“Tag: Thompson Submachine Gun”

Auto-Ordnance Thompson 1927 A1 SBR Review

Turn your Ruger 10/22 into a semi-auto .22 Thompson machinegun clone.

After World War I, Thompson became very interested in, if not obsessed with, the concept of a “trench broom,” as he called it, for close-quarters fighting.

Thompson submachine guns served with British troops during World War II.

The iconic Thompson Submachine Gun was the main Allied submachine gun in the critical early years of World War II. From Bataan to the Kasserine Pass, and from Normandy to Okinawa, the “Tommy Gun” served American troops well.

In 1921, “Marching Miners” squared off against mine owners and the “Logan County Defenders” in the mountains of West Virginia in one of the biggest labor disputes-and battles-to occur on United States soil, and one in which Thompson submachine guns loomed large.

In September 1944, American and British airborne troops jumped into Nazi-occupied Holland in a desperate gamble to end the Second World War by Christmas.

So, when was the Thompson submachine gun first fired in combat? Was it during the June 1921 West Virginia “coal wars” or perhaps even earlier?

Every gun collector has a pet passion, a particular niche where he or she feels most at home. Gordon Herigstad’s passion was the Colt Thompson submachine gun, however, unlike most collectors, Herigstad did the community of collectors a big favor—he wrote down everything he knew about Thompsons and published it.