ST Louis PD auctioning off 29 '30s era Thompson Machine Guns

[HeadlessRoland]

Group buy, anyone?

 

[ShootnCut]

terre haute pd has 2 thompsons that were given to them by u.s. govt in the 30's. bout 30 years ago an officer had them at riley cons club an while i was drooling on them he ask if i would like to shoot one. ive never forgotten that experience. they had never been fired before and the dept wanted to sell them to buy new equip but couldnt cause that was part of the deal with the govt. at that time they had been offered 75k for the 2 guns with consec serial numbers from a collector in okla.

While I don't doubt you may have heard that story I highly doubt the person who told it. More than likely it's due to the 50 years the story has been told. Please understand I mean no disrespect but allow me to point out a few things I've learned through my research.

First, the US Gov't didn't have many Thompsons in the 30s. The FBI didn't get them until 1935 and the military was in no hurry to buy them either. So I'm unaware of them ever giving them to police departments until after WW II. Could it have happened? Yes, I suppose, but the only ones I know of that were given away were through the Lend Lease act to Great Britain, France, Russia, etc. starting at the beginning of the war. And most of those were 1928A1 models made by Savage and Auto Ordinance. The 1928A1 didn't start production until April 1940 so if the guns in question were attained in the 30s we have to assume they were Colts. We did give Great Britain some Colts but not many. (There were only 15,000 made to begin with.) The gov't gave many to police departments after the war but they too were 28A1s in most cases. And many of those have been sold to individuals over the years so I have to assume they were properly registered. (A friend had one from the Utah State Police.) These reasons are why I find it difficult to believe the "we can't sell them because that was the deal with the gov't" story. I've never heard of a Thompson that was gifted to a police department by the gov't in an unregistered state. That's where a good percentage of Thompsons in individual hands came from in the first place.

Second, the 75k price tag for two guns 30 years ago is ludicrous. At that time a nice Colt could be had for 3k to 4k and even a matched pair of consec numbered guns in great shape wouldn't have brought anywhere near 75k. Could someone have offered that much? Possibly. There are lots of people out there with more money than brains but I seriously doubt it.

If I had to guess I'd say the guns in question were indeed attained in the 30s but by the normal method of simply purchasing them as most departments did. (You'd be surprised at how many towns in Indiana actually had them.) And then they failed to register them in 1934 or 1968 when the opportunity was there. This was unfortunately very common. And now they are forever locked in the department. The only way to realize any return on them is to chop the receiver and sell the parts. And with a Colt this can bring several thousand dollars due to the scarcity of the parts. Or they can be donated to a museum for which they get nothing.

And finally, I base my opinions on this matter on the fact that in a list of original purchasers I found the following four Colt 1921AC model Thompsons listed as having been purchased by the Terre Haute Police Dept: #6320, #7545, #9280, and #9314.

If you can ever get another look at the guns I'd love to hear any details about them.

 

[ShootnCut]

Better call Bloomberg and see if he wants to do that kind of deal so he has a better chance of getting a good spot in Heaven.

I was actually going to say not to repeat that idea too loud for fear of giving that POS any ideas.

 

[ModernGunner]

I don't care WHAT that article says, those are NOT 'Tommy Guns'.

They're "Chicago Typewriters"!

Anyone paying $30,000 for one of 'em has a head full of jello, regardless of HOW much money ya have.

 

[30calmachinegunner]

Anyone paying $30,000 for one of 'em has a head full of jello, regardless of HOW much money ya have.

Your right, I wouldn't pay more then $25,000 for a Colt Thompson

 

[Leadeye]

Group buy, anyone?

I'm in.

 

[j706]

I think it would surprise everyone of the amount of transferable select fire weapons in PD armory's. The issue is most of the chief/marshal types are not really gun guys and as a result they do not know what they have. I have had my eye on a couple of Colt M16 9mm sub guns at a little four man agency I do firearms instruction for. They were purchased in 1982 from Colt and have basically been sitting in their boxes since then. I hope to own one before to long. I have also seen some grease guns and Thompson s at other places. They are out there, believe me on that.

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

1928 model is my next one...

 

[armedindy]

always wanted one...some day...some day

 

[ShootnCut]

Dupe

 

[ShootnCut]

I don't care WHAT that article says, those are NOT 'Tommy Guns'.

They're "Chicago Typewriters"!

Anyone paying $30,000 for one of 'em has a head full of jello, regardless of HOW much money ya have.

People used to say things like that to me back in 84 when I told them what I paid for my Thompson. (Not nearly $30,000.)
Now when I tell them what it's worth and ask how their investments have paid off they mumble to themselves and walk away.

 

[ShootnCut]

The following is a list of some of the organizations in Indiana who purchased Colt Thompsons back in the day. I'm sure there were more but this is based on the list I have which is far from complete. Where they are today is anyone's guess. Some may still reside there, some have been sold, some may have been destroyed. The list is in serial number order and the number after the listing is the number of guns they purchased. Hope you find this as interesting as I do.

Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, IN 5
Cass County Sheriff Dept, Logansport, IN 1
Auburn Police Dept 1
East Chicago Police Dept, East Chicago, IN 3
Dekalb County Sheriff Dept, Auburn, IN 1
Alexandria Police Dept 1
Elkhart County Sheriff Dept, Goshen, IN 1
Allen County Sheriff Dept, Ft Wayne, IN 2
Wayne County Sheriff Dept, Richmond, IN 1
Bartholomew County Sheriff Dept, Columbus, IN 1
Chief of Police (Individual) Huntington, IN 1
Lafayette Police Dept 2
South Bend Police Dept 3 (2 listed as unregistered)
Jasper County Sheriff Dept, Rennselaer, IN 1
Terre Haute Police Dept 4
Marshall County Sheriff Dept, Plymouth, IN 1
Elkhart Police Dept 2
Ft Wayne Police Dept 2
Tippecanoe County Sheriff Dept, Lafayette, IN 1
Marion Police Dept 1
FBI, Indianapolis, IN 1
Peru Police Dept 2
Marion County Sheriff Dept, Indianapolis, IN 1
Muncie Police Dept 1
Frankfort Police Dept 2
Michigan City Police Dept 1
Delaware County Sheriff Dept, Muncie, IN 1
Crawfordsville Police Dept 1
Indiana State Police 8
Laporte County Sheriff Dept, Laporte, IN 1
Anderson Police Dept 1
Lagrange County Sheriff Dept, Lagrange, IN 1
Scott County Sheriff Dept, Scottsburg, IN 1
Bloomington Police Dept 1
Jay County Sheriff Dept, Portland, IN 1
Franklin County Sheriff Dept, Brookville, IN 1
Adams County Sheriff Dept, Decatur, IN 1
Knox County Sheriff Dept, Vincennes, IN 1
Jackson County Sheriff Dept, Brownstown, IN 1
Randolf County Sheriff Dept, Winchester, IN 1

 

[MTN]

I remember when I was like 9 or 10 my dad's friend had a full auto Thompson. I got to shoot ten or fifteen rounds in a dirt mound at winamac. That's something I will never forget.

 

[hoosierdoc]

People used to say things like that to me back in 84 when I told them what I paid for my Thompson. (Not nearly $30,000.)
Now when I tell them what it's worth and ask how their investments have paid off they mumble to themselves and walk away.

Really? s&P is up 1100% over that time period. If you paid over $2720 then they made out better if invested in s&P tracking funds.

 

[30calmachinegunner]

Better call Bloomberg and see if he wants to do that kind of deal so he has a better chance of getting a good spot in Heaven.

that is not even funny, he would do it

 

[ShootnCut]

Really? s&P is up 1100% over that time period. If you paid over $2720 then they made out better if invested in s&P tracking funds.

But they didn't have the $10,000.00 worth of fun I've had over the last 30 years. And most of them invested in new cars and fancy clothes which are now in the scrap yard or out of fashion.

 

[hoosierdoc]

But they didn't have the $10,000.00 worth of fun I've had over the last 30 years. And most of them invested in new cars and fancy clothes which are now in the scrap yard or out of fashion.

That i agree with

 

[hornadylnl]

Really? s&P is up 1100% over that time period. If you paid over $2720 then they made out better if invested in s&P tracking funds.

And without government intervention, a $1000 in raw materials and labor wouldn't be worth $20,000+

 

[Bfish]

Having one of these would be sweet!

But I am with you Birds Away, reading that left me shaking my head. I can't stand when police chiefs and others in such positions hold such anti gun stances...

 

[hoosierdoc]

And without government intervention, a $1000 in raw materials and labor wouldn't be worth $20,000+

who says government doesn't create wealth?!