Post by Claymore This is the new just released model of the MGC chicago thompson, the gangster Thompsom or as MGC have on their box the Anti Bandit, umm!!
OUT OF THE BOX
first the box the Thompson comes in is smaller than i expected this is because the Chicago comes broken down, the shoulder stock detaches from the main body and to fit it you simply slide it into place, to take it off you push a button located on the shoulder stock and slide the stock off, all very easy.
The gun itself is full metal, well zinc alloy i believe but still alot stronger than ABS and the shoulder stock and hand grip are real wood. This gives the model a good hefty weight of 5.5kgs.
The barrel is finned, which on the real gun was to aid cooling i think and has a cutts compensater on the barrel end to reduce felt recoil. This can be changed by unscrewing and a normal front sight can be fitted. Why you would want to change the cutts i dont know as it really finishes the gun off. The model comes with a drum mag which holds 39 rounds of 45 cal.
This model also has an adjustable rear sight, a nice touch but obviously not of use on a modelgun.
The finish is a matt black and it will be interesting to see if it lasts but at the moment it looks like a good job has been done. This is a really solid model that looks and feels good the moment you pick it up.
DRUM MAG
The drum mag is supposed to take 39 rounds, i always thought the real Thompson drums were 50 round ones but anyway 39 takes enough time to load then clean and load etc, so 39 are fine. However i have found that i can only get 37 in. I am told that the rounds need to be a little loose in the drum and if you put 39 in then the rounds are tight against each other and could cause feeding problems. I have not tried to jam in 39 as it really is a tight fit and 2 rounds more , does it really matter?
loading is straight forward, first you take the lever that winds the spring off, then the back plate comes off with just a little pull, then you just place your rounds bullet head up into the drum replace the back plate and push the winding lever back on, easy.
You then have to wind the spring up so that you have enough tension to push the rounds around, 5 clicks (as you turn the lever it clicks as an indication) is supposed to be enough but after about 15 rounds my drum stopped working so i now give it 6 clicks and it works perfectly.
PREPARING THE GUN FOR FIRING
I always cock the gun before putting the drum on, i dont know if you are supposed to but i find the drum goes on a lot easier if you do, well for me at least. There are rail guides front and back of the drum you align these with the recesses in the gun from the right side and push the drum on till it click's into the mag release lever.
The Chicago is a semi and full auto model and the selector is a small lever on the left side of the gun the safety selector is to the rear of it. Choose semi or auto and you are ready to fire.
FIRING
The first squeeze of the trigger is always a worrying time for me due to guns breaking or failing to funtion and that is always a disappointment. So for the first squeeze on the Chicago i was apprehensive, i squeezed the trigger and 10 rounds (ish) went flying across the room, ho ho ho. a huge grin appeared on my face, i squeezed again a longer burst this time aboout 15 - 20, rounds went flying and the room filled with smoke, i squeezed again anfd the remaning rounds went off. The room was full of smoke now and i had to be careful on breathing as it is pretty dense smoke, i ws impressed, not one failure all rounds had fired and that is good for me, the rate of fire is impressive although you can control the bursts well and the rounds ejected far (i really need to put some foam padding on the wall's) plus you get a really good sound from this gun due to it being all metal. it's just like the rat a tat tat sound you expect from a gangster gun.
You need a bit of a breeze when firing this gun so leave a window open or put a fan on as the smoke is very heavy and lingers, the Chicago does not have an open barrel so this could be the reason it smokes so close to your face (and lungs) if you had smoke coming out of the barel it would push it forward and away from you.
I put 5, 37 round drums through it yesterday and only 2 rounds failed to function properly and caused a jam, now for a modelgun that is good.
CAPS
From the pics you can see the difference in using marushin caps or mgc caps. Using marushin you get a lot of sparks which is pretty impressive when firing long bursts, or you can have the mgc caps which are a little louder and have a bit more power, which is never a bad thing. Smoke wise it does not seem to make any difference which caps i use a lot of smoke is still producedand as i use light oil to lube the rounds you have that mixed in as well, great for smokers. But you can put up with the smoke as it is an enhancement to the whole effect. I cannot decide between the caps, so i will have to fire a load more rounds of each until i can.
CLEANING AFTER FIRING
As with all modelguns cleaning after firing is essential especially for the barrel pin detonator which gets gummed up a lot. Fortunately stripping the Chicago is easy. First take the shoulder stock off then undo 1 allen bolt in the rear body underside then 2 srews at the front underside and the main body comes apart revealing the bolt and spring. The spring is held in place by a large pin that goes through the rear of the body you simply depress this pinand pull the spring out, the bolt is then pulled to the rear and out it comes.
To take the barrel pin out you need to remove the ejector first this is on the underside on the gun wher the drum mag locates, 1 screw holds this in. The barrel pin is housed in it's own metal cylinder and it is the cylinder that has to be removed it is held in place by 1 screw on the underside of the barrel just below the rear of the front grip. Clean and oil and replace in reverse order.
Sorry if the description is not great but if you get a Chicago it will be obvious.
CONCLUSION
This is a top class mosel in every respect, it looks good, it weighs a lot, it's solidly made and it performs flawlessy, i really cannot praise it enough.
It will jam but again that is part and parcel of the rounds working properly and out of nearly 160 rounds only 2 failed, now for a model gun that is good. The shoulder stock is a bit loose not so that you would notice when firing but if you get hold of it it wrattles a bit, but it is a removable stock so you have to accept that.
All in all a damn good model, top marks to MGC for re-releasing it.
Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:19 pm
rounds respectively. (The MGC drums where actually sold by Auto-Ordnance in the USA as the XL drum for use in the real Thompsons in the 1970's)
I cannot imagine that breating the phosporus smoke is actually good for you so, it is a good idea to have proper ventilation in the room while firing these modelguns.
