THOMPSON SERIAL NUMBER ONE
BY
TRACIE L. HILL
By now most of the collectors on the newsletter are familiar with the history of the Thompson Submachine Gun. A lot of you are familiar with the latest book Thompson: American Legend. Over the next few months I plan to write a series of articles using this book as the foundation. With this text book and the help of several collectors and museums, I hope to go into more depth on several subjects.
The first of these is the first gun to be serial numbered. The Model of 1919, Annihilator I, serial number one. This gun is currently in the West Point Military Museum collection in New York. The gun is not currently out on display. However, with the help of the curator, William Fisch, I was able to get a behind the scenes examination of this fascinating gun.
This was the first Thompson designed to fire from a box or a drum magazine. The drum's rail notches in the receiver are used to mount an adapter magazine well. This magazine well with its flared bottom, would have made it easier to load in the darkness as opposed to the final tee slot design. This adapter is held in place by a spring clip which keeps the adapter from shifting. The magazine, when inserted, is held in place by a thin sheet metal tab which locks into the front side comer of the magazine. (The magazine will be discussed in depth later.)
CLOSE UP OF THE DISASSEMBLED ANNIHILATOR.
