Thompson 1921 Questions

Upon trying to remove the foregrip of my Thompson, I found there was no screw holding it on! After an hour of searching and looking with a flashlight, I concluded something was amiss. I tapped it with soft face hammer and it fell off! I now know what the little piece of metal is that I found attached to the top of the vertical foregrip I wanted to put on, it was part of the rifle foregrip mount that someone broke off. The instead glued the original one back on!!



Now, how does one remove all the old glue from the inside of the grip, and can the broken piece be brazed back on. I am a very proficient welder/brazer, but will the metal hold up to the heat?



What is up with this s/n being stamped in ink, and not engraved or stamped in the metal? Are others like this and is it normal?



And finally what is up with the area that looks like it was milled? It makes me think some kind of data was removed? Is this normal? I did find one photo that had: Caliber 45. MGC Patent Blowback Cartridges in the area that looks milled. If this is the case, why was it removed? Legal reasons perhaps?



Everything I seem to buy or acquire always seems to be other than normal or totally messed up. Please help if you can as I am wondering if this is worth restoring back to original or should I just make it a cool wall decoration?

Quote :

I did find one photo that had: Caliber 45. MGC Patent Blowback Cartridges in the area that looks milled. If this is the case, why was it removed? Legal reasons perhaps?

Definitely...especially in the US ...

1) very doubtful the part could be brazed back on, Zinc wont take too much heat.may have to be repaired another way
2) Serial number has been added for effect , this area is usally blank
3) Yes as has been mentioned the info removed for the US market

DOC

Hi feerless,

I have used some low melting point solder/brazing rods with mixed success as Doc says the melting point of the cast zinc is way below most aluminium (or aluminum for our cousins across the pond) repair solutions

The only thing that came close is this
http://www.muggyweld.com/potmetal.html

When it works it's good but it's not got a great structural strength so considering where the damage is I'd go for another repair solution

Hope this helps

8Ace

Original series of MGC Thompson did not feature any serial number. There was just a blank area below "MODEL OF 1921", quite a confusing thing.

MGC did add serial number (not unique I think) and different markings (painted, not engraved) for a special limited edition.
Your model doesn't seem to be from that edition. Most likely the importer (RMI/CA) marked it additionally before selling.
It was also probably at the same time that the other part of markings was removed due to licensing (?) issues.
Many, if not most modelguns imported to US were either manufactured separately without any markings (Colt Woodsman, Luger P08) or had them removed by the importer.

Mine also has a milled section, so I'm guessing that it is not US specific.

Maybe it was done on any export in Japan already, rather than import into US?
Just thinking loud.

But looking at other MGC export pistols (i.e. M1911A1 / various revolvers etc) most of the real steel reference have already been avoided...therefore the milled section might just be an extra precaution by RMI & Co...and Dan's Thompson might be shipped from the US beforehand (as we haven't seen Thompsons from the UK or other places having the calibre milled away)...wild guess...

Actually, I think you might be right about mine, Jim.

I believe Wellington Surplus were importing all their replica/model guns from Collectors Armory in the US, because I remember most of their hand guns at the time having RMI badging or in RMI boxes.

Unfortunately I think all of you are correct, I just can’t figure out what a little bit of text or data on a model gun would cause such an issue with authorities or even the original firearm manufactures that it would have to milled off. It really detracts from the look of the model. I must be deft. I imagine it is going to get insanely worse in the future.

Ozguns wrote:

Actually, I think you might be right about mine, Jim.

I believe Wellington Surplus were importing all their replica/model guns from Collectors Armory in the US, because I remember most of their hand guns at the time having RMI badging or in RMI boxes.

Based on the assumption that Australia (believed NZ as well) would only place small orders (well compared to UK/US) that Japan wouldn't be interested...also easier for Aussies to communicate with Yankees...

Fearless wrote:

Unfortunately I think all of you are correct, I just can’t figure out what a little bit of text or data on a model gun would cause such an issue with authorities or even the original firearm manufactures that it would have to milled off. It really detracts from the look of the model. I must be deft. I imagine it is going to get insanely worse in the future.

Too many legal eagles in the US (especially the Big Apple & "Kalifornia") who are willing to help out idiots getting hefty payouts...just don't want to risk some clever individuals forcing in a live .45 into the modelguns and then "BANG" because ".45" was stamped on the toy...

hehe, yep. and yet those same kind of people have sharp objects in their kitchen! In the end we will have to revert back to eating with our fingers and throwing rocks.

Here's an alternative solution to fix your bits.
I have used a local product called "KNEAD-IT" with great success. I'm sure there will be a local brand of similar in your country. It's a two part polymer - with various densities available. I use a "steel" density.



It comes in a 25mm plastic tube container wrapped in plastic. It is composed of two parts - a soft central core (hardener) and a soft outer skin (epoxy). To use it you just open the tube, remove the plastic a little and slice off as much as you need.

Then you knead it and mix the two components with your fingers (use gloves tho). Once thoroughly mixed you have about 10 - 15 minutes before it sets hard. And I mean HARD!

It can be molded to any shape while you use it; filed, drilled or sanded when set - and it's as hard as steel!
Obviously you need very clean surfaces to bond to - so sand the areas you want to join and clean with meths!

Good luck! ''

Kiwigunner

It's funny you mention this, as after reviewing repair option with several people, "glueing" the piece back on appears to be the only real option. Unfortunately I will not be able to use my vertical foregrip as the side load stress would be to great and it would break again. So I will have use the military style foregrip which is ok, since I plan to keep this in the scabbard for my 1941 Indian 741. I actually thought I was going to have to use a real Thompson for the display so this is better anyway. Regardless, once done, I will not be able to remove the foregrip, although not sure why I would need to anyway. I was going to use Epoxy, but this product looks promising so I will get some today and post how it works next week or so. Thanks for the info!!

Just thought I'd post a of pic for members who might need a visualization: ''

First totally clean the fracture areas with a wire brush and some meths; removing all corrosion etc.
Next hold the broken parts in rigidly place using wire to duct-tape.
Then apply beads of mixed polymer putty around the fracture areas, using enough putty to fillet and gusset around the breaks, and leave it all to set. Say, 24 hours.
Finally shape the dried polymer, leaving sufficient gussets for strength to reinforce the break areas.



Hopefully it will end up looking similar to this.
You might have to trim a little wood from your grip to accommodate the gussets.

By the way, for removing glue from the grip, I find a liberal spray with meths softens and/or weakens most glues to make removal easier - but it depends on the glue! ''
Hope this helps.

Kiwigunner

I finally got the time to repair my Thompson. Here a a few photos of what and how.




I used 3/8 stock I had from a trailer project, shaved it till it fit inbetween the barrel finds and the existing mount. I drilled and tapped, with the forward screw going all the way into the barrel.



I used a longer mount screw and continued in into the new stock for added strength. It took a bit of slow going to maintain the same angle as the original. Hopefully in a month or so I will have time to strip and reblue the entire gun. I may even fill the gap between the broken piece and the back, but we'll see.

Hi Fearless,
I was just reading your last post two days ago, and wondering what had happened!
It looks like a good solid fix! Good job.

If you want to "tidy" the joint up a little, then I still think the metal epoxy putty is the way to go! You may wish to compare with this repair job post https://mp40modelguns.forumotion.net/t2863-mgc-m73-repairs; fairly similar, but with some epoxy added!

You should get a lot of use and enjoyment out of your Thompson fore-grip now!
Cool!

Kiwigunner

Thanks, yes, I think t hat will work to fill it in. Probably a month before I can get to it but I look forward to the project.