Was the Thompson excited to run away?
More stellar editing by the AM Shooting Journal.
‘Tis always good for a morning chuckle.
“...internal issues is likely...”
Still more.
The Thompson is an open bolt, slam fire weapon. A downside of such weapons is that there is a delay of .1 to .2 tenths of a second between the “click” of pulling the trigger, and the first round going downrange.
Releasing the trigger is supposed to result in the bolt being locked to the rear (open position).
A sear worn to the point it could no longer engage the bolt could cause this malfunction, but I suspect a failure in the sear spring, or failure in one of the other three springs in the trigger group is the likely cause.
The Thompson is well-designed, but heavy. They took a block of steel and carved away that which was not needed for the weapon, similar to the way that Grumman “Iron Works” Aircraft used to build war planes.
The bolt and recoil spring are fairly massive. The parts of the trigger group are substantial, but the springs, not so much.
Around a dozen years ago or so, a father, an MD iirc, took his son, maybe 12yo, to a live-fire gun show where one could fire automatic weapons.
The kid, Jewish name I think, was indulged, and so not so surprisingly, chose the Uzi.
I understand the Uzi tends to pull to one side and up, at least according to Hollywood, and the poor kid managed to shoot himself in the head, dead, while firing it.
That son of a bitch Van Owen, blew off Roland’s head.