American-180

     Notes: The American-180 was originally designed by famed US firearms designer Dick Casull.  The idea was to produce a light submachinegun that had a very large magazine capacity and yet had low recoil and muzzle blast.  His intended users were police organizations, where the lack of overpenetration of the .22 Long Rifle round would actually be an advantage, and the high rate of fire would offset the lack of stopping power of the round.  They were actually bought in decent numbers by various police organizations around the US, primarily for use in prison riot control.  The most unusual feature of the weapon is the magazine; it is a multi-layered pan magazine mounted above the receiver.  Most of were made of light metal and held 177 rounds, but later models were made of transparent Lexan plastic, and some even later models held up to 275 rounds. 

     An experimental new cartridge, the .22 ILARCO round, was produced for the American-180.   This is basically a hot-loaded .22 Long Rifle round, loaded with extra propellant to give almost the same performance of the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire round.  The increased power of the round led to a dramatic increase in the rate of fire of the weapon, as well as increased range.

     A short-barreled model of the American-180 was also produced in very limited numbers.  This model has a forward handgrip under the barrel.

     These weapons were later copied by various manufacturers in several countries, and the patent actually changed hands several times.  The latest manufacturer to produce a variant of the American-180 is a company in Slovenia, where it is produced as the MGV-176 (see Slovenian Submachineguns).

     In the mid-2000s, as ammunition for civilians became more expensive due to focusing of effort by ammunition manufacturers on the military market, many civilians acquired and began using .22 Long Rifle-firing rifles, marksmanship practice, and varmint hunting.  This led to a number of sub-caliber conversion kits for standard firearms.  One of these adapter kits was the Bazooka Brothers A&D Drum Adapter Kit, which allows the drum/pan magazine of the American-180 and its clones to be used with a variety of magazine-fed .22 Long Rifle-firing rifles.  It was introduced in late 2009, and can be used with both automatic and semiautomatic .22 rifles.  Right now (April 2010), the adapter works primarily with AR-15-type adapted rifles and clones and HK-91/G-3-type adapted rifles and clones, though the concept is relatively simple and Bazooka Brothers will probably come up with adapters for more types of .22 rifles in the future.

Auto-Ordnance Thompson

     Notes:  The “Tommy Gun” is perhaps one of the most well-known weapons to ever have been made.  It was first designed in 1919 and called the Model 1921.  Mass production began later with the M1927A1.  It was meant for home defense, but criminals and gangsters quickly realized the advantages of what was then a compact package, hard-hitting cartridge, and automatic fire, and the Thompson acquired a reputation as a “Gangster Gun.” 

     The first production model was the M1921.  These versions were built by Auto-Ordnance, but actually sold by Colt.  They were finished like a sporting weapon (despite being a full-auto submachinegun); The wood used for the stock, foregrip, and pistol grip were of high-quality wood, finely-machined parts, a barrel finned to slightly less than half its length, and fine, tough bluing for its external metalwork.  The 1921 also had the controversial Blish Lock, a bronze locking mechanism that straddles the bolt, engaging slanting slots on the inside of the receiver and the actuator at the top of the receiver.  It counts upon friction to grip the bolt, and it is the connecting piece between the bolt and the actuator that moves the bolt.  The feature is controversial partly because it is almost unnecessary – the Blish Lock will still function if the lugs engaging the slots on the receiver are cut off, and a simpler connector piece could have been used (and was on most other Thompsons, except for the M1928).  However, some problems occurred because after this modification, there have been some incidents where the bolt strikes the rear of the receiver too hard, damaging the rear of the receiver and the hole where the recoil spring used to position the guide rod.  Thus the Blish Lock was an unnecessary and expensive bit of complication. The M1921 (and M1928), unfortunately, will not function without the Blish Lock.  The M1921 established the standard barrel length for most Thompsons – 10.5 inches. An M1921AC version was also produced, using stamped steel construction. The M1921 was the original “gangster gun.”

     The M1923 was a short-lived model designed to expand the Auto-Ordnance line and was also demonstrated for the US Army (who weren’t interested).  This version fired the more powerful .45 Remington-Thompson cartridge, specially designed for this weapon, and had a long 14-inch barrel, making it basically a carbine or short automatic rifle.  It also had sling swivels, a bipod, and a bayonet lug.  Auto-Ordnance told the Army that it was meant to be a lighter weapon to fulfill the same role as the BAR.

     Auto-Ordnance attempted to expand their line overseas in 1926; they partnered with the British firm of BSA in this venture.  This model was the BSA M1926 Thompson.  They were built only in small amounts, not finding much acceptance in Europe.  BSA Thompsons were chambered in 9mm Parabellum and 7.63mm Mauser instead of .45 ACP.  Though they were tested by the militaries of several European countries, they did not find acceptance.

     The M1927A1 was perhaps the most “deluxe” model; it used expensive quality walnut furniture and milled steel construction.  They were (and still are) regarded as practically indestructible.  They could use, in addition to 30-round box magazines, 50- and 100-round drums.  The fore-end had a vertical foregrip to help control the weapon, and the muzzle used the Cutts Compensator, a compact and effective muzzle brake designed especially for the Thompson and copied later on other weapons.   The barrel is fluted, to increase the cooling surface without drastically increasing the already high weight.  The original M1927s were built for semiautomatic fire, but almost all were quickly modified for automatic fire, with users finding it quite easy to do.  For game purposes, the M1927 is identical to the M1927A1.

     The M1927A1C is virtually identical to the M1927A1, but uses stamped steel and some of the earliest light alloy construction. 

     The M1927A5 is an M1927A1 with no stock and a shorter barrel without the Cutts Compensator.

     The M1928 and M1928A1 are the first military models; the M1928s are simply earlier models with the nomenclature overstamped with the date “1928.”  The M1928A1 was first acquired for the US Marines for use in Nicaragua, and for the US Coast Guard for boarding parties.  Less than 400 were built until 1939; mass production then began, mostly for the French and British.  They are able to use 18 and 20-round magazines in addition to the normal 30-round boxes and 50 and 100-round drums.

     The Swedish Army bought some 500 M1928s in 1940.  These were standard M1928s, except for one thing – they had no Cutts Compensator. The lack of the Cutts Compensator streamlined production greatly as well as reduced costs.  They also did not have for foregrip of the M1928.  These models were designated the M1928A by Thompson and k/40 by the Swedes.  For game purposes, except for the ability to use drum magazines, they are identical to the later M1 and M1A1 Thompsons.

     When the US Army requirements for a light rifle were brought out, Auto-Ordnance came up with the Thompson Carbine.  This fired the required .30 Carbine cartridge and had an extended 14-inch barrel.  It lost out to the M1 Carbine in the competition, but is presented here for interest.

     The M1 version was produced to meet the wartime demand for the Thompson.  The weapon, despite its effectiveness, was not well-suited for mass production.  The complicated Blish operating system was entirely redesigned into a simple blowback system (in effect, making the M1 into a new weapon).  The foregrip was removed, the ability to use drum magazines was dropped, the sights were simplified, the bolt handle was moved to the right side, the fluting was removed from the barrel, the Cutts Compensator was removed…as I said, it was basically a new weapon only remotely related to earlier Thompsons.  The operating system was simplified further, and this resulted in the M1A1.  Despite the weight, it was utterly reliable, and the troops loved it.  It was used as late as the Vietnam War (one of my NCOICs in the Army carried one as a young FIST team member), and the Viet Cong were also known to be fond of it.  Hmong and Rhade tribesmen were also sometimes armed with it by Special Forces troops early in the war.

     At the request of the War Department, Auto-Ordnance fabricated a 9mm version of the M1.  The receiver had the cocking knob on top of the receiver, as on the M1923.  The prototype was successful, but the War Department did not indicate why they wanted a 9mm version of the Thompson, and they elected to not continue with the trials and the project did not go forward.  It remains an interesting variant.

     There was also an odd variant of the Thompson, made by the Chinese after the Communists took over in 1949.  Before their revolution, the US had given the Nationalist Chinese liberal amounts of the Thompson, and these were captured by the Communists after they won the revolution.  However, while the Chinese Communists were able to get massive amounts of 7.62mm Tokarev ammunition and magazines from the Russians and Warsaw Pact, at the time .45 ACP was difficult to find, and they were not tooled up to make their own.  In addition, Mao himself favored the 7.62mm Tokarev round over the .45 ACP.  The result was, in many cases, Thompsons rechambered for 7.62mm Tokarev.  While the chamber length required little or no modification, the bolt head had to be reduced in diameter.  The barrel was simply given a sleeve to fit the 7.62mm Tokarev round.  The magazine well was given adapter which allowed it to use PPS-43 magazines (which have been modified by cutting a notch about 6.5mm lower then the normal catch for the magazine; these magazines can also be used on the PPS-43, though not vice versa).  A new magazine release was also supplied, centrally-located and faster to operate than that of the original Thompson. (The old Thompson release is still present and operational, but if it is pressed, the magazine will come out along with the magazine adapter.)  The 7.62mm Tokarev round is much lighter than the .45 ACP; this means that the rate of fire has increased greatly, reaching on some models as high as 1200 RPM!  The versions supplied to the Nationalist Chinese had the Cutts Compensator, which remains in place on the Communist Chinese modification; however, so to the fixed peep-type sights.  These sights were calibrated for the .45 ACP round, and were not modified for the 7.62mm Tokarev round; this means that (in game terms), a shooter the Chinese Communist version has a -2 hit roll at long range, and -4 at extreme range.  These weapons are rare today.

     In 1981, Auto-Ordnance manufactured a limited run of 220 .22-caliber M1928 Thompsons.  This weapon got mixed results; some owners claim their .22 Thompsons are completely reliable, some claim that they foul excessively and jam regularly.  As a result, 62 of these Thompsons were converted back to .45 ACP configuration free of charge; at last count, only 162 .22 M1928s in this caliber remain, making them some of the rarest Thompsons ever.  Though the .22 caliber Thompsons were to be semiautomatic, conversion to automatic was reputedly very easy, so I have provided automatic fire stats below.

     In the early 2010s, Standard Manufacturing introduced the M1922, a more reliable version of semiautomatic .22 Thompson was introduced.  Based on the M1928 version, the M1922 is correctly scaled to the .22 Long Rifle cartridge rather than being a modified version of a larger firearm. Construction is largely of aircraft-quality aluminum instead of steel, but this is adequate in the small caliber used. The M1922 has the correct finned barrel, walnut foregrip, pistol grip, and stock, muzzle brake, and sights appropriate to the .22 Long Rifle cartridge.  The standard magazine supplied is one that looks like a 20-round magazine, but is blocked at 10 rounds.  The barrel, of course, is 16.4 inches long to comply with US regulations.

     There are still semiautomatic versions of the Thompson being built, including one with an extended barrel to comply with US arms laws.  Though no Thompsons are still being officially used by any military, there will probably still be some of them being used somewhere until the last one falls apart.   

Calico Model 960-A/960-AS 

     Notes: This is “mini” submachinegun version of the Calico.  It has a folding stock, and is made primarily of high-impact plastic and aluminum.  It may also mount the brass-catching bag.  An optional speed loader is available ($75), allowing a 50-round magazine to be loaded in 3 phases, or a 100-round magazine to be loaded in 6 phases.  (If the speed loader is not used, loading a magazine takes 3 times as long.)  Though there are rumors of military and police experimentation, the biggest users of these weapons are the entertainment industry and weapons collectors.  The Calico is made almost entirely of high-impact plastic.  The 960-AS uses a fixed plastic stock, but is otherwise identical.

Calico Model 961-A 

     Notes: This is described by the Calico company (CALifornia Instrument COmpany) as a “concealable 9mm Submachinegun.”  Unlike other Calico designs, it has no foregrip, but it does have a retractable stock.  It may mount the brass-catching bag; case ejection is downward. 

Colt 9mm Submachineguns

     Notes:  These are light and compact submachineguns designed for those who are familiar with the M16 series or to provide a submachinegun while keeping as much as possible the standard Colt supply chain. They combine the advantages of the M16A2’s design with the light firepower of the 9mm submachinegun.  Sales included USMC FAST Teams, the DEA, Department of Energy (NEST teams), and law enforcement agencies such as the Connecticut State Police, District of Columbia Metro Police, and the US Marshall’s Service, as well as the Department of Energy (and some rumors say US Special Operations units).   They are capable of using a wide array of accessories including flashlight attachments, laser aiming modules, optical sights, and suppressers.  The weapons have a shortened M16A1-style handguard, which benefits from the addition of a plate behind the muzzle -- this guards the fingers.

     There are several variants of this weapon.  The standard model is the 635; this is more or less a Colt Commando changed to fire 9mm Parabellum.  The 639 is the same, but uses a 3-round burst capability.  The 634 is also the same, but capable of only semiautomatic fire.  The Model 633 is a “shorty” variant, with a 178mm barrel instead of the standard 260mm barrel.  The 633HB adds a special buffer to reduce recoil.

     ASA makes its own version of the Colt Submachinegun; the primary difference is that the ASA M4 Carbine is based, as its name would indicate, based more on the M4 Carbine instead of being a 9mm version of the M16.  The ASA M4 Submachinegun has, naturally, an M4-type sliding stock and a MIL-STD-1913 rail above the receiver; the ASA version also has a large semicircular brass deflector behind the shortened dust cover and ejection port.  Like the standard Colt Submachinegun, the magazine well is modified to accept a 9mm magazine; the magazines are proprietary, but modified from those of the Uzi, and Uzi magazines can be easily modified to work in an ASA M4 Carbine.  Being based on a civilian/LE version of the M4 carbine, the barrel length is 16 inches tipped by an M16/M4-type flash suppressor, giving it a better range than its counterparts.  Other modifications are internal and for the purpose of accepting and chambering the new cartridge, as well as having sights designed for 9mm rounds.  The rear sight is fold-down; the front sight is on a triangular post like an M4.

     Gunsmith Steve Mathews has made a number of AR-15 modifications at the behest of Shotgun News which fall into the Colt Submachinegun category. Barrel length is 16.5-inches, and the guns vary from the standard Colt Submachinegun in the chamberings used, but are otherwise quite similar.  A possible automatic variant is included below, though they are not currently designed for this possibility.

Demro TAC-1M/XF-7 Wasp

     Notes: This weapon looks somewhat like the M1 Thompson, but is actually older and has had a longer life (though in much smaller numbers).  The TAC-1 is equipped with a removable wooden stock and a wooden handguard; the XF-7 Wasp is similar, but has a folding wire stock and a plastic handguard.  Virtually all of them were originally made as selective fire weapons, and designed for police use; however, many were converted to semiautomatic-only actions and sole to civilians later. The TAC-1 originally had a combination lock on the left side of the receiver that locks the action (an early attempt at making a safe gun), but this feature was quickly discarded (resulting in the TAC-1M).  They are a bit on the large side, stretching the definition of “submachinegun,” but this means that the weapon can pass BATF inspection in its semiautomatic form (due to the barrel length).

Hyde M2

     Notes:  This weapon was actually approved for use by US troops in World War 2, but Marlin, the manufacturer, had problems getting mass production underway, and the M3 Grease Gun was given the go-ahead instead.  The Marlin contract was terminated after less than 500 M2’s were built, and few made their way into actual combat.  The production problems were quite unfortunate, as the Hyde was a reliable, robust, and accurate weapon, by all accounts better than the Grease Gun. 

ITM Model 1

    Notes: This weapon was designed by IM in 1989 for use by military and police forces in close combat, particularly in urban combat situations.  The weapon has a secondary use as a longer-ranged weapon for precise shots. The Model 1 has two barrels, two receivers, and two magazine wells to feed what are essentially two weapons melded into one.  The user may fire one or both barrels, with both on automatic, both on semiautomatic, or one on automatic and one on semi. Two selector levers are provided to accomplish this.  In game terms, each barrel's fire is rolled to hit separately, but the recoil from both barrels is added together to calculate accumulated recoil values.  The front magazine feeds the lower barrel, and the rear magazine feeds the upper barrel. 

ITM Model 2

     Notes: This is an improved Model 1, designed in 1990, with a longer top barrel and a slightly shorter bottom barrel, and larger magazines. 

ITM Model 3

     Notes: This was IM's next project in double-barreled weapons, designed in 1991.  It is an attempt to meld together the assault rifle and submachinegun, with a long upper barrel for 7.62mm NATO cartridges and a short lower barrel for 9mmP cartridges.  It is otherwise similar to the Models 1 and 2. 

ITM Model 4

     Notes: This is basically a Model 2 with some improvements in cooling, heavier barrels and stronger parts, and a higher rate of fire.  A double barreled burst from this weapon is quite devastating, though fighting recoil is a problem for the shooter. 

ITM Model 5 

     Notes: This was designed to be a large-caliber submachinegun for use in close-quarters battle (CQB) situations, with ammunition that could penetrate walls and cause a lot of damage.  It received more attention from the military than other ITM designs, but was still under limited testing by 2002.  The Model 5 is handicapped by its light weight.

     Twilight 2000/Merc 2000 Notes: This weapon became popular with police departments who needed greater firepower in a small package, especially those departments who bordered areas where communities of Racist/ Supremacist/Militia groups were known to live. 

ITM Model 6

     Notes: This is merely a version of the Model 5 in a more standard submachinegun caliber (9mm Parabellum).  It uses different magazines than the other 9mmP IM submachineguns (curved instead of straight), and will also take MP-5 magazines.  It is otherwise similar to the Model 5. 

Ingram M6

     Notes: Originally produced for military use in 1949, it was rejected by the US military, though is was adopted by the Peruvians, Columbians, Cubans, and Thais, and many of these weapons could still be found in paramilitary and militia hands and in rebel groups such as the Shining Path guerillas.  Later, it was adopted by several US and European police departments, where it was eventually replaced by more modern weapons.  Then, they were sold off on the civilian market to collectors and others.  Most of these weapons are in 9mm Parabellum, with .45 ACP and .38 Super following that up.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: A surprising amount of these weapons turned up in use in South America and the US during the Twilight War.

     Merc 2000 Notes: These are primarily collectors’ weapons.

Ingram M10/M11

     Notes: These tiny submachineguns are barely big enough for that title, being just a little larger than a machine pistol.  They were designed for covert agents to provide concealable firepower.  They can be fired from a shoulder holster, put on a belt, placed in a large pocket, etc.  They use the telescoping bolt design to perhaps its greatest extent ever.  Their small size and high rate of fire mean high recoil and muzzle blast; this led to a special suppressor being designed to dampen this effect while still allowing nearly full velocity for the rounds being fired.  This suppressor is virtually required for any sort of accurate use.  Ingram stopped producing the M10 and M11 a long time ago, but Cobray has picked production again.  By 2010, MasterPiece Arms had been the only true manufacturer of the M10 for several years, and one of their versions was the MPA-460, chambered for the hot .460 Rowland cartridge.  Three versions of the MPA-460, all semiautomatic, are produced, one a pistol version with a 6-inch barrel, a 10-inch-barreled pistol, and a 16-inch carbine version (with a fixed stock).  MasterPiece Arms also produces a .22 Long Rifle version, the MPA-22, which has a 5-inch barrel, and can be fitted with a faux suppressor which extends the barrel to 5.5 inches.  The MPA-22 has a MIL-STD-1913 rail above the receiver.

     One infamous version of the M10 was the RPB M10 SAP (Semi-Automatic Pistol).  The RPB M10 was manufactured for less than three years between 1979 and 1982, after Ingram sold the rights to the M10 and M11 to several companies.  It’s claim to infamy was the ease with the RPB M10 could be converted back to automatic fire at the previous rate – it took little more than filing down the sear to the correct dimensions.  RPB kept the M10 firing from an open bolt, making this conversion much more effective.  These guns were quickly bought up by terrorists, drug lords, and rebels in South and Central America, as well as civilians simply interested in automatic weapons.  With the laws of the time, one could purchase a pistol and convert it to automatic after paying the appropriate taxes.  As a result, the BATF in 1982 ruled that all pistols firing from an open bolt were considered machineguns.  But there was little they could do to reclaim the RPB M10s.  The RPB M10s were all chambered for 9mm and were made with 5.5 or 6-inch barrels.  Most other features are identical to the Ingram M10, including the ability to take a silencer.

     Merc 2000 Notes: These weapons are a favorite of terrorists and covert personnel alike.