Whether used by hero or villain, this is one iconic, badass firearm, even the fictional Captain America partner Bucky Barnes used with great effect on the silver screen. Posted on 05/12/2017 7:09:39 AM PDT by w1n1
Whether used by hero or villain, this is one iconic, badass firearm, even the fictional Captain America partner Bucky Barnes used with great effect on the silver screen.
It doesn't matter who is firing it or if it's just on display, the Thompson submachine gun is one wicked cool piece of firearms history. From prohibition era gangsters and outlaws to cops and WWII heroes, the Thompson has become a legitimate icon of American firearms lore and even mythology.
I recently held a Thompson (but didn't get to fire it) and I have to say, yes, I did feel pretty badass just holding it and getting my picture taken with it.
Invented by John T. Thompson in 1918, the Thompson submachine gun fires a .45 ACP cartridge and was favored by soldiers and police officers facing bad guys for its accuracy and high rate of fire. But these are the same reasons that the bad guys carried Thompsons as well.
Made famous during the prohibition era, the "Chicago Typewriter," as it was also known, was a favored weapon of gangsters. Two "Tommy Guns" – another nickname – were used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and became known as “the most famous murder weapons in the world” and “the gun that made the 1920s roar.”
The gun continued to make its presence felt during WWII, where it was relied upon by paratroopers, ranger battalions, special operations troops, tank crews and anyone who could get their hands on one. It was affectionately also known as the "Trench Broom" or simply as the Thompson by WWII soldiers. See the rest of the tommy gun footage here.
Not as badass as firing an m-60 from the hip.
Not as badass as firing a BAR from the hip.
Yes. Like Rambo, time slows down and everything is slow mo
It makes me feel like a lame-ass because my accuracy is less than half what it is from the shoulder using the sights.
I thought the Thompson was rather uncomfortable to shoot. Lots a barrel climb. I felt pretty badass shooting a Lewis gun from the hip. It’s even tougher from the shoulder.
(Sort of like BARs also.)
MAGA and give us back our short-barreled Tommy guns!
That can give your hip a very bad day. I think whoever the new FBI Director is, he needs to carry around a Thompson to send a message.
Firing a Thompson on full auto is on my bucket list. Not just one mag but enough to get good.
Badass? Sending .50 cal tracers down range from a turret mounted M2 Browning at night.
I once fired a 30 round mag from a Thompson, 3 bursts. Yeah, it was very cool.
Yes. I have fired numerous Class III firearms including a full sized Thompson and Tanker model...both full auto.
As a member of the repel boarders team on the boomer I was stationed on, I was issued a Thompson. We practiced with it at sea shooting at floating coffee cans etc. Couldn’t hit a thing with it. Thank God no one ever tried to board our boat.
In basic training I recall a technique called quick fire where we learned to be fairly accurate in firing the M14 from the hip. It was actually fun. It takes practice, but for targets let’s say 50 yards or less, it’s quite doable.
Back in the 1970’s our “assault weapon” was a Thompson sub machine gun. Before the EPA made us stop, we disposed of burned out fluorescent bulbs at sea by throwing them over board are shooting them until they sank. It really is hard to keep the barrel from rising.
A few times, my son rented a full-auto on his birthday. Tommy gun was the first. When the boys were little, they liked to shoot my MAK90 AK clone from the hip. Last outing, my son bump fired it. :)
A 50-round drum on full auto is fun.
I fired a Thompson on full auto about a week ago at a firing range in Dallas. Didn’t tear off too many rounds because my buddies paid for the trip and I didn’t want to hog the fun. Got to try an AR-15 too.
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