Full Guide – PUBG Mobile 2026 | The Chicago Typewriter
C-Tier SMG – .45 ACP – Erangel & Miramar – Ground Loot – Iron Sights Only
Overview
The Tommy Gun (Thompson SMG) is a C-Tier Sub-Machine Gun in PUBG Mobile 2026, chambered in .45 ACP and spawning exclusively on Erangel and Miramar. Nicknamed the Chicago Typewriter and famously associated with Prohibition-era gangsters and WWII soldiers, the Tommy Gun brings 40 damage per shot, a 0.086s fire rate interval, and its signature 50-round drum magazine – the largest base magazine of any SMG in the game by a wide margin. On paper, that combination sounds lethal. In practice, there is one problem that outweighs all of it: it cannot equip a scope of any kind.
The Tommy Gun is locked to iron sights only. No red dot. No holo. No 2x. No scope. You are aiming through a 1918-era rear aperture sight at mobile players in a 100-person battle royale. It also accepts only three attachments: a Muzzle (Compensator or Suppressor), a Foregrip, and a Magazine. No stock, no laser sight compatibility, no cheek pad. This limited attachment ceiling means recoil management tops out early, and the sight picture never improves beyond iron sights regardless of how many attachments you find.
Honest C-Tier Take: The Tommy Gun is a meme weapon that is genuinely fun to use and occasionally works in the right circumstances – exclusively CQC under 30m with hip-fire, where the 50-round drum lets you spray down multiple enemies without reloading. It is not a competitive weapon in 2026. Every other ground-loot SMG outclasses it in actual play due to scope support alone. The UMP45 (A-Tier) does everything the Tommy Gun does – more damage, faster velocity, full attachment support, scope compatibility – while the Vector (A-Tier) beats its TTK at CQC. Pick it up when nothing better is available, enjoy the fantasy, and swap it the moment you find an UMP45 or Vector.
Weapon Statistics (2026)
Core Stats
Shots to Down by Armour Level (Body Shots)
50-Round Reality Check: Yes, the Tommy Gun can technically down 3-4 fully armoured enemies on a single magazine without reloading – and that is exactly why players love the fantasy of it. At 674 RPM and 6 shots per Level 3 vest enemy, you spend through that drum fast. At 15m hip-fire range though, 50 rounds going downrange rapidly is a legitimate threat – the 50-round drum is the one undeniable real advantage this weapon has over every other SMG.
What Works
- + 50-round drum magazine – chain down multiple enemies before reload
- + 674 RPM fire rate – high sustained DPS at point-blank range
- + .45 ACP 40 damage – solid per-shot damage for an SMG
- + TTK of ~0.267s at close range is genuinely fast when shots land
- + Excellent hip-fire spray option in buildings and stairwells
- + Historically iconic – genuinely fun to play with
- + .45 ACP is same ammo pool as UMP45 if pairing both
Why It is C-Tier
- – Iron sights ONLY – zero scope support of any kind
- – Only 3 attachment slots (Muzzle, Foregrip, Magazine)
- – 300 m/s bullet velocity – extremely low, heavy bullet drop beyond 40m
- – Exclusive to Erangel + Miramar – not always available
- – Higher recoil than UMP45 even when fully attached
- – Completely useless beyond 50m – cannot ADS at range effectively
- – UMP45 does everything better in competitive play
The Iron Sights Problem (Why This Is C-Tier)
The Hard Ceiling: Every competitive SMG in PUBG Mobile 2026 supports at minimum a Red Dot or Holo Sight. The Tommy Gun supports nothing. You aim through iron sights at every range, in every situation, against every opponent. This single limitation makes the weapon nonviable beyond 30-35m in any competitive match. A player with a Red Dot UMP45 will reliably beat a Tommy Gun user at 40m+ every time, regardless of the Tommy Gun drum magazine advantage.
What Iron Sights Actually Do to Gameplay
Effective engagement range drops to 20-30m maximum. Beyond 30m, the iron sight picture obscures the target and 300 m/s bullet drop compounds the miss rate to near-unusable levels.
ADS with iron sights gives a narrower FOV than a Red Dot with no accuracy improvement at range. In practice, most Tommy Gun kills happen purely on hip-fire – which is its best use case anyway.
The slowest bullet velocity in the SMG category. At 50m, bullet drop is significant and travel time creates lead requirements that iron sights make near-impossible to execute accurately. Stick to sub-30m.
The One Scenario Tommy Gun Actually Works
Indoor CQC hip-fire at under 20m. In buildings on Erangel (School, Pochinki houses, Georgopol apartments), the Tommy Gun 50-round drum becomes its one legitimate competitive advantage. You can enter a multi-room building and spray through 3-4 enemies without reloading. At 674 RPM with hip-fire at 5-15m, it absolutely shreds – the iron sight limitation becomes irrelevant because you are not ADS-ing at that range anyway.
Outside of that specific scenario: the Tommy Gun is a liability. Use it for the fun of it, not for the win rate.
Best Attachments: 3-Slot Maximum
Slots: Muzzle – Foregrip – Magazine (No Scope, No Stock)
No Scope Slot Exists: You will see Red Dots, Holographic Sights, and scopes in your inventory. None of them are compatible with the Tommy Gun. Do not try – the game will not allow it. This is not a bug or an oversight: the Tommy Gun has never had scope support and it is a core part of why it is C-Tier in 2026.
How to Use the Tommy Gun (If You Must)
1. Pair It With an AR at All Times
The Tommy Gun is exclusively a secondary weapon. If you are running it, your primary must be an AR (M416, AKM, SCAR-L) that handles every engagement beyond 30m. The Tommy Gun slots in purely for indoor CQC and building-clearing. Do not run two SMGs or attempt to use the Tommy Gun as your main weapon – you will lose every engagement the moment an enemy is more than 35m away.
2. Hip-Fire is Your Primary Mode
At sub-20m, the Tommy Gun hip-fire accuracy is surprisingly viable – particularly with a Vertical Foregrip. Do not ADS unless you are at 15-25m in a clear sight-line and the iron sights are actually on target. For room-clearing and stairwell fights, pure hip-fire spray at 5-10m is the Tommy Gun at its absolute best. The 50-round drum means you can spray aggressively without the mental overhead of counting ammo.
3. Drop It When You Find an UMP45 or Vector
The moment you find an UMP45 or Vector, pick it up and drop the Tommy Gun. Both weapons outclass the Tommy Gun in every metric that actually affects survival rate: the UMP45 has higher damage (~42), faster bullet velocity, better scope support (up to 4x), and lower recoil with a full attachment kit. The Vector has the fastest TTK in the game at under 10m. Neither of these trades has any downside unless you are specifically in love with the 50-round drum concept.
4. Sensitivity for Iron Sights Play
ADS (Iron Sights)
No Scope ADS: 100-120%
Hip-Fire: Match your SMG hip-fire setting (usually 130-160%)
Gyroscope
No Scope: 180-220%
Gyro Scope: Not applicable (no scope)
Iron sight ADS sensitivity does not need to be set differently from your standard no-scope sensitivity since you are not magnifying the sight picture. Focus on keeping hip-fire sensitivity consistent with your other CQC weapons.
Tommy Gun vs Other SMGs (2026)
| Weapon | Tier | Damage | Mag | Scope | Velocity | Best Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UMP45 | A | ~42 | 25/35 | Up to 4x | 400 m/s | 0-100m |
| Vector | A | 31 | 13/25 | Yes | ~350 m/s | 0-25m |
| P90 | B | 34 | 50 built-in | Yes | 715 m/s | 0-80m |
| Micro Uzi | C | 26 | 25/35 | Yes | ~350 m/s | 0-15m |
| Tommy Gun | C | 40 | 50 drum | NONE | 300 m/s | 0-30m only |
Note the P90 Problem: The P90 (B-Tier) also carries a 50-round magazine – but adds scope support, 715 m/s bullet velocity, and is available on more maps. If the 50-round drum concept is what appeals to you about the Tommy Gun, the P90 does the same thing strictly better. The Tommy Gun unique claim is exclusively its .45 ACP ammo type sharing and the nostalgic aesthetic.
The Meme Weapon Reality
The Tommy Gun exists in the game because it is an iconic historical weapon with a unique personality. Players keep picking it up not because it wins more matches – but because unloading 50 rounds at hip-fire into a building full of enemies to the imaginary sound of a jazz-era speakeasy is genuinely a great gaming moment. There is nothing wrong with that. PUBG Mobile has always had weapons that earn their place through fun factor rather than meta performance.
The honest advice: if your goal is winning ranked matches, drop the Tommy Gun for an UMP45 the first chance you get. If your goal is to have an absurd, entertaining time blasting through rooms on Pochinki with a prohibition-era machine gun that should have no business being in a modern battle royale – the Tommy Gun is absolutely the weapon for you.
Final Verdict
The Tommy Gun earns C-Tier (5/10) – a weapon with one genuinely great stat (50-round drum magazine), solid per-shot damage (40) and a respectable fire rate (674 RPM), all neutralised by the iron sights-only limitation that hard-caps its effective range to 30m maximum. The 300 m/s bullet velocity and 3 attachment slot ceiling mean no amount of careful play compensates for the missing scope support at anything beyond room-clearing range.
Best Use Case: Secondary weapon only, paired with an AR. CQC building-clearing on Erangel/Miramar. Hip-fire spray at 5-20m. Immediately swap for UMP45 or Vector on sight. Do not use as primary weapon in any ranked match.
If you insist on running it: Compensator + Vertical Foregrip + Ext. Quickdraw Mag. Hip-fire under 20m. Keep an AR for everything else. Accept that at 35m+ you are bringing a 1918 gangster weapon to a 2026 battle royale – and own it completely.
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