I am hoping to get photos tomorrow, believe it or not, it's still in the box. I'm also hoping to take it to the range on Sunday but I won't be shooting an entire case. It has a 10 day repair warranty from Cabelas and I'd like to verify it doesn't have issues.

We'll be here...