M1A1 Thompson is quite different from the Thompson M1928A1 used by the British in North Africa. A trend throughout the versions of the Thompson was to reduce its rate of fire and make each gun less expensive. The newer design moved the charging handle to the side of the weapon, replaced the vertical front grip by a horizontal one, removed the muzzle brake and significantly reduced the rate of fire. These changes made the weapon much more reliable, but also cut its production costs in half. Nearly 1.4 million M1 and M1A1 Thompsons were made during World War 2. It was replaced by the M3 Grease Gun which was even lighter and cheaper to produce.
Like the Type 100 SMG, Owen gun and PPS-43 it fires at a rate of 700 rounds a minute. In FHSW the Thompson M1928A1 actually fires at an slower rate than M1A1 version.
Platoon leader and close combat soldiers are mainly equipped with it.
MP 761(a)[]
Guns captured by the German forces from the Americans. Captured examples of the Thompson M1928A1 (examples captured from the British known as MP760(e)) were more common since the German army seldom had the opportunity to seize weapons when they were losing ground during the late-war years.
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