By Frank Iannamico
During WWII there was an overwhelming demand for the Thompson Submachine Gun, to supply both U.S. and Allied armies. In 1939, Savage Arms was contracted by Auto-Ordnance to manufacture the weapon. Due to the complex construction of the Thompson, Savage had a difficult time keeping up with the ever-increasing demand. As a result, the Auto-Ordnance Corporation opened their own factory in 1941 to help fill the Ordnance Department’s requirements for the weapon.
The 1928A1 Thompson Submachine Guns being produced at Auto-Ordnance’s Bridgeport plant were identical mechanically and in appearance to those being made by Savage in Utica, New York. The letters AO preceding the weapon’s serial number on the left side of the M1928A1 model’s receiver will easily identify an M1928A1 Thompson that was produced in the Auto-Ordnance’s Bridgeport, Connecticut plant. A similar AO prefix serial number was applied to the rear of the trigger frame.
The early manufacture Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport guns, like their Savage counterparts, were fitted with the finned barrel and the adjustable Lyman rear sight. There were many Savage and other subcontractor manufactured parts used to assemble the guns produced at the Auto-Ordnance plant. The parts that were manufactured in house by Auto-Ordnance were stamped with the letters AO or AOC.
As production continued the Auto-Ordnance Thompsons, like the Savage manufactured guns, also began to be fitted with the simple stamped fixed “L” style aperture rear sight. On the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport produced Thompsons the “L” style rear sight began to appear on guns at approximately the 80,000 serial number range. However, there was no defining line where the use of the Lyman adjustable sight was discontinued, as they continued to appear sporadically throughout the entire range of serial numbers.
In early production the finned barrel was still fitted on the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport guns, but was eventually replaced by the easier to manufacture, smooth barrel that began to appear at the 85,000 serial number range. As with the rear sights there was no defining line on the type of barrel that was installed on any particular serial number range on Auto-Ordnance Thompsons. Even after the smooth barrels began to be fitted, the finned style barrels continued to sporadically appear through the entire serial number range until the end of production.
Note; while the “L” sight and smooth barrel began to appear on mid-range serial number Savage 1928’s they appeared on lower numbered Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport guns. The reason is that the Savage factory began manufacturing the guns approximately eighteen months before Auto-Ordnance. Thus, a low numbered Auto-Ordnance 1928 model was manufactured at the same time period a mid-range number Savage gun.
The Cutts compensator was retained on all military A-O 1928A1 models throughout production. Most of the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport Thompsons were fitted with the late (4th) style compensator that has the Thompson bullet logo on the left side, and the Auto-Ordnance name roll marked across the top of the leading edge. All M1928A1 model Thompsons made at the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport plant were originally fitted with the horizontal style foregrips.
The Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport plant was under the jurisdiction of the Springfield Ordnance District in 1941. Thompson Guns were inspected and proofed by on site Springfield ordnance inspectors. The initials of the chief executive officer of the respective Ordnance Districts, who were designated as Army Inspectors of Ordnance or AIOs, were stamped on the guns indicating that they accepted the weapons on behalf of the United States Government. Springfield District Chief executive officers during WWII Thompson production were; Waldemar Broberg and Lt. Colonel Guy H. Drewery. Subordinate ordnance officers managed the inspection process, and all of the guns were actually inspected and stamped by personnel working under their respective chief inspectors. The purpose of the government inspection was to insure that the material being manufactured was the type, quality and quantity specified in the government agreement with the provider. Great emphasis was placed on government contractors to perform their own quality inspections at their factories to avoid having material rejected by the government inspectors. This was done to avoid delays in badly needed materials and to avoid the expense of rejected goods. The quality fit and finish of the Auto-Ordnance produced guns was identical to those of Savage manufacture. Interchangeability of parts was 100% as per Ordnance Department directives.
Model of M1928A1 parts manufactured by Auto-Ordnance’s factories or subcontractors and marked AOC were; Receivers, trigger frames, Blish locks, bolts, actuators, barrels, grip mounts, butt plates, sears, sear levers, trip levers, disconnectors, safety levers and pivot plates.
Although the Remington Arms Company was subcontracted to manufacture many Thompson parts for Auto-Ordnance, in January of 1942, Auto-Ordnance acquired the machinery from Remington and moved it into their Bridgeport plant and began manufacturing the parts themselves. These parts included the actuator, bolt, extractor, ejector and disconnector.
An interesting variation of the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport produced M1928A1 Thompson that has been observed, are those Thompsons that have had the U.S. designation ground off and the A1 mark overstamped to read AC. Many of the guns documented had been refurbished, and fitted with the smooth barrels and the “L” style fixed rear sight. Many, but certainly not all, of these guns so altered were in the 150,000 to 152,000 serial number range. A letter X was added as a suffix on the serial numbers of many of these guns. A few other examples of these “1928AC” Thompsons documented were fitted with the finned barrel and Lyman adjustable rear sight. A small number of these Thompsons had their original military horizontal foregrip replaced with the early style vertical foregrip. It is believed that these were guns that had been purchased from the government by the Auto-Ordnance Corporation and refurbished in order to be sold to law enforcement agencies after they were surplused. The Numrich Arms Corporation also removed U.S. markings from 1928 and 1928A1 model Thompsons they sold in the 1950’s.
Interestingly, some of the AO “1928AC” overstamped Thompsons did not have Army Inspector of Ordnance (AIO) acceptance stamps on them, but were stamped with the Ordnance “wheel” acceptance mark. While other examples of these guns had no government inspector or acceptance stamps at all, suggesting that they were never inspected or accepted by the U.S. Government. Perhaps these guns were contract overruns or assembled from parts that remained after the government contracts were filled. However, no documentation could be located that could prove or disprove this theory.
A Treasury Department IRS Form dated June 30, 1944 reveals that two Auto-Ordnance manufacture U.S. 1928A1 Thompsons with an X suffix added to the serial numbers were sold to a Massachusetts police department that year. The U.S. was ground off and the letter C over stamped on the 1 on both of the guns. Please note that the war didn’t end until the 15th of August 1945. All of the 1928 “AC” guns documented were originally manufactured by the Auto-Ordnance Corporation’s Bridgeport factory, and in almost every case had an AO prefixed serial numbered frame, although most of the frame/receiver numbers were mis-matched. The serial numbers located on the frames of these weapons also had the letter X added to them.
Although most of the Bridgeport manufactured Thompsons documented had the very common mismatched receiver and frame numbers, I found it interesting that in almost every case of an Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport mismatched gun, the frames were also of Auto-Ordnance manufacture. Even though the Savage frames are completely interchangeable, few Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport guns were observed with Savage trigger frames. The only two serialized parts on wartime Thompsons were the receiver and the trigger frame. The only reason for this was that when the Thompsons were manufactured the lower frames and receivers were hand fitted to each other to insure a close fit between the two parts. It was purely for cosmetic purposes, and had no bearing on the reliability or functioning of the weapon.
As per standard Ordnance Department procedures when there was more than one contractor manufacturing the same weapon, there were separate blocks of serial numbers assigned to each contractor. This was done so that no two weapons would be produced with the same serial number. However, during the military run there were some numbers duplicated, and a few more that were only one or two numbers different, the only difference being the letter S or AO preceding the serial number. Even though there were serial numbers that were close or duplicated on Savage and Auto-Ordnance guns, the dates that those Thompsons had actually been manufactured were quite different. By the time Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport had produced their very first M1928A1 gun, Savage had shipped well over 200,000 1928 and M1928A1 model Thompsons.
Other major variations of the Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport manufactured gun were the same as the Savage models.
Finned barrel, Lyman adjustable rear sight.
Finned barrel, “L” style rear aperture sight.
Smooth barrel, “L” type rear sight.
The Auto-Ordnance Corporation manufactured several experimental prototypes of the Thompson in an attempt to get more life out of the original design. There were 1928 model variations chambered for the U.S. 30’06 caliber, as well as a few prototypes made chambered for .30 carbine cartridge. The rifle cartridges proved to be too powerful for the Thompson’s Blish lock delayed blow-back system.
On 25 April 1942, the M1928A1 Thompson was reclassified as “Limited Standard”. The M1928A1 weapons were to be replaced in service by the new M1 version of the Thompson and the M3 submachine gun that was under development by the Ordnance Department and the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. Due to unforeseen problems the M1928A1 model continued to be manufactured until the autumn of 1942.
Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport manufactured their last U.S. M1928A1 model on 15 October 1942. Thereafter they concentrated on producing the M1 and M1A1 model. Government documents show that the Bridgeport factory manufactured a total of 323,900 M1928A1 Thompsons. The grand total of 1928 and M1928A1 Thompson Submachine Guns manufactured during WWII, by both Savage and the Auto-Ordnance facilities was an estimated 1,070,832 from 1940 to the fall of 1942 when the M1928A1 model was superseded by the M1 version.
The official end of the M1928A1 model came at an Ordnance Committee meeting held on 16 March 1944 item 23248; Memorandum for the Standards and Specification Section, Conservation Branch, Production Division, Army Service Forces. It was noted for the record that; “U.S. Army specification 52-3-30 of Gun, Submachine, Thompson, Caliber .45 M1928A1 be canceled in accordance with paragraph 30, AR 850-25”. The request was approved.vThis article was condensed from relative information in the book AMERICAN THUNDER: The Military Thompson Submachine Gun, available from Moose Lake Publishing LLC. 207-683-2959
Kahr & Auto-Ordnance firearms returned to the factory for service or repair should be sent to: Kahr Firearms Group Attn:Return Dept. Greeley, PA 18425. Confirm the firearm is unloaded before shipping.Contact Kahr Arms Technical Support Department to receive a Return Authorization number before shipping a firearm to the factory. These special numbers are too vast to list, however we have included them in the quantity counts. The Deluxe and Standard models were not distinguished in the log books. The Lightweight models were introduced in Sept. Of 1980 and are included in the above counts and fall within the serial number ranges above.
- Serial number blocks were assigned by the Ordnance Department on an as needed basis, generally in response to the awarding of a contract to a given manufacturer. Think of each serial number block as a separate contract. Contracts had a completion date but there was no requirement for completing one contract before starting another.
- Welcome to USCARBINECAL30M1.com! If you are like me, owning an M1 Carbine goes a lot deeper than just owning a firearm. It is about owning a piece of history that protected our freedoms and won a world war.
- The Ordnance Departments Crossed Cannons emblem is on the right side of the frame just ahead of the trigger pivot pin. At the top right trigger bow an F is marked and there is a U at the right rear of the trigger bow. The magazine accompanying this pistol has an R on the top of the floorplate ahead of the magazine body.
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V5N6 (March 2002) |
| SUBSCRIBER COMMENT AREA |
Comments have not been generated for this article.
The U.S. Carbine Caliber .30 |
U.S. Army Ordnance |
Understanding Serial Numbers - Understanding Dates of ManufactureDating a carbine by its serial number alone is difficult and not always accurate given the circumstances inherent with manufacturing and the logistics situation during the time the carbines were manufactured. Some people estimate a carbine's date of manufacture by adding the quantities manufactured month to month to the assigned serial number blocks. This is not an accurate means of estimating the date the carbine was finally assembled or when it passed its final inspection. Serial number blocks were assigned by the Ordnance Department on an as needed basis, generally in response to the awarding of a contract to a given manufacturer. Think of each serial number block as a separate contract. Contracts had a completion date but there was no requirement for completing one contract before starting another. There was no requirement as to using the serial numbers in order. A few manufacturers used some serial number blocks out of order. Some of these blocks were split up and used before or after other blocks. Some manufacturers used more than one block in the same time frame. A few of the manufacturers used subcontractors to manufacture their receivers. One manufacturer separated out smaller blocks of serial numbers for use by subcontractors who would use these serial numbers concurrent to receivers being made by the prime contractor and/or other subcontractors assigned lower or higher serial number blocks. The serial number was placed on the carbine receiver during the manufacturing process of the receiver, not when the carbine was finally assembled. The decision for which receivers would be used for the U.S. Carbine Models M1 or M1A1, and some of the M2's, were made well after the receiver was completed as all of these models used the same receiver. Serial numbered receivers that failed to pass inspection were set aside as rejects if the defect(s) could not be brought up to minimum standards. As solutions to old problems were learned, some of the same receivers were brought back online and completed (i.e. Inland receivers initially rejected because of an off spec deep hole drilled for the recoil spring and guide, later recovered and altered to use a detachable main spring housing). If a receiver was scrapped and not used, its serial number may or may not have been reused. No documentation from Ordnance, or any of the prime contractors, has been found that indicates the date and serial number of carbines as they were assembled or when they passed final inspection. Given the high volume of production, receivers were generally assembled as part of a carbine within a few months after the receiver was serial numbered. Barrels were a critical component in the production lines. If inventory ran out it could shut down production. Four of the prime contractors did not have the ability to manufacture barrels. The ebb and flow of mass production created parts surpluses and shortages for all the prime contractors, barrels included. Shortages were common until Ordnance arranged for additional barrel manufacturers. During the first half of production the barrels were often mounted on a receiver within 1-2 months of when the barrel was made. If a receiver has its original barrel and the barrel includes a date, it may provide a general idea of when the barrel was attached to the receiver. As time goes on more and more carbines are having parts replaced. Parts wear out, carbines are disassembled for the sale of the parts individually. Carbines have been, and still are, rebuilt from spare parts. Many people have reconstructed many carbines with what they believe should have been on the carbine when it left the factory. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Caliber .30 Carbine |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auto Ordnance M1 Carbine Serial Numbers
| (1) leftover carbines offered to Ordnance after a company name change and completion of the NPM contract (2) Toolroom Models: Pre-production carbines to test and finalize drawings for mass production (3) Engineering Models: Pilot models made from Engineering Drawings (4) Experimental Models: alternate designs experimenting with ways to reduce the time and cost of production |
Notice
Tables C - F
| Documents found in the past have identified several prime contractors who assigned subsets of their serial numbers to their subcontractor(s). Data collected over the years has sometimes conflicted with the information in these documents. There are a variety of reasons things may have been changed or simply ignored. Rather than assume the documents were followed to the letter, the serial numbers in tables C-F are presented with the lowest and highest reported to date. We would like to encourage you to share information you may have that will help reconstruct what was actually done versus planned. If you choose to do so please contact us using the forum. |
TABLE CSubcontracted Receivers (also see Table E) |
| Lowest | Highest | Prime Contractor | Code | Subcontractor | Notes |
| 700,126 | 709,449 | Inland | SI | Saginaw S.G., Saginaw, MI | (also see Table E) |
| 707,298 | 938,380 | Inland | SG | Saginaw S.G., Saginaw, MI | (also see Table E) |
| 940,600X | 950,919X | Inland | SG | Saginaw S.G., Saginaw, MI | (also see Table F) |
| 2,352,521 | 2,400,080 | Underwood | T | Intertype Corp. | (also see Table D) |
| 2,452,638 | 2,491,453 | Underwood | W | Universal Windings | (also see Table D) |
| 2,572,558 | 2,601,955 | Underwood | S | United Shoe Machine | |
| 2,625,041 | 2,682,871 | Underwood | B | Singer Mfg | (also see Table D) |
| 3,152,529 | 3,199,190 | Inland | SG | Saginaw S.G., Saginaw, MI | |
| 3,835,477 | 3,907,689 | IBM | AO | Auto-Ordnance | s/n's intermixed w/IBM s/n's (also see Table E & F) |
| 4,325,227 | 4,387,735 | National Postal Peter | U | Union Switch & Signal | the U is different than Underwood ·U· |
| 4,432,255 | 4,466,225 | Quality Hardware | UN-QUALITY | Union Switch & Signal |
TABLE DLeftover Receivers used by Winchester |
| Underwood had receivers in various stages of completion left over when their contract ended. These receivers were purchased by Winchester. What followed was not always consistent and sometimes varied. The information that follows has been reconstructed from the data collected so far. It is not unusual to find a receiver that doesn't fit these criteria. The focus at Winchester was meeting production quotas during a time of high demand. |
|
|
- One or both of the letters of the W A or A W code may be difficult to see. Some have been reported with only one of the two letters or in combination with an Underwood subcontractor code.
|
| Lowest | Highest | Info | Code |
| 1,244,697 | 1,290,339 | Underwood name removed, Winchester name & s/n | A W |
| 2,38x,xxx | 2,404,928 | Underwood name not lined out, Underwood s/n | WTA |
| 2,485,125 | 2,491,867 | Underwood name not lined out, Underwood s/n | WwA |
| 5,759,1xx | 5,801,924 | Winchester name, Winchester s/n | T |
| 5,814,798 | 5,820,062 | Underwood name removed, Winchester name & s/n | A W |
| 6,461,479 | 6,482,225 | Underwood name lined out, Winchester s/n | A W, W A |
| 6,473,811 | ? | Underwood name lined out, Winchester s/n | No Code |
| 6,497,153 | 6,614,551 | Underwood name lined out, Winchester s/n | B, BA, ABW, BW |
TABLE ETransferred Receivers |
identification mark of the receiving facility was to be added at the rear of the serial number.
Serial numbered receivers transferred were not restricted to a certain block of serial numbers. Some were sequential but many were not.
| Lowest | Highest | Info | Code |
| 126,794 | 127,006 | Inland s/n'd receivers sent to National Postal Meter | N |
| 438,xxx | 590,828 | Inland s/n'd receivers sent to Rockola | Rockola |
| 496,xxx | 634,161 | Inland s/n'd receivers sent to Underwood | ·U· |
| 702,607 | ? | Inland s/n'd receivers from SI subcontract sent to Underwood | ·U· |
| 724,318 | 751,395 | Inland s/n'd receivers from SG subcontract sent to Underwood | ·U· |
| 1,765,761 | 1,769,771 | Irwin Pedersen s/n'd receivers sent to Underwood | ·U· |
| 2,743,286 | 2,770,326 | Underwood s/n'd receivers sent to National Postal Meter | N |
| 3,842,177 | 3,846,371 | IBM s/n'd receivers from AO subcontract sent to National Postal Meter | N |
| 4,049,244 | ? | Underwood s/n'd receivers sent to National Postal Meter | N |
TABLE FSerial Numbers Duplicated (including use of X Suffix) |
another prime contractor and/or subcontractor, creating duplicate serial numbers. Ordnance dealt with this by directing
an X be added after the serial number of the receiver that exceeded the assigned block if duplicates were found.
There is insufficient data to determine if every serial number between the lows and highs was duplicated or if it was random.
It is assumed some were sequential but possibly not all. More data submissions are needed to help determine any patterns.
| Lowest | Highest | Manufacturer | Code | Details |
| 940,600X | 950,919X | Saginaw subcontract for Inland | X at end of s/n | Duplication of Inland s/n's |
| 3,651,550 | 3,651,898 | SG | ? | Duplication of IBM s/n's |
| 3,835,477-X | 3,907,689-X | IBM | no identifying markings | IBM duplicated some of s/n's they assigned to AO |
| 4,800,004 | 4,801,447 | Quality Hardware | X below s/n | Possible duplication of their own s/n's |
| 5,550,040-X | 5,550,285-X | Inland | -X below s/n | Overrun into unassigned s/n block & Winchester s/n's |
| 5,550,148 | 5,812,437 | Winchester | D below s/n | Significance unknown |
| 5,557,074-X | 5,557,996-X | Inland | -X below s/n | Machine error duplicating Winchester s/n's |
TABLE GIrwin-Pedersen, Grand Rapids, & Saginaw |
| None of the carbines produced by Irwin-Pedersen (IP) were accepted by Ordnance. Saginaw Steering Gear in nearby Saginaw, MI was already engaged in the preparation for the manufacture of carbines along with providing subcontracted receivers for Inland. The Irwin-Pedersen contracts were terminated by Ordnance. An Ordnance supplement to the Saginaw Steering Gear (SG) contract turned over carbine production at the Grand Rapids facility (S'G') to Saginaw Steering Gear. Irwin-Pedersen Numbers Reassigned to Saginaw at Grand Rapids |
| Serial Number Range | S/N Block Reassigned to | Markings on Receivers | Notes | |
| 1,762,520 | 1,875,039 | Saginaw Grand Rapids | Irwin-Pedersen or Saginaw S'G' | names are intermixed |
| 3,212,520 | 3,250,019 | Saginaw Grand Rapids | Irwin-Pedersen or Saginaw S'G' | names are intermixed |
| Serial Number Range | S/N Block Assigned to | Markings on Receivers | Notes | |
| 3,250,020 | 3,651,519 | Saginaw | SG | SG on left side of some receivers, not all |
| Serial Number Range | S/N Block Assigned to | Markings on Receivers | Notes | |
| 3,249,020 | 3,250,019 | Grand Rapids | S'G', some SG | possibly as many as 1000 SG receivers |
Saginaw receivers with Saginaw serial numbers have been reported with S'G' markings. At least one document has been found that indicates Saginaw received Ordnance authorization to sent an unknown quantity of receivers to Grand Rapids. These receivers may not have had serial numbers when provided to Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids facility stopped carbine production on 01 Jan 1944 but continued to make receivers and trigger housings which were sent to the Saginaw Plant for assembly. Assistance Request If you own one of these carbines and would like to assist with the | ||||||
Auto Ordnance 1927a1 Serial Numbers
TABLE HInland Manufacturing |
| Letter prefixes X through XD were initially allocated by Inland for carbines intended for internal use only. The letters were followed by numbers (i.e. XA27, XA62, XD14). XA through XD was assigned for use by their Engineering Section on carbines built for testing and evaluation by their engineers. The quantity of carbines used by their Engineering Section varied so the numbers with each prefix also varied. Inland later decided to present carbines as gifts to Inland employees, subcontractors, suppliers, members of the military or government, and others to show appreciation for their assistance and cooperation with Inlands war effort. The serial numbers allocated to these carbines were as follows. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| This resulted in an unknown number of 'presentation' carbines possibly having the same serial number as the earlier Engineering carbines. The carbines used for this purpose were not from inventory submitted to or accepted by the government. Many were constructed using whatever parts were available. Examples being outdated parts and prototype parts that had accumulated throughout the various departments within Inland over the years of production. This included a few of the previous Engineering carbines no longer needed. Carbines that have one of these serial numbers may be an Engineering prototype, a 'presentation' carbine, or both. They are a specialty that requires each be assessed individually to determine its historical significance. They should not be altered or fired. Doing so may alter their historical value. Assistance AvailableShould you own one of these carbines we may have additional information on your carbine that is beyond the scope of this website. We can be contacted at the following e-mail address. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Auto Ordnance Serial Number Search
TABLE ICarbines with a Serial Number above 8 million |
| Post WWII, the Office of the Chief of Ordnance (OCO) assigned replacement numbers to armories, arsenals, and depots for carbines having damaged or obliterated serial numbers. Numbers were issued sequentially, beginning where Ordnance had left off with serial number blocks assigned during WWII. The letter X preceding the serial number designated it as a replacement. The new serial number was hand stamped on top of the receiver behind the rear sight, in the vicinity of the prior serial number. |
| Quantity | Start | End | Assigned to: | Date/Notes |
| WWII | ||||
| - | 7,369,661 | 8,099,661 | Inland | assigned block - M2's |
| - | 8,069,662 | 8,084,811 | Winchester | assigned block - M3's - not used |
| Post WWII - Assigned by Office of the Chief of Ordnance - Documents unclear if X added | ||||
| 9 | 8,084,812 | 8,084,820 | 'Mr. Thompson', Field Services | 04 Mar 1949 |
| 1 | 8,084,821 | National Guard Bureau | date unk | |
| 1 | 8,084,822 | Raritan Arsenal | 14 Feb 1950 | |
| Post WWII - Assigned by Office of the Chief of Ordnance - X Prefix | ||||
| 3 | X8,084,823 | X8,084,825 | Raritan Arsenal | 18 Feb 1950 |
| 1 | X8,084,826 | Missouri National Guard | 17 Jul 1950 | |
| 1 | X8,084,827 | Florida National Guard | 04 Apr 1951 | |
| 25 | X8,084,828 | X8,084,852 | Rock Island Arsenal | 15 Jun 1951 |
| 1 | X8,084,853 | California National Guard | date unk | |
| 1 | X8,084,854 | Mt. Ranier Ordnance Depot | 18 Sep 1951 | |
| 1 | X8,084,855 | Raritan Arsenal | 28 Nov 1951 | |
| 25 | X8,084,856 | X8,084,880 | Mt. Ranier Ordnance Depot | 10 Dec 1951 |
| 200 | X8,084,881 | X8,085,080 | Rock Island Arsenal | 30 Jan 1952 |
| 20 | X8,085,081 | X8,085,100 | not reported | 18 Feb 1952 |
| 2 | X8,085,101 | X8,085,102 | Raritan Arsenal | 14 Sep 1953 |
| 1 | X8,085,103 | National Guard (no State indicated) | 15 Jan 1954 | |
| 1 | X8,085,104 | Sampson AFB | 17 Aug 1954 | |
The addition of the serial number on the top of the receiver forward of the rear sight indicates
the serial number behind the rear sight was obscured by an adjustable rear sight.
| Inland | Winchester |
| 4 Digits: 0001- 0835 5 Digits: 00001-00900 | 5 Digits: 01701-07545 |
| Inland | Winchester |
| 6 Digits: 000001-unknown | used standard s/n's |
Serial Number stamped Twice
Thompson Auto Ordnance Serial Numbers
If an adjustable rear sight obscured the serial number, Ordnance personnel were authorized
to also stamp the number on top of the receiver between the rear sight and bolt.
Other Letters
Should you have questions, assistance is available on our Discussion Forum.
The Discussion Forum also serves as a reference desk for the more advanced material that could easily overwhelm a website and is often subject to opinions that may vary
due to a lack of original documentation. A number of researchers and authors are present on the forums, helping others and seeking information for various research projects.
© Copyright 2012- The Carbine Collectors Club. All Rights Reserved.