How to disassemble a Thompson M1A1?

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi,
I looked for this information everywhere in the internet but I didn't suceeded to find anything...
does anyone know how to disassemble a Thompson M1A1?
Thanks in advance.
Douglas

[Bill in VA]

Simple.
Put the selector to "full auto" and the safety on "fire" (i.e., both pins.paddles facing towards the muzzle) and turn the gun upside down. At the rear of the receiver, on the underside, is a small pin. Depress the pin with a small flat screwdriver blade. At the same time, hold down the trigger and pull the lower receiver to the rear. That should separate the upper receiver from the lower.

Next, depress the buffer pilot and remove the buffer (the flat metal and resin block with the horseshoe-shaped cut...it locks the buffer pilot into the receiver. Slowly allow the recoil spring to push the buffer pilot out the rear of the receiver and remove the two parts. Slide the bolt back towards the notch in the cutout for the charging handle and pull the charging handle out the side. At this point, you shouldn't need to disassemble it any further for common cleaning and maintenance.

If you do decide to go further, the lower is held together by the pivot plate (right hand side...the piece with three "fingers." Use a piece of flat wood (I use an old nylon tooth brush with the brush cut off) to carefully rotate the long finger far enough out of the way to remove the selector. From there, the safety, magazine release, and pivot plate can be removed and the internals will literally fall out.

To remove the ejector, carefully lift the end and slide a piece of thin cardboard under it (I use a business card) so as not to scratch teh receiver. Unscrew it.

To remove teh extractor from teh bolt, carefully pry the hooked end away from the bolt and then slide the entire extractor forward.

To remove the barrel, you'll need a barrel wrench of course, and to remove the grip hanger (front handguard mount) you'll need to unscrew the barrel. (The barrel holds the grip mount in place.)
HTH

[Bill in VA]

BY the way, if you want to shoot me an email I can photocopy the relevant pages from either the US Army TM or the Auto-Ordnance owner's manual (original and/or West Hurley...your choice) and email 'em back to you.

[Douglas Jr.]

Thanks!
I tried to sent you a PM and an e-mail but your profile does not allow me to do it. Please, send me a PM with your e-mail adres.

Thanks once more!

Douglas

[scotty1418]

http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/web/m1assy.htm

[Douglas Jr.]

Thanks Scott!
That's a nice page.

Douglas

[scotty1418]

It's the best I've found Always good for nomenclature and the piecing together of dummies, etc.