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Auto-Ordnance Model 1921, .45 ACP (USA, 1921-1928)
General John Thompson – who coined the term “submachine gun” – began designing his famous weapon during WWI, but it wasn’t completed until 1921. The “Tommy gun” was soon adopted in small numbers by prison guards and the police departments of most major American cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. They weren’t much used until the 1930s, though, most agencies considering them too heavy and dangerous. For example, the Chicago police issued one per detective car beginning in 1927, but removed them from service a few years later.
Other early users of the Thompson submachine gun (TSMG) were state police forces such as those of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and West Virginia, as well as the Texas Rangers. The U.S. Army didn’t buy it, but many National Guard forces did, for example those of Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, and New York. From 1927, the U.S. Marines employed a few hundred guns in China, Nicaragua, and at home for the protection of mail trains. They would also have used it in the government raid on Innsmouth (MA) in 1928 . . .
Enthusiastic civilian buyers included banks, detective agencies, and mining corporations. Company ads showed a cowboy using the “anti-bandit gun” to mow down rustlers, but few customers could be attracted this way. In the hands of such high profile criminals as Al Capone’s mob and John Dillinger, though, the TSMG became known as the weapon of mobsters and bank robbers – the “Chicago Piano” or “Chopper.” The “Gun that made the Twenties Roar” was first used by gangsters in 1925 during the Chicago Beer Wars, and made its most ominous appearance in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929.
During the 1930s, Dillinger’s small gang routinely carried around more machine guns in Gladstone bags than the entire Indiana State Police possessed. Small numbers were exported to foreign police forces such as the Havana police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Toronto police, and Shanghai Municipal Police (see GURPS Martial Arts: Fairbairn Close Combat Systems, p. 12). Only 15,000 were made, but the
design was widely copied in China from the late 1920s on. The original Model 1921 (called the Model 1921A from 1927) had excellent sights and was quite accurate. It could use both box and drum magazines. The box held 20 rounds ($30, 1.3 lbs.); the drum, either 50 rounds (as in the table) or 100 rounds (Malf. 16, -1 Bulk, $274, 8.5 lbs.). The larger drum was unpopular due to its bulk and unreliability, and was no longer offered by 1927; only 5,000 were ever made. (When Chicago gangster Earl “Hymie” Weiss was gunned down in 1926, the 100-round drum used jammed after 39 shots.) The Thompson always came with a 20-round mag; many customers bought it with four 20-rounders and a 50-round drum. The standard web belt had two ammo pouches (p. 33), one holding four magazines and the other a drum.
A buckshot round was briefly offered for the weapon; Dmg1d+1 pi, Acc 2, Range 35/750, RoF 13¥5, Rcl 1. This proved too lethal for riot control, and was replaced by a birdshot round.
The birdshot shell was popular with police and strikebreakers,but required a special 18-round magazine ($30, 1.2 lbs.): Dmg 1d-3(0.5) pi-, Acc 3, Range 12/230, RoF 13¥120, Shots 18+1(3),
Rcl 1. Also available already from 1921 were both tracer and incendiary bullets (High-Tech, p. 175). Despite – or because of – spectacular sales displays featuring cars set aflame with a
Tommy, these were little used by official users, but adventurers might find them helpful against supernatural creatures vulnerable (p. B161) to heat or flame. In 1925, Al Capone’s mentor Johnny Torrio was shot with bullets “poisoned” with garlic . . .
Without the easily detachable 1.75-lb. shoulder stock (which takes three Ready maneuvers to remove or affix), the Thompson could be concealed in a violin case (p. 33) or under a coat (Holdout -4): Acc 3, ST 12†, Bulk -4, Rcl 3. The stock was often removed for drive-by shootings, to allow easier operation in the confines of a car. The likes of John Dillinger and Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd preferred to carry the gun stockless all the time, for ease of concealment, with a few stick magazines in the pockets of their suits. A canvas carrying case ($200, 1.9 lbs.) allowed the TSMG to be strapped on the back or under the armpit (this gives +1 to effective Holdout skill, and a trench-coat or similar over-garment adds a further +3). This flap-covered case held the empty gun with the stock removed, barrel down, and didn’t allow a Fast-Draw. Four pouches onthe case held 20-round magazines, a fifth the detached stock. A 0.75-lb. Maxim baffle sound suppressor (-2 to Hearing, -1 Bulk) was offered for the Thompson in 1924-1925, but was very scarce; it required the muzzle to be threaded. From 1926, the TSMG was available with a Cutts compensator (p. 30). This version was called the Model 1921AC from 1927.
Auto-Ordnance offered a pintle installation (p. B467) to mount the gun on a motorcycle sidecar. This setup was acquired by several police agencies, including the New York State Police, New York Police Department, and Shanghai Municipal Police, all using Indian Big Chief motorbikes. A similar pintle mount was offered for yachts and aircraft. The latter was tested in 1923 by the U.S. Army Air Corps on the
observer’s station of a Dayton-Wright DH-4 fighter/bomber (High-Tech, p. 233), but was rejected. At least one Potez Po 25A-2 fighter bomber was so fitted in Paraguay,
however.
In 1926, the Army tested another armament package for the DH-4; four linked Thompsons with 100-round drums, installed fixed in the lower wings (see p. B467). This setupwas also unsuccessful due to the limited power and ammo capacity aswell as the low reliability (Malf. 16). However, with real aircraft MGs being difficult and expensive to obtain, this could be an option for adventurers looking to arm
their surplus “barnstormer” biplane.
Auto-Ordnance, who advertised with the slogan “On the side of law and order,” urged their distributors to sell only to respectable buyers and always register them, but not all heeded the call – at least 80 Tommy guns were sold to people with Alternate Identity or simply a fake name and address. The company itself didn’t always ask twice. It directly sold hundreds of guns to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) via a straw firm, which resulted in a big scandal in late 1921, when Bureau of Investigations agents boarded a ship carrying 495 Thompsons en route to Ireland.
Thus, in the U.S., Britain, and many other countries, the Tommy gun was freely available to anyone who could afford it during the 1920s (pp. 4-5), but due to its notorious criminal
uses, the manufacturer stopped selling the weapon to all nonmilitary customers in 1930! This policy was revoked in 1932 to again allow sales to law enforcement agencies, penitentiaries,
district attorneys, and certified companies including banks and armored car companies, but not to individual law officers or employees of such companies – even though it was still legal
to own in many areas!
The Model 1927A (1927-1930) was a semiautomatic version of the basic Model 1921A; RoF 3, Cost $1,950, LC3. The Model 1927AC was the same gun with a Cutts compensator; RoF 3,
Cost $2,300, LC3. Offered commercially, these were much less successful than the standard weapons, and few were made. The Model 1928AC (1928-1938), adopted by the U.S. Navy
as the M1928, had a reduced cyclic rate: RoF 11, Cost $2,300. Military guns featured the Cutts compensator, but it could also be had without as the Model 1928A (Cost $1,950). All were
rebuilt Model 1921 guns, but they couldn’t use the 100-round drum any longer. The forward pistol grip was often replaced by a straight forearm (no change in stats). The U.S. Coast Guard introduced the Navy model in 1929 to combat rum runners, issuing at least one per vessel, while the U.S. Cavalry acquired one for each of their armored cars in 1932. Agents of the FBI and the U.S. Treasury department used Thompsons from 1933, and officially adopted the Model 1928AC in 1935, the FBI buying more than 115 guns for its 500-odd agents. The guards at Alcatraz and Sing Sing prisons also employed
it (see GURPS Cliffhangers, p. 28). In 1939, on the eve of WWII, the Model 1928AC was acquired in sizable numbers by France (Mle 1928), Sweden (m/39), and Yugoslavia (M28).
Fairly realistic movie scenes showcasing the Tommy gun can be seen in Howard Hawks’ Scarface (also showing the tedious filling of the drums), John Milius’ Dillinger, and Road to Perdition, while Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, Miller’s Crossing, The Mummy Returns, and Peter Jackson’s King Kong feature memorable moments in more cinematic films.
Note that there are some obvious fictional elements there, but that shouldn't matter much for your purposes.