The Thompson submachine gun, Chicago Typewriter, or Tommy gun for short, has captured the American spirit from gangster days to film lore. While true originals are far out of the price range and availability for most, Kahr Group’s Auto-Ordnance has been building multiple semi-automatic .45-caliber Thompson variants for years.
In 2026, a .22 LR version joins the pack. After firing the rifle on the range and spending time with designers at the booth, here’s what we can tell you.
Thompson 1927 A3
The official model name of what is being called the .22 Tommy gun is actually Thompson 1927 A3. This .22 LR repeating rifle shows a lightweight polymer construction, to include both the receiver exterior and the barrel’s housing. What looks like the original's barrel profile is actually an overmolded barrel and design shroud with an interior steel liner.
Many of the internal parts are interchangeable with the company’s originals, and action controls remain largely the same. Though the stocks look like walnut from a distance, they’re polymer with a woodgrain finish.
The rimfire repeater accepts standard 10/22 rotary magazines and ships with one 10-rounder based on the true Tommy gun’s stick magazine. MSRP on the newbie is set at $934, significantly less than even its lowest priced .45-caliber counterpart.
Hands-on with the .22 Tommy
Industry Day on the Range for SHOT Show 2026 marked our first encounter with this lightweight version of the timeless Tommy gun. While the “original” replicas are built of solid steel, aluminum, and hardwood, these new .22 Tommy guns are built to be lighter, more affordable, and cheaper to shoot, given the cost of .22 LR versus .45 ACP.
Recoil is light enough to be nonexistent, as we’d expect from any rimfire rifle. Those who’ve owned or shot the company’s current centerfire Tommy guns will find the same feel in terms of length of pull, controls, and overall ergonomics, but at considerably less heft.
The stocks look pretty nice for faux woodgrain polymer. In fact, those same lightweight stocks are now making their way to several variants of the centerfire Tommy guns. Keep in mind that the Kahr Group is not new to polymer nor rimfires. Kahr builds polymer pistols, while offshoot Magnum Research has built multiple lines of rimfire rifles for years.
The rimfire rig we fired at the range wore a Picatinny rail atop the receiver, and that was topped with a Vortex red dot for quick target acquisition. Though we only ran through a couple mags, the rifle seemed to do its job, and more than anything else, turned heads as any Tommy gun does.
The Kahr Group manufacturers the new rifles in Greeley, Pennsylvania, as marked on the receiver, along with Auto-Ordnance Corporation, the brand most closely associated with the Thompson name. Barring any major setbacks, the .22 LR Tommys are set to begin shipping by Q2 of 2026.
