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Thompsons were not totally reliable, either. Closely fitted, they were subject to problems with dust and dirt. The M1 and M1A1 were (reportedly) better than the M1921 and M1928, but my personal experience with the former guns has been minimal, just a few mags. The British reportedly altered the M1928 to do away with the Blish lock*, but regardless of its effectiveness or lack thereof, when Savage tried to eliminate it, the bolts came back hard enough to break the end out of the receiver, and they had to beef the M1/M1A1 up.
The M3/M3A1 got around the dirt problem by using guide rods, a much better system later used in the AR-18/180, an underappreciated design.
*The myth has it that they just took out the lock and threw it away, nonsense repeated in dozens of books. But without the lock the actuator isn't connected to the bolt, so the gun can't be cocked. I once challenged a writer on that statement and he told me that he knew everything there was to know about the TSMG and whatinhell was an actuator?
Jim
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