M1 Thompson

[JWill1776]

Obvioiusly, the heart wants what the hearts want, and it is your money, so FWIW.

That's a lot of money for a single firearm. And when you say it is "fully functional" do you mean it is fully automatic? If so, that seems like a low price to me, frankly, but who knows? I'd check on Gunbroker to see what others have sold for.

My guess would be that you will be thrilled to buy it and thrilled to shoot it, but the thrill may wear off and if you are emptying out your savings to acquire it, I can see some serious buyer's remorse kicking in.

Of course you can probably turn around and sell it for nearly what you paid...so look if you can't get precisely what you paid for it, look at it as a "rental fee" for the time you do keep it.

[JoshNC]

On one hand it us an investment. The M1 is not gonna lose value. It will increase.

On the other hand, you will not likely see a skyrocket return in the short term. The increase in value should beat the rate of inflation but by how much? Your money is locked up and it would take a while to get it out when you decide to sell.

As your only investment and at the cost of all your savings? I would say no, unless you are looking at being able to replace those savings in very short order.

Thompson values have been somewhat stagnant for the past 15 years. I would not view a Thompson as an investment, unless it’s a rare gun or one with unique provenance.

OP, if you’ve never shot a Thompson you need to do so before buying one. I personally don’t enjoy shooting them. Every now and again I get the urge to own a 28 or a war time m1. Then I shoot one and am reminded that I don’t like them.

If buying a Thompson, there are many many important details to consider. At $15k it’s likely a West Hurley, which may require some work and some parts swapping to get it functioning. I would buy a genuine WW2 28, M1, or M1a Thompson over a WH gun.