Review: Tokyo Marui Thompsom M1A1
By OscarBird
Ah, yes, the Thompson. In one version or another, it is probably the most widely recognized firearm in America. It is seen in countless WWII movies, as well as numerous other films...the M1A1 makes appearances in the James Bond movie "Diamonds are Forever", in the Dirty Harry movie "The Enforcer", and even “Aliens”, for example. It is a monument to a bygone era of quality craftsmanship, and to the balance between great function and beautiful form...it was the last of it’s kind in the world of submachine guns, it’s final years being the advent of the made-for-production-efficiency guns like the Sten and the M3 “Grease Gun”. In my opinion, the Marui version of the M1A1 is just as big a monument to quality and beauty in the Airsoft world as the real steel is in the real world.
REAL-STEEL HISTORY OF THE M1A1:
When the Thompson was required in large numbers during the early years of World War II, it became apparent that the Thompson was not well suited to mass-production. By 1942, it became necessary to simplify the weapon in order increase the rate at which it could be produced. The Savage Arms Corporation, who manufactured the M1928 version of the Thompson, undertook the task of modifying the design – the operation was switched from delayed-blowback to a simple blowback system, the bolt handle was moved to the right-hand side, the sights were simplified, the barrel was no longer ribbed, and the compensator was removed: The Thompson M1A1 was born. The new M1A1 had 20 and 30 box magazines in lieu of the drum mag found on previous models. The Thompson was a popular gun and it was frequently favored over the weapons it replaced...and sometimes those that it was replaced by, such as the M3 “Grease Gun” which started to take the place of the Thompson as America’s submachine gun of choice in the mid to late war years. It continued in production until 1945, saw service in the Korean War, and even made limited appearances in the Vietnam conflict. But enough about that...if you could get your hands on a real Thompson, you wouldn’t be interested in an Airsoft version now, would you?
THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Last Christmas, I was the very lucky recipient of a package that contained a – you guessed it – Tokyo Marui Thompson AEG. I got my Thompson from the wonderful folks at Olympus Airsoft, for a total of $295 shipped. The box is not of traditional TM appearance, it is instead a brown cardboard box with WW2-esque markings, and brown wax paper instead of the usual white Styrofoam…a very nice effect overall. Upon opening the box - which, as we all know, is just about the best feeling in the world - I was rewarded by not only the reaction of other, not-so-gun-nutty family members, but also by the sheer magnificence of Marui’s best-looking stock AEG to date. I’ve seen just about every Marui AEG in person, including some TOP, CA, and ICS AEGs, and I stand firm by the belief that the Thompson is the most aesthetically pleasing of them all. Of course, this is a matter of opinion, but just believe me when I say that no pictures or descriptions can do this gun justice.
APPEARANCE, FEEL, AND BUILD QUALITY:
The first thing people always seem to want to know is how good the fake wood looks. From my point of view, it varies from excellent to very good. When I say it varies, I mean that the fore grip, the pistol grip, and the stock all seem to have a different level of realism. The fore grip is the most realistic piece, being discernable from real wood only because of the fact that it is not quite as heavy or hard. The pistol grip is almost as good as the fore grip but is, for whatever reason, a bit shinier and therefore slightly less convincing. The stock looks most realistic from the side, (the fake wood grain is simply perfect) but the seam on the top/bottom as well as the hollowness (you can tell it’s hollow because it doesn’t weigh as much as it “should”) betray the belief that it is real wood. All in all, it is a large improvement over the AK series fake wood hardware, and I think it is extremely well done. As an example, everyone who did not know it was fake wood beforehand and has handled my Thompson was convinced that the wood was real. In fact, my 20-some year old cousin was convinced that the whole thing was real when I opened it up on Christmas…I wish…
The next thing people always want to know is how much metal is on it. The M1A1 has more metal than any stock AEG. Externally, EVERYTHING that is metal on the real steel is metal on this gun, except for the lower receiver and the rear sight. I had heard this before, too, and thought that the lower receiver would account for a large portion of the gun…but trust me, it doesn’t. Also, the rear sight means ONLY the rear sight, NOT the triangular guards on either side (which are sturdy metal). I was shocked at all the metal on this gun, and by how all of it is high quality, heavy duty metal. I’d say that, metal magazine (which holds 60 rounds) included, 70-80 percent of what’s metal on the real steel is metal on the TM version. Due to the sheer abundance of metal, this is also about the heaviest AEGs you’ll encounter, weighing in at 3,400 grams. I consider this to be a good thing, seeing as it adds to the realism but isn’t so bad that you can’t carry it.
Other things I thought I should mention are the trades, which are very nice: the left side of the receiver says “SUB MACHINE GUN MILITARY MOD. CALIBER .45 M1A1 NO. 473699” and has three “manufacturer’s” stampings just in front of the magazine and the letters “EJA”, all of which have a surprisingly realistic effect. The right side of the receiver says “TOKYO MARUI CO., LTD. MADE IN JAPAN TYPE M1A1 AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC GUN.” It should also be noted that the hop-up adjustment knob is exposed in the ejection port. Don’t worry, it is hardly noticeable...TM did a nice job camouflaging the knob so it blends in with the rest of the ejection port, and it is very accessible. Other mentionable tidbits include the barrel (the inner barrel is pretty deep in there, and there is some good looking rifling visible at the muzzle which gives a very convincing appearance) and the cocking handle.
Since the bolt is made of a rather light metal, the cocking action doesn’t sound quite real. It does, however, sound much better than my AK or just about any other TM AEG, because there is a little U-shaped dip in the receiver (prototypical to the real steel, of course) that causes a very satisfying “click-clack” when pulled back. Unfortunately, it doesn’t lock back like the real steel, (which fired from an open bolt) and the cocking handle gets pretty wobbly after doing this a lot.
Upon firing my Thompson, I noticed how smooth the trigger pull was - it’s really a joy to fire. I also found that it was noticeably louder than all other AEGs I had fired, and seemed surprisingly accurate right out of the box. The rear sight, BTW, is adjustable, but it’s so accurate that I haven’t had to touch it.
REAL STEEL COMPARISON:
The length of the real steel is exactly 30 inches, and the TM version, not surprisingly, shares the same dimensions. The rate of fire on both the Airsoft and Savage Arms Corp. versions of the Thompson are about 700 rpm. Even just by listening to the AEG being fired and comparing it to a Thompson from, say, Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan, you notice how similar the ROF sounds. It adds a certain amount of realism, knowing that your AEG has roughly the same rate of fire as the real steel.
The weight of the TM Thompson is approximately 3.41 kilograms, whereas the real steel M1A1 weighs 4.82 kilograms. Before you start thinking that these numbers don’t seem very close, and therefore the Thompson must weigh a lot less than the real steel, just take my word for it…the Thompson feels very close the real steel weight. I have handled a real Thompson before, and while you can tell the TM is lighter, it’s pretty darn close. I have a friend that has fired a real steel Thompson, as well as my Marui version, and he concurs that the weights are very similar.
One area where Marui doesn’t even come close to the real steel is in FPS. My Thompson only fires at about 280-290 fps out of the box, but the real steel reaches a much more impressive 910 fps out of the box. Come on, Marui! ;-)
PERFORMANCE/TECHNICAL TIDBITS:
I have come to the conclusion that the Thompson is the most powerful and accurate stock AEG I have tested, being able to go through two sides of a pop can (and almost through one side of a second can) at point blank range. Like I said before, the FPS is somewhere in the 280-290 zone.
Accuracy at 30 feet consists of roughly a 1” grouping w/sustained bursts on full-auto, with even better results on semi-auto. NOTE: For best results, use the notch at the top of the rear sight, not the hole in the center. I guess the peep sight was meant more for snap-shooting, and the notch for more accurate fire.
The M1A1 is also the loudest and most real sounding of the AEGs I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with: it’s the only AEG (when fired by another user at a game - fairly close to my head) that caused some form of ear “discomfort”. It sounds more like…well, a typewriter - true to its nickname, the “Chicago Typewriter” - than it does the usual sewing machine. A really loud typewriter, that is.
For those of you who are wondering, the Thompson uses a large battery, has an EG1000 motor, and a version 6 gear box.
I’ve fired about 10-15 standards through the gun with my 2000 mAh battery, on a partial charge, and I haven’t even seen the slightest sign of a loss of power. The battery is accessible by flipping out a little circular “door” on the battery compartment cover (the butt plate), inserting your finger into the hole and pulling the butt plate out. The butt plate is on a pivot near the base, so you don’t need to worry about losing it. The process is very simple and almost a joy to do…and yes, the entire butt plate/battery compartment cover is a high quality metal.
SKIRMISHABILITY:
My Thompson is so nice that I don’t take it skirmishing, (I want to keep it as pristine as possible) so I don’t have any first-hand experience. However, there was a Thompson user at my last game, and I happened to be paired up with him for a downed pilot rescue scenario. From what I saw, due to me being behind him and being able to track the course of his bb’s, his Thompson performed as well as or better than my AK in terms of range and accuracy. Also, since this was before I was a proud member of the group of people known as Thompson Owners, I spent a considerable amount of time staring at the beauty of his M1A1.
Like I said, I can’t offer first hand experience on the skirmish-worthiness of the Thompson, but I can offer some personal thoughts and insights. For example, one of the reasons I bought the Thompson (when I still intended to play with it) was the fact that my AK required you to hold it with both hands while running…a fact not always welcome when in pursuit of the enemy down a steep wooded hill. I figured the Thompson could remedy this problem, as the grip was in a more centralized and balanced location, allowing me to hold it by the grip with just one hand. While I have yet to experience this slight advantage in battle, I have proven my theory by running around the house with the Thompson in one hand, ready to fire, while leaving one hand free for balance/support in those awkward situations.
Another personal thought I can contribute is the fact that going prone with the Thompson is not as easy as it may seem. By testing it on my living room floor, I find that your shoulders/head must be fairly high above the floor…er, ground, because the stock is so low that it will otherwise not seat in your shoulder correctly. At least you don’t have to worry about getting your mags dirty…
THE CONS:
Fortunately, not much to mention here. Besides the aforementioned wobbly cocking lever, many Thompson users (including myself) experience the less-than-severe problem of the gun, after a fair amount of use, firing only full-auto when in either semi or full-auto mode. The only serious problem this brings about is the problem of not being able to decompress the spring after firing full-auto by dry-firing one or two shots in semi - something you should always do before you put your AEG away, BTW. Fortunately, this is a very easy problem to correct. If it is selected as “semi” but fires full-auto, I switch it to full-auto, let off a burst, then switch it back to semi and it works usually fine. If this doesn’t work, go into the mechbox and re-adjust the tappet (don’t ask me for specifics, I had a friend do the technical work for me).
The blued metal can/will get marks from your hands after you handle the gun. This is usually solved by simply wiping it down with a dry cloth, although some form of oil could perhaps help if it gets really bad. I wouldn’t know what to use or what would happen if I did, so I can’t comment on what type of oil you should use to keep your Thompson nice and clean looking. This isn’t really a con, (in fact, it’s pretty much just common sense) but I thought I’d mention it so for maintenance purposes.
Some people (NOT including myself) seem to experience the problem of the mounting bracket, that secures the outer barrel to the main body, developing a crack over time, which leaves the whole front end very wobbly. Apparently, if this problem arises, it is possible to fix it with superglue. Just treat your gun like what it is - an Airsoft gun - and everything should be fine.
My final, tiny misgiving about the Thompson is that the sights aren’t quite up to par with those found on an AR-15 or MP5: your head can’t be too close to the rear sight, or else the sight picture gets pretty fuzzy and the rear notch looks too big to place the front sight perfectly. Of course, this is true on all guns, but it seems like your head needs to be exceptionally far away on the Thompson.
THE “SEMI-CONS”:
One of the major complaints you most often hear about the Thompson is that the mag release and the safety/fire selector are positioned in such a way that they are difficult to use, and that magazines are difficult to insert. The arguments that these features are “clumsy” are only partially true.
First, the magazine release lever. Almost everyone seems to be driven up the walls about the way this lever is positioned. I suspect these people, from a right-handed shooter’s point of view, are trying to use it with their right thumbs to press the mag release lever…this is NOT the way to do it! If you use the thumb of your left hand, (the hand removing/inserting the mag) you (like me) may actually find that it is EASIER to use than an MP5-style mag release: It seems that using your left thumb to push UP on the release lever actually helps your left hand pull the mag DOWN, whereas on an MP5 your left thumb is pushing inward, thus offering no extra help for your left hand when removing a magazine. I don’t know if I got all that across, but you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that the magazine release lever is quite easy to manipulate if you do it correctly.
Second, the safety/fire selector. If you didn’t know already, the safety and the fire selector on the Thompson are two different switches. Some people like this, most people don’t. Either way, it’s certainly no fault of Marui’s. Actually, I don’t know if you could blame Mr. John T. Thompson, either, as I don’t really see how it would have been possible to have one switch w/ three settings on the Thompson. It just wouldn’t fit. While the safety is relatively easy to switch on and off with your right thumb, (again, from the perspective of a right-handed shooter) the fire selector is almost impossible to manipulate with your right thumb…unless, of course, you have really long thumbs. Of course, this has some obvious disadvantages, but it does, at least, have one redeeming point: if you always want your gun to fire fully automatic (and who doesn’t?), you can leave the fire selector in full-auto mode. That way, all you have to do is flip the safety and you’re good to go!
Finally, there’s that little thing about loading magazines. Yes, folks, I’m afraid it’s true – the magazines are rather hard to slap in quickly like on an MP5 or an AR-15. Of course, it gets substantially easier with practice, but don’t be surprised if you start seeing scratches on your magazines. You have to insert the magazine just so, because there’s a little rail on the magazine that goes into a tight fitting groove on the lower receiver. The plus side of this rail/groove setup is that there is absolutely no room for the magazine to move around, it’s as solid as a rock once it’s in.
As long as we’re on the subject of magazine insertion, it should be noted that the mag release lever is pretty stiff. While it is possible to slap your magazines home once they’re in the little groove, you will save your Thompson a lot of pain if you press the mag release lever up as if you were taking a magazine out when you’re inserting a mag, thus saving the wear and tear of your magazine slamming into the mag well.
UPGRADES/ACCESSORIES:
The most common complaint about the Thompson is the lack of accessories. Personally, I don’t know why you’d want accessories like red dot scopes or flashlights on a Thompson in the first place…it just isn’t right. BTW, it comes with a tracer adaptor, but I can’t honestly see myself using it. The only “accessory” I have is an M1 Garand sling, which fits perfectly, that I picked up at a military collector’s show for $4…real Thompson slings can run you about $80.
The only modifications I would consider are the wood stock kit and/or the M1928 conversion kit. The wood stock kit, which looks rather nice, is made by CAW…but has a hefty price tag of $229 off Wargamer’s. It consists of a foregrip, pistol grip, stock, and screws. The M1928 conversion kit, made by Mosquito Molds, consists of a 1928 style upper receiver and ribbed barrel w/Cutts Compensator – all made out of a very nice looking metal. Somewhat surprisingly, the M1928 conversion kit is available off Wargamer’s for $218 – less than the CAW wood stock kit. I find it interesting that you can find a real-steel Thompson stock/grip set for less than a hundred bucks on eBay…I guess they need that extra $150 or so to hollow out a space for the battery and make sure everything fits…
While they aren’t really upgrades, there are two types of hi-cap magazines for the Thompson: a 420 round magazine, which (like the standard magazine) looks like the real steel 30 round magazine, and a 190-round magazine, which looks like a real-steel 20 round mag. Unfortunately, there are currently no “20 rounder” style standards, nor is there a drum magazine (despite popular demand).
Finally, there is the option of creating your own “Aliens Pulse Rifle”, but this is a total conversion, something both too drastic and complicated for me. However, for what it’s worth, there is a member of the MAA (Minnesota Airsoft Association) who is the proud owner of such a gun, and I must say, it is extremely impressive. The little LED round counter even lit up. I have heard about a kit for this complete modification in the $200 price range, and AirsoftClub offers them by special order. Also, G&P seems to have just released a total conversion mod for the Pulse Rifle, you can go to UNCompany's website for more info.
CONCLUSION: This is, without doubt, my favorite AEG that I own, and my favorite out of all the stock TM AEGs I’ve had first hand experience with. It’s just so incredibly realistic, you feel as if you paid double the normal AEG price for all the metal, weight, and sturdiness of this gun…it’s easily worth the slightly higher-than-normal price tag. Nothing I can say can recommend this gun enough, it’s impossible to fully describe how perfect it is. Needless to say, I recommend it to EVERYONE, and I’d like everyone to know that the cons are completely outweighed by the pros. If you’re reading this review because you’re considering making it you next AEG, please, take my advice: whether you want a new gun to skirmish with, or you just want something to hold while watching WWII movies, give a Thompson a new home.
|
