Manchester Commando Mark-45

[TheCollector]

Good morning everyone. I need some help with a gun I'm looking at acquiring. It's a Manchester Arms Commando Mark-45. Here are my questions.
1. From all the pieces I have seen the S/N are 45R*****, the one I'm looking at the S/N is 000** with NO 45R prefix. Is this a really early piece or did they drop the 45R later?
2. It has the same patent # as the Volunteer Commando, so which came first, the Volunteer or Manchester?
3. Any ideas on date of mfg?
4. It's missing the from sight, any idea on where to find a replacement?
5. Rough idea on value?
Thank you in advance for any/all help.

 

[Mark_Mark]

you got a photo of the whole gun?

 

[TheCollector]

This is the closest picture to the whole gun I have, sorry.

 

[Mark_Mark]

This is the closest picture to the whole gun I have, sorry. View attachment 1183130

that think looks FUN!

 

[Charlie98]

I remember seeing those in Guns & Ammo magazine back in the late '70's or early '80's. I didn't even know they made it to production... I've never seen one.

Try Numrich (GunParts Corp) for parts...

 

[Mark_Mark]

I remember seeing those in Guns & Ammo magazine back in the late '70's or early '80's. I didn't even know they made it to production... I've never seen one.

Try Numrich (GunParts Corp) for parts...

is that bad boy full auto?

 

[Charlie98]

No.

I'm curious if that's the one that has a combination lock built into the side of it. There was also a Mark-9... a 9mm version of it.

 

[Mark_Mark]

No.

I'm curious if that's the one that has a combination lock built into the side of it. There was also a Mark-9... a 9mm version of it.

Love old odd guns!

my brother had a M11 9mm m, MAC10 clone, semi-auto, from the Post Clinton days. He sold it for $400 about 5-8 years ago. I nearly died… I wanted that thing so bad… oooh well

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Neato!
I've seen maybe 2 of the Tennessee Volunteer carbines over the years. I believe Manchester came first.
Lemme check some of my old catalogs to see if they can shed some more light.

 

[TheCollector]

is that bad boy full auto?

I wish!!! . But no it is only semiautomatic.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

My 2011 Standard Catalog only says they changed from Volunteer Enterprises to Commando Arms in 1978. No mention of Manchester. The Mk3 model production supposedly ran from 1969 to 1976, afterwards it was known as the Mk.45.

Oh, and welcome to the Nuthouse, OP!

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Well, I found a few old ARF threads which indicated that the company went from Demro to Spitfire to Volunteer to Eagle to Commando and finally Manchester. They were still in business until at least 1995, but I couldn't find a definitive date when they folded for good. Apparently the Manchester-marked guns are pretty rare.

Although they look like Thompsons, the action is actually derived from the M3 Grease gun and some of the parts are interchangeable.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

As to value, I found a completed Rock Island Auction listing for a Manchester marked gun from a couple years ago which sold for $690, to give you a rough idea.

 

[TheCollector]

Well, I found a few old ARF threads which indicated that the company went from Demro to Spitfire to Volunteer to Eagle to Commando and finally Manchester. They were still in business until at least 1995, but I couldn't find a definitive date when they folded for good. Apparently the Manchester-marked guns are pretty rare.

Although they look like Thompsons, the action is actually derived from the M3 Grease gun and some of the parts are interchangeable.

Great information thank you. Any ideas on the S/N missing the prefix compared to the others? It seems like a really, really low S/N but with it not having the 45R prefix I'm just not sure? Thanks again

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Great information thank you. Any ideas on the S/N missing the prefix compared to the others? It seems like a really, really low S/N but with it not having the 45R prefix I'm just not sure? Thanks again

The few images I could find of Manchester- marked guns all started with 00xxx, so I can only surmise they dropped the prefix when they changed names- and that production was very low. There was also a rather clunky-looking pistol version that apparently all have serial numbers under 00100, so they assume less than a hundred were made.

 

[TheCollector]

All the Manchester ones I found have the 45R prefix.... see attached pictures.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Given that yours is numerically lower, that would tend to indicate they adopted that system later. Given the lack of concrete info out there about these, I kinda doubt we will ever know for sure....
Maybe some day someone will go through the tax, bankruptcy, and patent filings for a
"Complete History of the Demro/Spifire/Volunteer/Eagle/Commando/Manchester Arms Companies" book.

But I don't think we should hold our breath.

Ebay, Numrich, Sarco, and Midwest Gunworks would probably be the spots I would look at for parts.

 

[jmorris]

“Commando” was kind of the “tactical” back then, not sure if this was the same thing or not.

 

[Mark_Mark]

“Commando” was kind of the “tactical” back then, not sure if this was the same thing or not.

View attachment 1183230

What reference book was that??? I was 11 years old and was checking those book out in Fayettnam library (long branch library… if was correct)

 

[commygun]

What reference book was that??? I was 11 years old and was checking those book out in Fayettnam library (long branch library… if was correct)

The really fun thing about that book is that I bought my AR a few years ago for less than the one shown. Mine isn’t a Colt but it shoots like one!

 

[Charlie98]

you know what... I'm thinking of the Demro TAC-1 carbine... with the combination lock thing. I DO remember the Commando, however...

 

[jmorris]

What reference book was that??? I was 11 years old and was checking those book out in Fayettnam library (long branch library… if was correct)

I made sure I had the corner of the page in the shot to identify it, 1985 Guns and Ammo annual.



I ran the periodicals room at a library when I was in highschool, old habits die hard but I can still put my fingers on a book I picked up 38 years ago.

 

[kidneyboy]

I can't help the OP but the Commando looks like it could be sort of be recreated with a new bufferless AR.

 

[Charlie98]

1985 Guns and Ammo annual.

I was rooting through a few of mine to try to find it... I still have a few of those left.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The Commando Arms "compensator" slides over the 16" barrel and is for looks only. I was tempted back in the day to buy one and to extend the slots in the compensator into the barrel. The compensators on Numrich/Kahr "1927" Thompson replicas extend the 16.5 barrel to about 18 inches which is ungainly.