I'm sorry, but how do you mean that??

From what I've heared, The Tompson was made during the first world-war as a trench-sweaper. But the war endend before it could be used.
So it became the favourite weapon of the mobsters (nice reputation to have....)
But then WW-2 broke out and it was being used by the Americans in the Pacific.
But eventually it was taken out of production because it rattled and was to expensive. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

"A decent rifle in the hands of a properly trained individual beats all machinepistolen ever made. "

Very True!

Nice kit.......
I notice you said "part" of the kit..... A nice scoped.30 cal rifle would be a great addition in a kit, IMHO. Along with a .22 tack driver and a .357 revolver. But those are just my additions for a "all around" kit, for all situations.

Outside of the military, there are very few people who understand how to employ a SMG properly.
With a semiautomatic rifle I can discourage a mob in about 10 seconds by shooting the 10 wannabe's at the front dead. And have change for anyone who wants to object.
(Sorry, us Brit's are the Ruthless Bad Guys. Hollywood has said so. One feel's that one really must live up to one's reputation) <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

The tompson has two minor quirks:
1) It's very intolerante of dirty ( fancy way to say that it jam's if there is so much as a speck of dirt in the working parts).
2) It has a very heavy recoil.

A SKS or a AK47 are much better choices. Even in a "legal" semiautomatic 10 round magazine configuration.

The MP5 family has an impecible reputation, and they've earned it. But the Thompson has class- milled steel and hardwood, no stampings, no aluminum, no plastic. The estetic appeal is much greater to me, and I like the bigger bullets better. Another nice thing is that is heavy, which means less felt recoil and less muzzle climb. But then again, I also wish I had a body that would work in a zoot suit.

Oh, and Leigh, the Thompson's reliability is similiar to the M-16 (a much exaggerated issue, stemming from the failure to issue cleaning kits with the first several thousand M-16s and the switch to a very dirty burning powder at the same time) or the FAL (who's lack of reliability you never hear about), and much greater than the SA-80's, which the UK is still issuing for reasons that escape my comprehension.

The Brits have bad PR, that's all.

You've got a guy out here who once had the idea of using miniguns loaded with plastic training ammo for riot work, mounted on vehicles. It's not technically an automatic weapon, but six lever actions operating together, so it doesn't get picky about ammo. And throttled back to a cyclic rate of about 2000rpm, it get's the crowds attention and sends the message that this is not a healthy place to be. Particularly if you are skipping those plastic trainers into thier legs and bellies for ten seconds per gun at that rate.

That, and helicopter down blast. If you can get a bird in there, that will make a big impression.

*tries to look innocent* I wouldn't know this individual personally or anything.

I've heared that the SA-80 is the worst weapon ever. It just keeps blowing up and mag's keep falling out.

I understand that the estetic look of the tompson is appealing to you.
However I prefer the MP-5 for it's ''tactical look'' and because it's used by police and SWAT-teams all over the world.
(I've heared that it will be replaced in America by the M-4 carabine. Pitty really)

From what I've read, the M-4 should do fine in CQB. The 5.56 round is a stopper at close range. The 55 gr round tends to upset and fragment rather than pass cleanly through. That upset and fragmentation causes extreme trauma. The MP-5 is good for a gun shooting a pistol round, but it isn't a rifle.

First off, everything I have every read says the Thompson was and is a nightmare to shoot.

MP5 is used by nearly every special force in the world. It is the No.1 choice for close quarters combat.

The problem with the SA80, was that it was never designed to be used in desert conditions. This has now (Surposedly) been sorted by the new owners H&K. It was a very similar problem to the M16, but no amount of cleaning could fix it.

As for the FAL, if only we could go back in time and make the sensible decision, if the French and the US want to use 5.56, let them.

5.56 round a man stopper at close quarters, have you read or seen Black Hawk Down? I think, I would stick with the FBI loads, in my MP5.

I belive the M4 is coming into use because of criminals using body armor, which would make the 9mm next to useless, unless they train for head shots.