Army needed a more compact rifle with a higher volume of fire.
Operating in the tight confines of hundreds of miles of trenches, the U.S. This new rifle was originally meant to be the answer to the trench warfare of World War I. Thompson, the rifle was created under the Auto Ordnance Company banner as the M1921. This week, we look at the modern civilian-legal Thompson 1927-A1 from Auto Ordnance to find out more about its legendary roots and why it is still popular today. Beloved by gangster and G-man alike, this firearm shaped a nation in turmoil before heading to war to help save the world. No firearm was ever a truer icon of an era more than the Thompson. Crime reigned supreme to the signature rhythmic typewriter sounds of what would become a hallmark of the times, the Thompson machine gun echoing in the streets.
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People still dressed up to go to dinner, Jazz music was in full bloom over the air waves and secret passwords had to be uttered through a back-alley door to gain entrance to the local speak easy. In those days, it seemed all the criminals had nicknames like Baby-face, Bugsy and Machine Gun to go along with their deadly comic book-like antics. Auto-Ordnance primarily built M1A1 models.Imagine what is must have been like to walk the streets of a big city like Chicago during the Roaring Twenties with Prohibition still in full swing. Savage produced 722,794 M1 and M1A1 Thompsons, while Auto-Ordnance manufactured 110,602 M1s and M1A1s. (You’ll note that Auto-Ordnance’s semiautomatic M1A1 Thompson lacks the fire selector lever, but does have the appropriate pin-style safety.) The M1A1, adopted in October 1942, further simplified the bolt by eliminating the hammer assembly and fixing the firing pin in place.
Early M1s used a milled paddle-style fire selector and safety levers, while the M1A1 received a pin-style selector and safety lever. The M1 featured a smooth, unfinned, 10.52-inch barrel that was not fitted for a compensating muzzle device. The rear notch-aperture sight was also simplified and given protection by triangular wings. Neither the M1 or M1A1 would accept drum magazines, which were largely phased out by D-Day. Though many parts were interchangable with the 1928A1, the M1 featured a new side-charging bolt, a redesigned pilot rod and recoil spring assembly, a trigger frame that required a redesign of the pistol grip, and a narrower magazine slot with a new magazine catch. Developed with fewer features by the Savage Corporation, the design was submitted to the Ordnance Department, then tested and quickly put into production through Savage and Auto-Ordnance (AO). (Some historians believe that there were also 1928A1 and M1 Thompsons at the scene.) The M1A1 Thompson was the result of the 1942 simplification of the 1928A1, which was expensive and labor intensive. Army Ranger Assault Group reached the top, secured the battery area and defended against counter-attacks until they were relieved two days after on June 8, 1944.Ī number of the 225 Rangers included scouts, staff- and non-commissioned officers, made the assault with a.
Almost an hour later, members of the U.S. Under the cover of fire support from three Allied ships, Rangers scaled the cliffs using rope ladders that weren’t nearly long enough. The German army had installed concrete casemates and gun pits for fortification the year prior, but had yet to place their large guns. It was the highest point between the American landings at Utah and Omaha beaches. Their mission was to seize German fortifications at Pointe du Hoc, a promontory with a 100-foot cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwest coast of Normandy, France.