Source: ATF P 5300.11 · Curios or Relics List · Jan 1972 – Apr 20253,573 entries · 4 sections
The C&R RegisterA finding aid to the ATF Curios or Relics List, for Type 03 collectors
C&R · IV · 219

Thompson Model 1927 semiautomatic carbine

Section IV: still an NFA firearm, also a curio or relic

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION IV · VERBATIM · PDF P. 88 ↗

Thompson, Model 1927, semiautomatic carbine, cal. .45 ACP.

What this entry requires

  • INFOATF states no date; production was about 1921–1936.
  • INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).

Editorial facts · Our research

Country
United States
Manufacturer
Auto-Ordnance Corp. (Colt manufacture)
Type
Rifle
Action
Semi-auto
Caliber
.45 ACP
Made
c. 1921–1936production; ATF states no date²
Service
Commercial
Search listings ↗Check a specific gunReport an error ↗

Source

Official wording
ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 88 ↗ · ATF original ↗
Entries
1 line
Verbatim check
Checked against the PDF text before every release
Editorial facts
Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
References
  1. Wikipedia, “Thompson submachine gun” ↗, name: the Model 1927 was the open-bolt semi-automatic version made by modifying an existing Model 1921
  2. gunvalues.gundigest.com ↗, years: Gun Digest Gun Values (Standard Catalog): first-generation Model 1927 'manufactured by Colt Patent Firearms from 1927 to 1936', modified from the original 15,000 Model 1921 guns; Thompson article: the first Thompson entered production as the Model of 1921 — y covers the 1921 receivers and the 1927–1936 conversions
Fact tags
  • ATF the ATF wording states it.
  • REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
  • ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
  • NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
Source checked
20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
Corrections
2 changes · see below

Correction history

  1. Evidence passYears: 1921–1928 → 1921–1936. Gun Digest dates the Colt Model 1927 semi-auto conversions 1927–1936 from 1921-made guns; no source gives 1928
  2. Data-trust reviewEditorial confidence: Low → Medium. Re-rated after supporting references were added or re-checked.

All corrections · How corrections work

Historical context

Thompson submachine gun (base model shown for Thompson Model 1927 semiautomatic carbine)
Shown: a Thompson Model 1921 submachine gun, not this semiautomatic Model 1927 carbine.

Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Campbell Thompson.jpg” by Hmaag, CC BY-SA 3.0. Retrieved October 2026.

Summary: Wikipedia, “Thompson submachine gun”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.

FROM WIKIPEDIA

The Thompson submachine gun is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Army officer, in 1918. It was designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare of World War I, although early models did not arrive in time for actual combat. The Thompson saw early use by the United States Marine Corps during the Banana Wars, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Irish Republican Army, and the Republic of China; the FBI, previously an unarmed agency, adopted their use following the 1933 Kansas City massacre.