[SGTGunn]

Despite it the large caliber (.45 ACP) the Thompson was fairly controlable firing short bursts - which is what it was intended to fire. Long bursts on just about any handheld automatic weapon are impracticle becuase they overheat the barrel and waste ammunition. The Thompson's heavy weight (~10.5 lbs) helped absorb recoil and the earlier 1928 models (used by the Brits)also had a compensator at the end of the barrel. The M3 SMG dealt with the recoil by having a much slower rate of fire (~450 rpm vs. the Thompson's ~700 rpm). I've fire the M3A1 and found the gun quite controlable and reasonably accurate within the limits of it's effective range.

So if I had my druthers, I'd take a .45 ACP SMG over a 7.65mm or 9mm secure in the knowledge that my 3-5 round bursts are going to put my target down fast and hard. An interesting historical note is that the British Army Commandos in WW2 prefered their rugged and hard hitting M1928 Thompsons over any other SMG, and kept using long after the far lighter and more handy Sten became available.

Adrian