[MrChem]

My Thompson 1927A1 is not holding its mags secure enough and I am getting an occasional jam. It is not a mag problem and probably requires a little latch work. Usually I do this stuff myself but the Thompson's guts are a little more complicated than your basic AR or AK. I contacted a gunsmith and he would not give me an estimate on the latch replacement until he could look at the gun. That is fine but he said he was going to charge me for his time to look at the gun and give an estimate. In your experience, is this common practice? I have never paid for an estimate on anything. Anyone have a good gunsmith???

 

[gunner69]

I have NEVER been charged for an estimate. Have you tried SEVERAL magazines, and experienced the same problem? If so I'll wager that the factory will do the work for NO CHARGE. It is worth a try. Call their "help desk" to explain the problem. I had a problem with a Keltech .380 and they didn't charge a dime. :2cents:

 

[MrChem]

I have tried 3 mags and all show the same problem to varying degrees. Personally, I think it is a problem with the latch hole cut into the mags. They didn't seem to be very consistent. The factory did send me a new mag which improved the situation but did not remedy it. The funny think is I can fix it by putting a small piece of duct tape right above the hole and it works fine. My next step is to get some cheap GI mags and dremel the hole myself. It just surprised me that this guy wants money for an estimate on top of his fee. He then got pissy when I just asked him what a typical repair like this would cost. He accused me of wasting his time trying to get a free estimate since he had a backlog of over a year. This guy's attitude just rubbed me wrong. I guess my new project is to study up on Thompson repair and do it myself.

 

[gunner69]

Did you call the Manufacture? ???

 

[1redgmc]

He accused me of wasting his time trying to get a free estimate since he had a backlog of over a year. This guy's attitude just rubbed me wrong.

Hell, that statemet alone tells me he is full of shit. Who in the hell wants to wait in line for a YEAR for gunsmith work?

Reminds me of a story...

A radio station was running a competition – words that weren’t in the dictionary yet could still be used in a sentence that would make logical sense. The prize was a trip to Bali.

DJ: “96 FM here, what’s your name?”

Caller: “Hi, my name’s Dave.”

DJ: “Dave, what’s your word?”

Caller: “Goan... spelt G-O-A-N pronounced ‘go-an’.”

DJ: “You are correct, Dave, ‘goan’ is not in the dictionary. Now, for a trip to Bali: What sentence can you use that word in that would make sense?”

Caller: “Goan fuck yourself!”

The DJ cut the caller off and took other calls, all unsuccessful until:

DJ: “96 FM, what’s your name?”

Caller: “Hi, me name’s Jeff.”

DJ: “Jeff, what’s your word?”

Caller: “Smee, spelt S-M-E-E, pronounced ‘smee’.”

DJ: “You are correct, Jeff, ‘smee’ is not in the dictionary. Now, for a trip to Bali: What sentence can you use that word in that would make sense?”

Caller: “Smee again! Goan fuck yourself!”

 

[dont_tread_on_me]

Call this dude,his name is Damian(M-F 9-5 est: 845-657-6576).The web addy is http://tommygunner.com/.He is very knowledgable,and can give you troubleshooting tips.
Sometimes the feed lips get bent out of spec and will cause malfunctions.I have several g.i.mags that I have modified to work with mine and they all work pretty well.The play front to back in the magwell is normal as long as it isn't excessive,but if you make the hole to big the magazine wont sit high enough in the weapon causing malfunctions.Make sure if you attempt to "fit" any g.i.mags,you take your time.Carefull with the dremal then after you are close,finish with a file test fitting along the way.Try to get the mag to fit so the catch just barely "snick's" into place.The hole needs to be made larger toward the top of the magazine.
Also if you need replacement magazine springs,Wolff gunsprings makes them. Hope this helps.

 

[MrChem]

I have spoken with Damien before. Nice guy and very helpful. The mags I get from Kahr just seem inconsistent with regards to the latch hole. They have sent replacement mags and while they are better, they still seem to sit low in the receiver thus not totally fixing the problem. I am going to try to mod some GI mags and see if that works. If not, I will send it in to Kahr and let them look at it.

 

[dont_tread_on_me]

What type/s of jams are you experiencing?

 

[MrChem]

What type/s of jams are you experiencing?

I am getting jams as the bolt carries the round into the chamber. The mags sit too low and the lip on the casing sometimes hits the lip of the feed ramp and the round gets cockeyed and jams. If I use the mag as a grip, thus putting the gun's weight on the mag, causing it to ride higher in the receiver,it feeds flawlessly. Even if I put a little strip of duct tape across the top of the hole on the mag, it works fine.

 

[dont_tread_on_me]

It sounds like the hole is too big.Try the G.I. mag making sure to get a tight fit.You may be able to fix the other magazines by tig welding the hole a little at the top then refitting them.You just might have an out of spec mag release button.