1921 Colt Thompson submachinegun

Описание: Developed by U.S. Brigadier Army general John Thompson in the late 1910s, the Thompson submachinegun was originally manufactured by the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company for Auto-Ordinance Corporation from 1921 to 1922.

Production totaled 15,000 units but sales were slow due to the Thompson's high cost, the firearm's reported heavy weight and a glut of inexpensive other small arms alternatives available after the recent end of World War I.

Early sales were small and purchasers included the United States Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marine Corps and the Irish Republican Army. However, "The Chicago Typewriter" eventually found notoriety and fame by use with American gangsters and outlaws who used the weapons effectively to outgun law enforcement in 1920s and 30s.

World War II would provide the an urgent need for machineguns; a vacuum that Thompson SMG could fill readily, as the weapon was one of the few submachineguns available to the Allies at the outbreak of the war and over 1.5 million were eventually manufactured.

Magazines included 20 and 30 round stick magazines and 50 and 100 round drums. The drums however, were expensive to manufacture, awkward to handle, made an already heavy gun heavier and were easily damaged thereby giving way to stick magazines.

Weight for the 1921 Original Colt variant as shown here is 4.9 kg, overall length 860 mm, barrel length 267 mm, muzzle velocity 285 m/s and ~ 900 rounds per minute.