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TM M1A1 Thompson
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Muzzle Velocity Unkown
Length 805mm
Barrel Length 300mm
Weight Unkown
Magazine Capacity 60rnd STD
190rnd LoCap
420rnd Hicap
Battery Type Large Battery
Motor EG700
Gearbox Version 6
"Saving Private Ryan"
History - The Thompson was invented by John Thompson of Auto Ordinance as a trench sweeping submachine gun for World War I. Unfortunately, World War I ended before this weapon could see any war time use and found itself the weapon of choice for the gangsters of the twenties and thirties. As World War II loomed upon the horizon, the infamous 'Tommy Gun' found its way into the Arsenal of Democracy with a new facelift. The M1921 Thompson was simplified for wartime production and transformed into the new M1A1. The M1A1 led the way on freeing Europ from Hitler's death-grip in Normandy on D-Day and helped clear Japanese tunnels and bunkers in the Pacific. The M1A1 later served in Korea and even found its way into Vietnam. Today the Thompson is an American icon, from the era of gangsters to the defense of democracy in World War II.
Appearance - The M1A1 is the Mona Lisa of AEGs, at least in my opinion. The wood is ABS plastic but unless it's scuffed up you would never know. The wood looks finely finished and quite realistic. The stock of the gun fits neatly into your shoulder, though some people complain about the stock being meta. [Ed. Note - Actually that was only me. I've been spoiled by the SG1's padded buttstock.] From there you can easily pull it up to fire, and without even aiming, can put a hail of fire on your target. It's a gun you can just point and shoot with comfortably. The gun is quite heavy from being made up of mostly metal parts with a fake few wood sections. I'm only 5'3" and a 120 lbs and I have a problem lugging this thing around for long periods of combat. It is quite heavy, though not nearly as heavy as the real steel version. The M1A1 feels very solid and good in your hands, almost like a real weapon. All in all, the Thompson looks antique and rustic: a great icon from a bygone era.
Build Quality - The Thompson is made mostly from metal parts, with only the fake wood sections and the lower receiver being made of ABS plastic. The metal is quite durable and can take a beating on the field, though it may get scratched up from too much scuffing. The Thompson will not bend, wobble, or creak anywhere, which makes it feel very solid. The battery is located in the butt stock. To reveal the battery compartment, go to the metal butt stock and flip open a small circular latch. With that open you can pull out the butt plate and swing it around. Note that it does not come off. The battery fits nicely in the top compartment and you can easily place the wiring in the lower area. To close the butt stock, just flip the butt plate back and close up the circular latch and presto, you are ready to go. To open up the gearbox compartment there is a small pin in the back that you can push in. The lower reciever slides out to reveal the gearbox. Though it is easy to do on an M1A1, I would not recommend doing this too often as tinkering with the gearbox is not good and getting the thing back into place is quite annoying as the gearbox is a very, very tight fit. The Thompson magazine catch is also a bit tricky. It is an odd looking latch located on the left side of the receiver. You push up on it to release the magazine, which should slide down. This is a bad design and makes it so that you have to change magazines with your left hand, though your 420 round hi-cap should keep that from happening too often. Also there are two fire selector switches on the left hand side of the weapon. The one to the rear of the gun is to switch your gun from safe to active. The other one is to switch from semi-automatic to fully automatic. These two things are the design flaws of the real steel Thompson and not Tokyo Marui's mistakes. Tokyo Marui did a perfect job of transporting onto their version of the M1A1. The hop up is located in the magazine well. You pull out the magazine and look up the magazine well to see the hop up. On the field you can make small adjustments by the hop up knob on the top of the gun.
Performance - The Thompson's performance is stellar. The gun shoots where you want it to shoot. Keep in mind this is a submachine gun. The barrel length is not very long so don't expect to snipe with it. The peephole sights and the iron sights also won't give you much accuracy. Use this weapon by spraying. Now I don't mean spraying and praying. Aiming with this weapon is very easy. When you pull it up you'll get a hang of where the BBs will go when you fire it. Just spray 7-12 shots into the area you want whenever you fire. You should be able to hit your targets at 30-60 feet with this weapon. You've got a 420 round hi-cap, so you shouldn't worry about conserving ammo. This weapon is great on the field, thought a bit on the heavy side. You won't be dissapointed. The only problem with the Thompson may be the lack of accessories. But this weapon needs no accesories; it does fine on its own. There are some wood kits and stuff but I've heard those only shorten the lifespan of your Thompson. The best accessory to go with the Thompson would be a World War II or Korean War look. The Thompson needs no accessories to go with it. This is in my opinion, the best AEG made by Tokyo Marui.
Appearance 10/10
Buid Quality 10/10
Performance 10/10
Upgrade Potential 07/10
Total Score 10/10
-Review By Calvin Li