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What is this "Thompson" thing

Sort of. It's a knockoff, probably a Volunteer Arms Commando, though they've been manufactured under a few different names over the years.
Have one hanging over my shop door.
1498937226642_IMG_20170701_152419_5501.jpg
 
OP's carbine is a closed-bolt semiauto Volunteer Arms Mk3 due to it has the square-tube receiver, metal lower and it uses Grease Gun magazines.

Whereas the Spitfire, the Eagle Gun Co. and the Volunteer Arms Mk2 are slam-fire (open-bolt) because they have round-tube receivers.

All Spitfires had to have been NFA registered by 1986 or destroyed as per ATF rules.

Nailed it. Fun, but not quite the 'real' thing.
 
I think It would be a good idea to verify that it's semi-auto. You wouldn't want to be the proud owner of an unregistered full auto weapon.

Pull the trigger on and empty chamber and keep the trigger pulled. Without releasing the trigger cycle the action. After the weapon has been cycled release the trigger and try to squeeze the trigger again.

If the hammer falls when releases and resqueezed, semi auto.

If the weapon was full auto and the selector was in the full auto position the trigger wouldn't cause the hammer to fall again, because in full auto, the hammer drops as part of the action cycling.
 
Why would it be a legal problem if this were a 35+ year old open-bolt carbine?
Didn't ATF grandfather-in all those kinds of guns that were produced and sold to the public prior to whatever date ATF finished their re-evaluation of those firearms and declared them to be machineguns due to being too easy to modify to shoot fully automatically?

https://www.atf.gov/file/58146/download

I don't see any Tommygun copies listed, but I can't think of any reason why they'd be treated any differently than the Tec-9's and MAC 10s and other open-bolt semi-auto pistols.

There may be a federal court case involving drop-in auto sears that says ATF doesn't have the authority to waive the registration and paperwork requirements for any AR-15 DIAS regardless of the date of manufacture, but I don't know how much that matters if the ATF's policy is unchanged and they're not seeking to arrest any owners of 1970's era open bolt guns.
 
Well, apparently not.
The Spitfire carbine didn't work the same way as the Tec-9 /DC9 and the MAC-10.
Instead of having to do some (easy) gunsmithing and permanent mods to the bolt or other fire control parts, on the Spitfire it was simply a matter of pressing down on the safety lever while shooting it.

THAT not only caused ATF to classify it as a M.G. back in 1968, but they did so without any grandfather clause that let people keep the ones they already owned without having to register them.

http://www.titleii.com/bardwell/rr_68368.txt
 
ATF make up rules as they go. look at the pistol brace. Im no law guru but, a full auto can be owned by anyone with no restrictions or paperwork simply based on age of the firearm?
Thats not the info Ive picked up from others. I was under the impression it would have to be turned in and reapplied to own it as a class 3 firearm, if it were allowed to even exist in more than one piece.
Anyone clear this up for me?
 
ATF make up rules as they go. look at the pistol brace. Im no law guru but, a full auto can be owned by anyone with no restrictions or paperwork simply based on age of the firearm?
Thats not the info Ive picked up from others. I was under the impression it would have to be turned in and reapplied to own it as a class 3 firearm, if it were allowed to even exist in more than one piece.
Anyone clear this up for me?
Any full auto guns had to be registered during the grandfather window, anything after not registered is illegal. No full auto can be owned without class 3 tax stamp. No reapplication for one. I'd cut the receiver on that peice of junk and trash it. I've shot one, they are garbage.

Clearly, I did not nor have I read the whole thread.. . . .
 
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