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LOT 1372
Omaha Police Department Marked and Documented Colt Thompson Model 1921 Submachine Gun, Class III/NFA C&R Fully Transferable Machine Gun, with Extra Magazines - Serial no. 9661, 45 ACP cal., 10 1/2 inch fluted bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. One of the most famous submachine guns in the world, the Thompson SMG rates as one of the truly signature American weapons. While advancements in manufacturing techniques and materials would allow later designs to match or exceed the Thompson’s performance, none of them have managed to do the job with the same level of style and craftsmanship. The Thompson, a product of old-school hand craftsmanship, is virtually synonymous with the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression, being found on both sides of the law during the “gangland”
era of American history, and also serving on all Allied fronts of World War II, where it stood tall among its more cost-effective stamped steel substitutes. The records in Herigstad’s “Colt Thompson Submachine Gun” (page 895)
show this 1921 as having been shipped in “1921AC” configuration as one of ten to Chief John Pszanowski of the Omaha Police Department of Omaha, Nebraska, on October 15th, 1930. It is also listed in “Thompson: The American Legend” by Hill. The exact use Omaha PD put this Thompson to (as well as
any owners after them) is unrecorded, but many urban police departments upgraded to Thompson firepower due to the perceived lawlessness of the “Public Enemy” era and undermining of social order caused by Prohibition. Blade front and folding Lyman rear sights, the former installed on an unmarked Cutts-style compensator on the replacement fluted barrel. The standard 1921 nomenclature and markings are present on the receiver, with the matching numbered trigger housing fitted with knurled control surfaces and proper “FULL/AUTO”/”SINGLE” and “FIRE”/”SAFE” switch configuration. Additionally, the top of the receiver and the bottom of the trigger housing are marked in elegant jeweler-quality script engraving “Omaha Police Dept.”; this style of
fine marking has been seen on other Omaha PD documented Thompsons and gives the item a more sophisticated look than the individually stamped letters typical of the era or the mass-printed inventory labels of later years. Internals are proper 1921 pattern, with Blish Lock mechanism, heavyweight recoil spring, and spring steel oiler. With dual pistol grips and an “anchor” stamped quick detach buttstock, with the deeply branded markings “OPD” on the rear pistol grip and “OMAHA/POLICE/DEPT” on the buttstock. Included with the lot is a modern blued Auto-Ordnance “Type L” 50-round drum magazine and nine blued stick magazines.