Legal shipping issues aside. I was lurking at a few auctions at GunBroker and it seems that you can buy a semi auto for about $900. All my PR's have been resin (MIM) etc. So whats the major problems for using a real Thompson as a base? Barrel length? I understand not wanting to modify a real firearm but come on for the price of TM airsoft with the GP kit you could buy a real gun.

Well you could but the barrel will be 16 inches long. To shorte.
n it you either have to buy them that way which I think starts around 1400 then you need the SBR paperwork to be filled out and sent in, after have the chief LEO in your area sign off and include a check to uncle sam for 200 then wait for up to 6 month to a year to see if you can get it. Or the 900 one you found then do the paperwork again with the 200 then once approved by a 10 inch barrel and find a Gunsmith to fit it to your receiver.

All really depends on the hurdles you want to jump. Or just get about 16 to 20K together and get yourself a live class 3 M1A1 and Rock and Roll.

_________________
SFC
Michael Larson
Minnesota-USA

A03/TQ1.0.92141E1

Well, I've always drawn a clear distinction between prop guns and real guns for this very reason. Yeah, for $900 you can buy a very nice real gun, and you can even buy a real thompson, modify it into a pulse rifle, hell you could even get a class 3 license and slap a true blue sawed off shotgun in the spas cage, and get yourself a full auto thompson, if you wanted to.

Obviously you can do it, they did it for the film. It's not that you can or cannot, it's do you want to?

In my mind, once you use real gun parts, and maintain functionality and keep it able to fire, it ceases to be a prop. It's "real".

I'd much prefer a pulse rifle I can run blanks through full auto and not real rounds. But at the end of the day, the resin, styrene, and plastic shrouds that are commercially available would not hold up to a real steel thompson fired in full auto.

You'd have to get metal.

The guns going to get expensive, then it's gonna get heavy.

Anyway, I know that the hero PR I eventually build will probably be a real thomspon with a blank firing adapter installed so I can use it in films.

I'd love a real M41! But then I love assault rifles...

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"The other Gareth"

There is a company that manufactors blank only fireing machine guns and the ole "tommy gun" is on the list. If you wanted, maybe, to convert one into a pulse rifle here is the site.....

www.ssroom.com

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If you accept pocket lint as a currency well I'll take it all!

The problem with ssroom's will be it is going to be the 1928 version with the charging handle on top of the receiver instead of on the side like the M1A1. Also it is looking like another year to year and a half at least before they come out.

The maker is working on the STENs now then from what we understand from him (reading between lines on some stuff)
is that he will be focusing on the AK blank only to fill a fairly nice deal with the DoD.

_________________
SFC
Michael Larson
Minnesota-USA

A03/TQ1.0.92141E1

Hudson, MGC, and one other company I believe, make the proper Thomspon in plug fire cap form. They fire full auto.

One of our members converted one into a Pulse Rifle last year I thought . . .

This is probably what I'll do when I make my hero eventually, but who knows for sure, I might just go the blank firing adapter in a real gun route too.

You can find them here:
http://www.modelguns-worldwide.com/

You can have a plastic shroud. You just have to use strong plastic. There are many plastic guns these days like the G36, XM8, Masada, AR15s with plastic or carbon fiber receivers, etc and there's a plethora of plastic framed pistols. Most probably have some metal reinforcing in key areas, but the shroud of the pulse rifle doesn't see a lot of stress.

Except when it's used as a carrying handle.

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"The other Gareth"

Strength is not the only issue - on a rifle/SMG, the plastic has to be able to withstand high temperatures without melting or deforming. I am sure it can be done, because the handguards on my M4 are thermoset plastic with aluminum heatshields.

In this kind of project, I'd look into aluminum shrouds

Please re-read what I posted.



As in, the stuff you can buy from the prop community. Because unless you're making the shrouds yourself, and you have access to the same polymers (which are injection molded, not vacformed) you really can't do a "plastic" [polymer] shroud.

But, there are aluminum milled shrouds some folks have made (maa), and Matt could probably do a set of shrouds that would work, but I don't think with the usual materials he uses, so they'd have to be custom.

My point was, they'd be expensive. Know what I mean? Not really that you couldn't do it, but in the prop community, if you're going to buy one of the shrouds prop makers build and sell, you'd have to go with one of the metals ones.

I am well aware of the polymers used in the firearms industry, I just don't see that being a reality for this type of project unless it's seriously custom.

You know though, some folks have made some really nice wood shrouds.

Wood would probably work great!

Update. So the problem with living in California is the whole assault rifle thing. It is now legal to buy and own an assault rifle if it has a 10 round or less magazine that requires a too to be removed. There are a couple shops that specialize in converting this type of gun. So I got an email from one shop that says yes to the California legal M1A1 . I already know that I will have to fix the stock in the extended position to get the 30" over all length ( to keep it CA legal). So what barrel length is accurate? I read through the sticky forums and am getting the idea that something was grafted to the flared portion of the barrel to extended it? Is this Correct?
Christian

As far as the heat issue. You can line the inner shrouds with a heat absorbing material. I see this all the time on my motorcycles to protect the fiberglass from the under tail exhaust. I think If i spent all day running rounds through it melting would be a problem but this would be a "Just knowing it works is good enough for me" build.