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LOT 380
Serial no. 91, 45 ACP cal., 10 1/2 inch fluted bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. This is
an immensely historic example of an early production Colt Thompson Model 1921
submachine gun manufactured in 1921 and bearing serial number 91. The first
40 Thompson submachine guns were prototypes in various configurations, with
serial number 41 considered to be the first production example, per page 5 of the
book “The Thompson Submachine Gun” by Roger A. Cox. This makes this rare early
Thompson the 51st production example. This is the only two-digit serial numbered
Thompson submachine gun that we have ever had the opportunity to offer at Rock
Island Auction Company! Adding further to its desirability is that this early example
was shipped to Logan County, West Virginia, during the Coal War just months prior
to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, the largest armed uprising in the United
States since the Civil War, and is documented as connected to the coal companies
and their allied lawmen. The Battle of Blair Mountain is notably one of the earliest
known incidents of Thompsons being fired in anger.
The serial number shipment records on page 39 of the book “Colt Thompson
Submachine Gun” (2014) by Gordon Herigstad list serial number 91 as shipped in a
single gun shipment on April 23, 1921, as part of a larger order for 28 guns, to the
Logan Hardware and Supply Company of Logan, West Virginia, and indicate it was
subsequently forwarded to the Main Island Creek Coal Company of Omar, Logan
County, West Virginia, in a 5 gun order with the note “c/o Will Gore”. A list of Don
Chafin’s deputies in 1921 compiled by historian Brandon Ray Kirk based on “Record
of Bonds E” in the Logan County Clerk’s Office references William Gore along with
Albert Gore, Guy F. Gore, and E. D. Gore. Chafin was the sheriff of Logan County in
1912-1924 and led the law enforcement response to the unrest during the Battle
of Blair Mountain. Deputy John Gore (1873-1921) is noted as “Chafin’s right hand
man” and was shot and killed during the unrest. William Gore (1878-1935) was his
younger brother.
Historic, Documented, Two-Digit Serial Number 91, Early
Production, West Virginia Shipped, Battle of Blair
Mountain Era Colt Thompson Model 1921 Submachine Gun,
Class III/NFA C&R Fully Transferable Machine Gun
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