Tommy Gun: How General Thompson's Submachine Gun Wrote History
How many tommy guns were made? The exact number will probably never be known because Auto-Ordnance records, such as still exist, are incomplete. History of Submachine Guns, 1921 Through 1945 lists the total of all Thompsons ever built at around 1.75 million, of which 71.4 percent were manufactured by Savage Arms in Utica. This approximate total includes the Ordnance Department tally of 1.497 million, plus around 40 M1919s, plus the 15,000 units manufactured in 1921, plus the 107,500 the Britain ordered in 1940. The remaining 130,000 would have included guns accounted for by British and French purchase orders that were filled after the last of the original 15,000 were shipped, but before Lend-Lease.
71.4% of 1.75 million guns would mean that Savage Arms made 1,249,500 Thompsons during WW2.
