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Thompson 1928 BarrelRemoval - AmericanGunsmith - Nov08
Thompson 1928 BarrelRemoval - AmericanGunsmith - Nov08
Above left: The Thompson tools made by Richardson include the Barrel • Receiver Wrench
Vise with associated tool (top), Grip-Mount Lever (middle), and Receiver • Receiver Vise
Wrench (bottom). Above right: Other Richardson tools include the Receiver • Heavy-Duty Barrel Wrench
Vise (top left), Grip-Mount Retainer (top right), Universal Barrel Wrench • Universal Barrel Wrench
(middle), and Heavy-Duty Barrel Wrench (bottom) • Grip-Mount Puller
• Grip-Mount Retainer
• Grip-Mount Lever
moval is that, because of their desir- not transferable to individuals and • Barrel Vise
ability as display and reenactment must be used under tightly controlled • Headspace-Gauging Plug
guns, gunsmiths are building non- circumstances, but compared to the
functioning Thompsons from dum- originals, they are cheap and replace- In the operation illustrated in this
my receivers and parts kits. The orig- able. article, the receiver vise, grip-mount
inal barrel in these kits must be re- In any case, gunsmiths with the retainer, and universal barrel wrench
moved from the cut receiver and rein- right tools are needed to perform the were used because the gun being
stalled on the dummy receiver. aforementioned services. And the worked on was an intact gun—not a
The third reason why you might be pricing for these operations is, of parts kit with only a partial receiver
called on to remove a barrel relates course, commensurate with the na- (more about this later). The receiver
again to the value of the original guns. ture of the work. In other words, this vise is designed to be held in a 6-inch
In states where allowed, it’s possible is not your typical gun-servicing bench vise or as an alternative, it can
to rent fully automatic weapons to project. be bolted to a bench or other support.
shoot on the premises of shooting It firmly holds a complete, disassem-
ranges. Movie production companies The Right Tools bled receiver with barrel—without
also use Thompsons adapted to fire First, let’s talk about the tools used marring the finish or torquing the
blanks. Original, transferable NFA specifically for original Colt Thomp- receiver as the barrel is removed.
weapons have become so valuable sons and not the semi-automatic, Kahr Once the receiver is clamped in
that they are used only for very spe- Arms weapons. (Later on, I’ll discuss the receiver vise, the grip mount is
cial occasions or auctioned off to the gunsmithing the semi-automatic rep- pulled back and held away from the
highest bidder. There is nothing more licas.) Since these tools are quite spe- barrel fins with the grip-mount re-
disheartening than witnessing a mov- cialized, the only known supplier is tainer. This is to allow room for the
ie star throwing a transferable ma- Douglas W. Richardson (2100 McRey- barrel wrench jaw to pass between the
chine gun down on a pile of rocks. For nolds Rd., Malibu CA 90265; 310/ barrel and the grip mount. A standard
example, Independent Studio Servic- 457-6400; www.thompsonsmg.com). gunsmith’s barrel vise will usually
es of Sunland, California, has a Class Richardson manufactures a full line not hold the barrel tight enough, since
2 manufacturing license and is using of Thompson gunsmithing tools. it only grips the barrel in two places.
newly manufactured Thompson re- Those tools specifically used for bar- The wrap-around clamp of the Ri-
ceivers and parts kits to produce fully rel replacement are listed below and chardson barrel wrench actually de-
functioning guns for the movie indus- illustrated in the accompanying pho- forms around the barrel and grips
try. These NFA weapons are, of course, tographs: over approximately 150 degrees of
2. To Join/Renew
To join, or extend your current Above: The Richardson Grip-Mount Richardson cautions that use of their
membership, enter your name Puller, shown in position here, is tools on aftermarket barrels could re-
and address above, and return essentially a type of slide hammer. sult in damage to the tools, since they
this form with your annual
are designed to fit parts made to the
dues payment of $39. Your
tolerances specified in the original
annual dues entitle you to a
tor or ring-type front sight will have to Thompson drawings, or to the barrel.
full year subscription to
be removed anyway. The Heavy-Duty It may be possible to shim an after-
American Gunsmith and all
Barrel Wrench (which only works market barrel and then use the Rich-
other AGA benefits.
with barrels without compensator or ardson tools, but you’d still be taking
■ New Member sight) is the preferred choice. To re- a chance of damaging either the tool
■ Membership Renewal move the front sights or compensator or the barrel.
without marring, Richardson manu- Gunsmiths should also be aware
These rates are good in U.S. factures a front-sight puller and com- that the dimensions and tolerances
and Canada only. For all other pensator wrench. on original Thompson parts are typi-
countries, annual dues are $60 Assembly is the reverse of the pre- cally slightly different from newly
payable in U.S. funds. ceding. Earlier Thompsons had wit- manufactured semi-automatic parts.
ness marks to realign the barrel. This Therefore, the parts are not always
was related to the manufacturing pro- interchangeable. The internal bolt and
3. To Give a Gift Membership cess that involved installing the bar- fire-control parts, of course, are obvi-
Enter your name and address rel and then removing the barrel for ously different, but there are even
above (in Section 1) and your bluing and sight installation. The first slight differences on parts that appear
giftee's name and address be- 1,000 Thompsons actually had their to be identical. It is best to first check
low. The membership rates serial numbers placed on the cham- with Kahr before ordering semi-auto-
stated above apply to gifts. ber end of the barrel in order to re- matic replacement parts for use in an
match up the barrels with their re- original Thompson. Sources for parts
Name ceivers. Later this practice was aban- are listed in the box below. ■
Street doned. Unless a barrel is to be rein-
stalled on a gun with witness marks,
City
marks on the receiver and/or barrel
State Zip Original Thompson Submachine Gun Parts
should be ignored. SARCO, Inc.
Return this coupon 908/647-3800
(or a photocopy) to: Kahr Arms Thompsons www.sarcoinc.com
American Gunsmith Aftermarket barrels supplied by Kahr
Arms and others may not be made to Numrich & Kahr Semi-Automatic Parts
P.O. Box 420234 Kahr Arms, Parts Department
original Thompson specifications.
Palm Coast, FL 32142-0234 508/795-3919
They typically have a smaller outside
customer_service@belvoir.com www.tommygun.com
diameter than original Thompsons.