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Thompson Machine Gun Magazines


BillP

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I have purchased a 1928 Thompson machine gun. It will be several months (maybe over a year) before I get possession of the gun. It comes with a drum magazine (50 rounds). I wish to acquire some stick magazines. My question is what magazines will work with a 1928 Thompson? Will all Thompson stick magazines work with a 1928 Thompson?  Where can I find the magazines and what is the normal asking price?

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TO ANSWER YOU R QUESTION ,any original Thompson mag will work in your gun EXCEPT those adapted to work in the semi auto guns. 20 and 30 round all work. personally I prefer the 20 round mags. they are easier to load and handle, look right  to me and don't hang down too far. I believe all the 28 guns were meant to use the 20 round mags , because the 30 round did not appear until the M-1 went into service. when looking at mags to buy check the hole in the rear, it must be elongated to work in the semi's. and just for your knowledge, all stick mags were blued when made. you will see a lot of parked mags because  when packaged they wrapped them in that paper and it would "capture" the moisture in the air when packaged. when we first introduced the "SPITFIRE" for weeks at a time all day I opened hundreds of factory packed cases of what looks like perfect new magazines then when the paper is removed a solid coat of rust is revealed. in fact I unwrapped some and the rust had gone completely through the housing making some nice holes so just keep that in mind.  oh how I wish I could still buy them by the case for a quarter. ENJOY YOUR NEW GUN ! it was a wise choice!  cheers mike

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Thanks for your response. Given what you said I will look for 20 round magazines. I have a Police 6 Ingram machine gun which I really like.  It has 30 round magazines. I find it fairly easy to load these. It is easier to load these than a 30 round AR-15 9 mm magazine.

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Original 20 and 30 round blued Seymour and AOC marked magazines can still be had for "reasonable" prices. Reasonable, that is given you have a gun worth 20-30K, which must be fed to enjoy.  Personally I prefer the 30's on my M1's. Looks a bit funky with the parked Savage, but matches better with the blued WH M1. Well-used, but not abused mags may, over time develop some deformation (spreading) of the feed lips as Thompson mags are made of relatively thin steel. My local SOT made a small anvil, which he places inside the stripped mags, and gently reforms the feed lips. Works like a charm and makes any feed issues go bye-bye.

As Mike mentioned above, the current line of semi-auto Thompson's have a slightly different mag-catch location, which requires purchase of the specific semi-auto mag or an elongation of the mag-catch hole to an oval shape. This mod may result in the mag sitting too low in your 1928 or M1, causing a failure to properly strip a round as the bolt comes forward. Also, the West Hurley M1's did not properly mill the full depth of the feed-lip relief on the underside of the receiver, and some had non mil-spec mag catches. Some M1s' and M1A1's have had this corrected (PK does this), but most require some slight adjustment of the mags to lock properly. This is another reason you may see some elongation of the mag-catch hole on some mags. All the original Colt, AO and Savage guns should work properly with original mil-spec 20 and 30 round mags. 

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TED, I have a funny thing about what fits / looks right etc. in my WW II top charge THOMPSONS  most of the time  I use the 30 rnd and that's what is in them on display in the vault . the 20's look right to me in the 28's and the COLT's. I only use 20's in my M-16's and others. its kind of looking at those tractor pull rigs they all look funny to me with that square tubing in the roll bars etc. it just looks pitiful .  BILL if your still here, magazine design can make a BIG diff in loading ease. the THOMPSON mags are "DOUBLE COLUM " DOUBLE FEED and that type should also load easy . example? your model 6, UZI, MP-5. where it gets tough is when you go DOUBLE COLUM /SINGLE FEED . the transition causes major friction at the change. again SINGLE COLUM /SINGLE FEED like the sten are usually easy until they get close to full and the extra stiff spring is letting you know you have reached the end.  after you reply I was surprised you asked about mags. owners of the model 6 are forced to learn quickly. MODEL 6 mags can be loaded backwards and there is no indication which is proper.on top of that. they have ALWAYS been TOUGH to find! another major reason the design failed. it would have remained one of my favorites had the mag issue been better.

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