hello spare parts army i'm your average infringement chris cappy and today's episode is all about the first ever american sub machine gun the thompson i actually went out into the light of day to test fire this weapon for myself i could just feel the inner italian mobster itching to get out but do you want to know what's really interesting to me about this weapon it's a beloved iconic firearm and yet at the same time it's one of the only guns created in that time period to be completely discontinued by the us army i mean think about it the mNUMBER_TOKEN pistol still in use mNUMBER_TOKEN browning's still going strong heck even the mNUMBER_TOKEN garand lives on in the form of that high-tech polymer mNUMBER_TOKEN today so why didn't the thompson get a glow up makeover too never mind i spoke too soon they released an upgraded tactical picatinny version in NUMBER_TOKEN. now even though the thompson is considered by many to be obsolete today i'd be lying if i said i didn't want this thing to make a comeback tomorrow weirdly the reason it was phased out has something to do with organized crime and some laws that were passed in the NUMBER_TOKENs and was also getting obsolete but more on that later in this video we're going to examine the u.s infantryman's perspective on the thompson machine gun its unique military history and try to answer why it was abandoned so if you're feeling as hoo as i am today remember to fire off around that like and subscribe button and a big thank you to this episode's sponsor dr squat soap i got to test fire the ancient fulson thompson at the heritage guild in pennsylvania they were the only shooting range that was cool with me cosplaying like i was still a soldier this NUMBER_TOKEN cal mNUMBER_TOKENaNUMBER_TOKEN version had a rate of fire of NUMBER_TOKEN rounds per minute a muzzle velocity of NUMBER_TOKEN meters per second which is actually NUMBER_TOKEN meters per second slower than what your nine millimeter mpNUMBER_TOKEN puts out the recoil actually wasn't more noticeable than a nine millimeter probably because the weapon system is so tang heavy at NUMBER_TOKEN pounds so the way the thompson works is the explosive gas from the cartridge drives the bullet down the barrel while simultaneously pushing in the opposite direction which forces the bolt backwards and the extractor pulls the shell out of the barrel and a new cartridge lines up in front of the bolt as the spring pushes the bolt forward this is incredibly simple and it's a reliable firing system so what are the origins of the thompson submachine gun well it traces its roots back to brigadier general john t thompson who was born in NUMBER_TOKEN and graduated from west point oh great another west pointer here why can't we have any lower enlisted guys design some firearms what do you mean i have to read a book to do that mr thompson was actually involved in the testing and adoption of u.s army weapons he even helped choose the NUMBER_TOKEN caliber as the us army's official handgun cartridge i wonder if that caliber is going to come back and be relevant later in the story i think that's
START_INTERACTION_TOKEN so if you're feeling as hoo as i am today remember to fire off around that like and subscribe button and a big thank you to this episode's sponsor dr squat soap END_INTERACTION_TOKEN