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The Thomson submachine gun has been widely used around the world, and there are many types and variants of guns. The American version of the Thomson submachine gun was produced partly by colt's patented weapons company, and some by the American Savage Company and the Automatic Weapons Company. In addition to these American versions of the Thomson submachine gun, countries have also copied the gun, and there are also a small number of patchwork variant guns, including the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun assembled on the island of Cyprus...
Unique shapes sourced in situ
According to records, the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun was originally discovered by the Canadian United Nations peacekeeper sent to the island of Cyprus. The guns were supplied by Turkey to ethnic Turks in Cyprus in the 1960s and 1970s.
The United Nations first began sending peacekeepers to Cyprus in 1964, including the Royal 22nd Regiment of the Canadian Air Force. The regiment entered Cyprus in March 1964 and rotated every six months for more than 30 years. Canadian soldiers first came into contact with the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun between 1968 and 1969.
Upon arrival in Cyprus, Canadian soldiers found that the Turkish rebel army was equipped with American-made Garand rifles, Browning machine guns, and Thomson submachine guns. This situation is not surprising, as Turkey was one of the main recipients of the U.S. remaining weapons from World War II. However, these American-made weapons equipped in the Turkish rebel army are not the original, but have been modified and indigenous weapons, which has been speculated that this may be because although Turkey can easily provide American-made weapons for the Turkish rebels, they are not willing to take the risk of causing political unrest in the United States, so they choose to provide some of the main components of the weapons, which can help the Turkish rebels to make weapons, but also weaken Turkey's political position.
All Turkish versions of the Thomson submachine gun are known as the M1A1 Thomson submachine gun and fire standard .45 acp caliber cartridges. Barrels, magazines, and some small parts are Made in the United States, while all other parts are produced locally on the island and of varying quality. Exactly how much the gun was produced is inconclusive, but it is speculated that it may be between a few thousand and ten thousand. Canadian peacekeepers were very fond of the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun they had confiscated, often carried on patrol.
Since most of the metal parts of the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun are produced in Cyprus and the Mediterranean region is rich in brass, the gun mostly uses brass receivers and transmitter mounts, which is very eye-catching. Its barrel is equipped with a muzzle anti-jump/recoiler, which is completely different from the AMERICAN M1 Thomson submachine gun. Their bore anti-hop/retractor is welded to the barrel instead of screwing, because the U.S. barrel they use does not have a thread at the chamber for the breech device. The muzzle anti-jump/retractor used is also various, some are made in Turkey, and many are made in the United States.
The front of the receiver is cut with threads for mounting the barrel. The stock, grip and handguard are all made of olive wood.
Since the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun is made of brass material in large quantities, these guns are much heavier than steel submachine guns. People who have used the gun say that due to its large mass, it can effectively eliminate the perceptible recoil.
Of course, there are also some Turkish versions of the Thomson submachine gun that have changed the brass receiver to a steel receiver, and some barrels are no longer equipped with a bore anti-jump/retractor, but a modified ring sight. But whether the receiver of the two materials was used at the same time, or whether the gun with the steel receiver replaced the brass receiver gun, the details of which are not yet clarified.
All Turkish versions of the Thomson submachine gun have an inscription on the upper left side of the receiver, along with the gun number below it, where the tmt represents the name of the largest Turkish resistance organization in Cyprus at the time. Early Turkish versions of the Thomson submachine gun were numbered with the letter "t" beginning with a number, and later represented only by numbers.
Like the American-made Thomson submachine gun, the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun has a fast and slow machine and safety on the left side of the transmitter base. However, the gun type of the two different material receivers also has different logo text, among which the inscription on the transmitter base of the brass receiver is represented by English letters, while the inscription on the transmitter base of the steel receiver is represented by Turkish letters, and it is also doped with special letters. The English inscription in the steel receiver version refers to the Thomson submachine gun made by Savage, and the "full auto" is divided into two lines, while the Thomson submachine gun of Automatic Weapons is represented by one line. In general, the text on the brass receiver is more delicate than on the steel receiver, the engraving is not deep, the letters are thinner, and it does not look like it is machine processed.
Canadian soldiers have brought back two Turkish versions of Thomson submachine guns, but there is no specific documentation on how many Turkish versions of Thomson submachine guns have flowed into Canada. So far, only four guns remain, numbered t272, t457, t525 and 1150, of which t272 and t457 are models of brass receivers and the latter two are models of steel receivers. Due to the limited information, it is not possible to determine whether there is a special pattern in the numbering of brass receiver models and steel receiver models.
In addition, there are some Turkish versions of the Thomson submachine gun imported to the United Kingdom in 1970 through a distributor, both models have a part, and now only one gun with a steel receiver number 2630 has been found, but it is no longer in normal use.
Look directly at the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun
Copper receiver Thomson submachine gun
The Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun, numbered T457, is now intact at the Canadian Air Force Museum. The wooden parts on the gun are made of olive wood, and the front of the barrel is welded with a Turkish jump/retractor.
The gun features a brass receiver and transmitter base, and a rough handmade lattice pattern is machined on the handmade Type 1921/28 magazine cartridges. The stock is bolted to the rear of the receiver. The front strap loop is made of brass. The inscription tmt on the gun and the letter t before the number are larger in size, but the number indicating the number is the same size as the inscription on the steel receiver and has a darker inscription.
Steel receiver Thomson submachine gun
There have also been some parts of the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun on the US market, including a steel transmitter base. The transmitter mount is engraved with an inscription in Turkish, and the surface treatment is not very delicate, and it seems that it has been treated with blue. The grip of the transmitter base is made of walnut wood instead of olive wood.
All inscriptions on the transmitter base are original, with thick and deep engravings, which also contain special Turkish letters. Even though there are special letters inside, 3 of the 4 inscriptions are easy to understand. The surekli on one side of the button can be translated as "continuous, uninterrupted", meaning continuous launch, while the tek on the other side is translated as "single", meaning single launch. One of the inscriptions on the bumper, enniyet, translates as "safe, safe," meaning state of insurance, while the other word, ates, is difficult to find in the Turkish dictionary, and it is difficult to determine what to translate. Later, an article about someone shooting a weapon used the word atesh to mean shooting, and the mystery of this particular letter was officially solved. Originally, the special letter s in ates is a special consonant, pronounced "sh", which means that in fact the pronunciation of ates should be atesh, which means shooting. That is to say, this Turkish language is likely borrowed from the local Turkish language.
Turkish inscription on the steel transmitter base, which includes special Turkish letters
The overall design of the transmitter base is interesting, a mixture of American and Turkish, with American-made parts including fast and slow machines (Savage), insurance (Savage), and resistance irons (Stevens), and the rest of the components are made in Turkey, including triggers, springs, and single-engine rods.
Its number 13 is inscribed on larger parts (e.g. transmitter mounts, magazine cartridges). This number may be the assembly number or the manufacturer number, as different parts may be produced in different locations on the island due to the environment at the time. For example, the number 3 is engraved in the transmitter base of the gun number T457, and the number 39 is engraved inside the receiver of the gun number 2630, but there is no number on the transmitter base, so it can be seen that the numbering on the parts of these guns is not regular.
The dimensions of the transmitter base are similar to those made in the United States, but there are still some differences, and the Turkish manufacturer did not make the part exactly according to the tolerances of the United States, so the Turkish-made transmitter base did not match the American-made receiver.
The transmitter base is much thinner than the Us-made, and the grip is about 0.8mm thinner than the US-made grip, so the American grip cannot be installed on the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun if it has not been polished extensively, especially in the position under the magazine card.
The American magazine card shoot is relatively rough and mounted on the left side of the transmitter base, as is the Turkish version. However, each magazine shoot in the Turkish version has unique characteristics, and the plaid pattern on the magazine card shoot is also different, all handmade.
The Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun, numbered t457, has an inscription engraved on the left side of the receiver and a handmade magazine on the left side of the transmitter base
The right side of the t457's magazine magazine spin axis protrudes from the right side of the transmitter base
All Turkish magazine cards are handmade
Although the Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun is small in number, its presence further confirms the wide range of use of the Thomson submachine gun, the famous firearm in the history of American light weapons.
The Turkish version of the Thomson submachine gun is quite roughly made
(This article was published in the first half of the first half of the 3rd issue of "Light Weapons" in 2009, and the public account article has been deleted and revised)
Editors: Wang Xiaotao, Li Hao
Proofreader: Wang Xiaotao, Wei Kaigong
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