Thompson 1911 Anybody have one?

[flyboy14]

My dad gave me a few guns, one of them is a 1911. It says Thompson, AUTO

ORDINANCE CORP. Manufactured in West Hurley, NY. Anyone heard of them?

First time I shot it, it would hang up on the third round every time, picked up

a new magazine for it, gonna try that tommorow. Just curious how common

they are, I doubt it is worth much, or I would have heard of them.

flyboy

 

[Brian48]

The West Hurley guns I remember were just horrible. They were better than AMT, but that's not saying much. My biggest gripe is that they are also somewhat hard to "fix" since it was very difficult to switch out even some of the minor parts without a lot fitting.

When you say "hanging", is it nosediving into the feedramp? Or is it failing to chamber? If the former, you may need to polish the feed ramp and perhaps even get the barrel throated if it's really bad. Still, you should able to run GI ball through it without having to do anything. If the latter, you can probably try adjusting your extractor tension to see if it helps.

The Kahr-built ones from Worcester, MA are a completely different story though. These are excellent. I'm quite happy with mine.

 

[Chris_B]

Thompson...you never heard of them?? Ever hear of the Tommy Gun? Chicago Typewriter? M1928?

http://www.auto-ordnance.com/

As Brian mentioned, older Auto-Ordnance pistols- generally anything made in West Hurley- have their issues, while the newer ones made on Worcester are markedly better in general. My own M1911A1 from Auto-Ordnance was made in Worcester and it is as reliable as the day is long. Kahr Arms has gone through a lot of changes over the years and now they make a perfectly fine pistol in my opinion- it's not flashy or anything but I love my parkerized A-O. I have no doubt that I could drive a nail into wood with it and then fire off seven rounds

I am sure that the one from your Pop made in West Hurley can be tweaked and made into a perfectly reliable pistol. I'd say since it was from your Dad, it's worth quite a bit Like Brian mentions, you want to fire "hardball" through it. Hollowpoints or personal defense rounds or anything other than round-nosed ball can give you trouble. Most feed issues are mag-related, and my A-O has a factory mag with a slightly weird follower. Works great, but it looks odd. I bought 2 run of the mill GI spec mags, no issues

 

[flyboy14]

Tommy guns, duh. Let you know what happens with the new mag. It's not nosediving, its ftc, tip of

bullet hanging up on top of port. Let you know what happens with the new mag tommorow. Thanks

for the replies. flyboy

 

[bub75]

I have one I bought used from a friend that needed $$$. Overall, mine isn't a bad gun. It reliably chambers and shoots FMJ ammo and most JHPs. Where I've had trouble is with inferior parts. None of the internals seem to be heat treated at all. The disconnector is chewed up but still works. The firing pin is peening BADLY on the rear, almost to the point that the rear of the firing pin won't fit through the hole in the retaining plate. The slide stop is a little chewed up but still works. I'm not sure I want to put much money into it, but it's my only 1911 right now and, like I said, it shoots pretty well.

If the rounds are nosediving in the mag, a new/better quality mag should take care of the problem. Good luck and watch for bad parts.

Bub

 

[Brian48]

What you're describing appears to be an issue with the rear of case not sliding up properly up against the breech. Check your extractor tension. It may be excessively heavy. If so, this should be easy for you to fix without gunsmith help.

 

[Chesster]

I've never known anyone who had a West Hurley Thompson that was happy with it.

 

[m.p.driver]

Bought one of the first Thompson .45's when they hit the market back in the early 80's i think.Still have it and it's never given me a bit of trouble.At the time the price was $150 so i was willing to roll the dice.Other than replacing the sights for high vis nothing has ever been done to it.Since moved on to Springfields and Para's but still occasionally take it out and run some rounds through it.

 

[flyboy14]

With the new mag, it fed flawlessly. Shot a clip each of hollowpoints,

wadcutters, and round nose cast. Now I've got to find a front site for it. Don't

know how much I will shoot it, but being dad gave it to me makes it unique.

Thanks for all the replies. flyboy

 

[Stevie-Ray]

They were better than AMT

That is about the best explanation of AO 1911s I've heard. They were bought during what I call the glory days of IPSC because they were cheap. So when you turned it into a race gun, you didn't have all that much into it right from the start. IOW, they had great frames.

 

[Chris_B]

I am sure some good ones made an escape from West Hurley. Sounds like you got one

 

[Chris_B]

Stevie-Ray-

A-O has changed a lot, and for the better. They still have the old reputation from the bad old days though, and it's not deserved with what they make now

 

[Chesster]

A-O has changed a lot, and for the better. They still have the old reputation from the bad old days though, and it's not deserved with what they make now

True, I have one of the newer WWII repros and it is mucho better.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

A-O has changed a lot, and for the better.

Oh, I believe that. But his is an old one and as such is generally going to be labeled by us old guys as one of the "parts guns" famous for being bastardized into race guns because of their rather sturdy frames and inexpensive price point. The other biggie, believe it or not was SA. You could get one of those for less than $300.

Even AMT delivered some good ones.

 

[Shorthair]

I have one, from about 1992. Bought it as a weapon I intended to learn the 1911 on. Rebuilt it entirely following the Kuhnhausen manual, didn't really shoot it too much before I started working on it. Industrial hardchromed, almost everything but the frame and slide have been replaced by Wilson or Ed Brown or Colt parts. Frame and slide were also fit using methods described in the book. This weapon is utterly reliable, it feeds empty cases, SWC, hollowpoints, everything without a hitch (yes, high quality aftermarket mags are also important considerations....)
I have taken my fair share of abuse for having such a lowly POS in my armory but to be honest I've gone over every millimeter of the weapon and trust it completely to run. The finish is pretty much as good as it was when first applied 15 years ago, its accurate I'm sure more than I am capable.
Pics have been posted on this site but here it is again for reference.