2

AN UNUSUAL

 

THOMPSON

TRIGGER FRAME - IT'S

A

 REAL

 

TURKEY

BY

ROGER HERBST

In May of 2006 I found an interesting Thompson item on Sturmgewehr. It appeared to be a standard M1 trigger

frame, except for the markings. They were certainly NOT standard, or even English. A little online investigation

showed the words to be Turkish.

One of my interests in the realm of Thompson collecting is the use of Thompsons by foreign governments/militaries,

so I contacted the seller and agreed to purchase the item. The finish is not spectacular, but I had never before seen

a trigger frame with Turkish markings. It did not include the buttstock assembly or rear grip screw, and pictures of

the frame also showed that it was missing the magazine trip and rocker. I have no idea when the trip and rocker went

missing, but it is possible that they were never included, as the gun would work fine without either present (in full

auto at least). However, the selector setting is rather meaningless without the rocker in place, so it may have

disappeared when someone broke down the components at some point (the classic leftover parts syndrome).

I began my investigation with the markings. As you can see below, the markings are original, strong and deep.