Above: An early Patchett machine carbine, with its stock in a folded position. The first Patchetts were designed during World War II.

Classic Submachine Guns, Carbines and Pistols Refined

The Patchett Submachine Gun

The Sten machine carbine (the term “submachine gun” was not used by the British until 1954) was hurriedly conceived during the early stages of World War II, as Great Britain, seriously short of weapons for defense, was facing an invasion by the German Army. The Sten was a rather crude, but reliable and deadly weapon. After the threat of invasion subsided, work began on developing a more refined submachine gun.

George Patchett was an experienced gun designer who went to work for the Sterling Armament Company during World War II. Mr. Patchett designed a fair number of prototype weapons based on his ideas. By 1943, George Patchett’s submachine gun was developed enough to be tested by the military. Designated as the Patchett Mark I machine carbine, the weapon used a number of parts from the Lanchester machine carbine. The Mark I’s magazine housing was attached at a 90-degree angle to the receiver and fed from Sten or Lanchester magazines. After testing, the Patchett Mark I was considered suitable for service, but with plenty of Sten Mk II and Mk IV submachine guns still in service, there were no large orders for the Patchett forthcoming. Undeterred, development of the Patchett continued with the introduction of the Mk II model in 1946. One of the primary features of the Mark II was its magazine housing oriented at an 82-degree forward angle, to accept Patchett’s new double-feed, curved magazine—a vast improvement over the Sten magazine. Finally, during 1953, the Patchett Mark II was adopted as the Gun, Sub-machine, 9mm L2A1. During 1955, the Mark III model was introduced. The Patchett name was dropped and replaced with the name Sterling. The official designation was the Sterling Submachine Gun Mk III, L2A2. The Sterling company continued further development of the weapon resulting in a final version designated as the Sterling Mk IV L2A3.

The Sterling Mark IV L2A3 submachine gun was produced in Great Britain by Sterling and the Royal Ordnance Factory at Fazakerly. Submachine guns produced at Sterling had serial number prefixes using the letters “KR,” “S” and “US.” Fazakerley weapons used the prefix “UF.” Production began during 1955-1956 and ceased at Fazakerly in 1959, Sterling in 1988. The Sterling Mark IV L2A3 remained in British service until 1994.

Sterlings destined for British military service had a Sunkorite 259 satin black painted finish. Commercial Sterlings had the black crinkle finish. The British use of the term “commercial” is a bit misleading. Sales to Commonwealth and governments, other than the British military, were considered “commercial” sales. The Sterling was also licensed for manufacture in Canada as the C1 submachine gun and India as the SAF Machine Carbine A1.

For the police market, Sterling introduced a semi-automatic-only version of the Mk IV L2A3 submachine gun called the “Police Carbine.” The Police Carbine was also available to civilians in countries such as South Africa. Sterling ads boasted, “The Sterling submachine gun has been modified for use by police and civilians in troubled parts of the world,” and the “Perfect weapon of self-defense for those obliged to take such precautions.” The Police Carbine operated the same as the submachine gun, firing from an open bolt. The semi-automatic-only function was made possible by adding a block to the selector lever, preventing it from being rotated to the A (automatic) position. It was soon discovered that the Police Carbine could easily be converted to select-fire by removal of the block or installing a submachine gun selector lever. Police Carbines can easily be identified by their serial numbers that began with a letter “P.”

The U.S. Market

During the 1980s, a new breed of firearm was introduced to the U.S. civilian market; copies of military submachine guns and rifles. The big difference was the clones were semi-automatic-only and had to adhere to strict provisions set by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to make them difficult to convert to full-automatic.

Rifle Caliber

Popular U.S. offerings for the market were Colt’s AR-15 rifle, a civilian version of the U.S. military M16, and the Springfield Armory, Inc. M1A copy of the M14. However, both the aforementioned rifles were available before the 1980s. The M1A rifles went into production in 1971; the Colt AR-15 in 1964. Both became popular when many enthusiasts discovered them in the monthly periodicals of the day, followed by special editions of 1980s magazines focusing entirely on the new breed of semi-automatic firearms and the quickly growing accessory market that soon followed.

Many of the semi-automatic firearms were imported. Companies like Heckler and Koch (HK) offered copies of their .223 caliber HK33 as the HK93 and the .308 G3 as the .308 HK91. Other popular firearms were FN’s Belgian-made SAR (FN FAL), China’s AKS rifles and Austria’s Steyr AUGs. Some of the imports were quite expensive, a few costing twice as much as a Colt AR-15.

Pistol Caliber

U.S.-manufactured pistol caliber semi-automatics included the West Hurley Auto-Ordnance M1927A1 Thompsons, MAC-10s, SWD’s M11/Nine, Nighthawk carbine and Wilkinson Arms Linda pistol and Terry carbines.

Foreign submachine gun copies included the Heckler and Koch MP5 designated in semi-automatic-only guise as the HK94; Action Arms imported semi-automatic models of the famous UZI submachine gun. Some of the lesser known imports of the 1980s were the British Sterling Mark 6 carbine and Mark 7 pistol, semi-automatic copies of the British Mk IV L2A3 submachine gun.

As per the ATF requirements after 1982, the semi-automatics had to operate from a closed-bolt position.

The introduction of the semi-automatic clones occurred prior to May 19, 1986. This allowed the legal registration and conversion of the firearms into machine guns. After May 19, 1986, the laws were changed making full-auto conversions illegal except for what would be known as restricted post-May dealer samples. Many AR-15s, UZIs, AKs and HK94 carbines were converted prior to the cut-off date. One select-fire conversion that was seldom seen was the desirable British Sterling Mk IV L2A3.

Sterling Mark 6 Carbines

The British-made Sterling Mark 6 carbines were imported by Parker Arms and Armscorp of America. However, the majority of the carbines were imported by Lanchester USA of Dallas, Texas. The suggested retail price of a Sterling Mark 6 was nearly double that of the popular UZI carbine in 1983. Due to their high price, limited advertising and availability, only a small number of the Mark 6 carbines were sold in the U.S.

The primary differences between the Sterling Mark 6 carbine and the Mark IV L2A3 submachine gun were the carbine’s 16-inch barrel and its closed-bolt operation. The receiver itself was similar to its submachine gun counterpart. The overall length of the Mark 6 Sterling is 35-inches with the stock extended and 27-inches with the stock folded. The carbine uses the same 34-round magazines as the submachine gun.

Sterling Mark 7 Pistol

The Sterling Mark 7 was a pistol variation of the Mark 6 carbine without a buttstock. The Mark 7 featured a 4-inch barrel extending through an 8-inch long barrel shroud. The pistol came with a 10-round magazine.

An import ban enacted in 1989 ended most of the importation of foreign semi-automatic rifles and carbines.

Police Automatic Weapons Services (PAWS)

Oregon Class II manufacturer, Bob Imel, had an interest in the British Sterling Mk IV L2A3 submachine gun design. To produce a U.S.-made copy of the Sterling, he formed the Police Automatic Weapons Service better known by the initials “PAWS.” During the 1970s Imel began to manufacture parts and receivers many years before the original surplus British Sterling part sets became available. The results of his efforts were the PAWS ZX-5 submachine gun in 9mm and the ZX-7 in .45ACP. The PAWS guns were only slightly different cosmetically than the Sterling Mk IV L2A3 submachine guns. The 9mm ZX-5 was designed to accept unmodified Sten magazines, in place of original Sterling magazines, due to cost and limited availability at the time. Because of the magazine-well configuration that was oriented 90-degrees to the receiver, the PAWS ZX-5 cannot accept original Sterling curved magazines. The .45 caliber ZX-7 model uses modified M-3 Grease Gun magazines. There were only a few hundred transferable ZX submachine guns made and registered, in .45 and 9mm, before production ceased with the enactment of the May 1986 McClure-Volkmer Amendments to the Gun Control Act, banning the manufacture and registration of transferable machine guns.

After the 1986 ban, Mr. Imel decided to create a semi-automatic carbine version of the PAWS submachine gun, in both 9mm, the ZX 6 and .45 ACP the ZX 8, with the parts left over from his machine gun production line. At that time the market for semi-auto submachine gun clones was flourishing. He started with an ATF-approved receiver design that was similar to and built to the same standards as his submachine guns but that used a closed-bolt design. The carbines came fitted with a 16.5-inch barrel and an UZI-type barrel nut. The blow back carbines weighed 7.5-pounds unloaded and were approximately 35-inches long with the stock in an extended position.

Prior to the 1986 machine gun ban, a number of submachine guns were constructed from part sets. Although the receivers could not be imported, it was legal (AFTER ATF approval) to assemble and register a machine gun with a new U.S.-made receiver. Many World War II submachine gun receivers were made of tubing for ease of wartime manufacturing. One of the most popular was the British Sten Mk II, primarily due to a large number of inexpensive parts. Another popular “tube gun” was the German MP40. Made in smaller numbers were the subguns like the Swedish K due to a limited number of spare part sets.

Submachine gun part sets from the Mk IV L2A3 Sterling were conspicuously absent only because the weapon was still in service with the British and many other countries. Although there were a very small number of original Sterlings in the U.S., most were dealer samples. The desirable Sterling submachine gun was seldom encountered in collections or on the firing line. It wasn’t until around 1994 that Sterling part sets began to be imported. However, eight years after the machine gun ban, there were relatively few registered receiver tubes available that had not been assembled into guns.

Stan Andrewski, a Class II manufacturer from New Hampshire, discovered that Sten Mk II receiver tubes shared many of the same dimensions as the Sterling Mk IV L2A3 submachine gun, except for the position and width of the cocking handle slot. The Sten’s slot is located at 50 degrees on its receiver, while the Sterling’s slot is located at a 60-degree position and is narrower than the Sten’s. Mr. Andrewski believed that the Sten-to-Sterling conversion had merit and sought permission from the Firearms Technology Branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for the conversion. Although ATF eventually granted permission for the Sten-to-Sterling conversion, narrowing of the cocking handle slot was not permitted. This hurdle was overcome by modifying the cocking handle, so the interior portion engages the bolt while the exterior handle travels in the 10-degree offset slot. This is achieved by cutting off the handle section itself and then MIG welding it back at a slightly lower position. The cocking handle has flange added to it, so it fits properly in the wider slot and retains the bolt at the correct angle. The cocking handle and cocking handle block are modified by drilling a hole in each, so the plunger protrudes through them to secure the cocking handle. This makes it a little harder to remove the cocking handle because the plunger must be depressed with a small diameter pin punch, while at the same time pulling outward on the cocking handle sometimes requiring a third hand to accomplish. Due to Mr. Andrewski’s efforts, a number of transferable Sten guns were reconfigured into Sterling submachine guns. Florida Class II manufacturer Don Quinnell also began performing the conversions. Finally, after many years, a transferable “Sterling” submachine gun was available!

Since the initial conversions were approved in 1997, a small number of virgin pre-1986 registered DLO, and a few Wilson-made receiver tubes have surfaced with a Sterling-spec narrow cocking handle slot, allowing an unaltered cocking handle to be used. This quickly resulted in the Sten-tube conversions with the wider cocking handle slot to be snubbed by some and bestowed with the rather condescending nickname “Stenlings.” However, in reality, both are still just “tube guns,” in turn probably slighted by the handful of fortunate owners of “real” British-made Sterling Mk IV L2A3 submachine guns.

With a large number of Sterling parts kits (less receivers) being imported, it was only a matter of time before someone would begin assembling the parts into a semi-automatic carbine. To comply with U.S. laws, the carbines had to have a barrel with a minimum length of 16 inches. Wise Lite Arms of Boyd, Texas, produced a semi-auto carbine and pistol version of the classic Sterling. The carbines were assembled using a mix of newly made U.S. parts (bolt and barrel) and parts from demilitarized Sterling Mark IV parts kits. The Wise Lite carbines operate from a closed bolt to comply with U.S. laws. The pistol version lacking a butt stock has a 4.5-inch barrel.

There aren’t a lot of original accessories available for Sterlings, other than slings, magazine pouches and bayonets. Spare parts kits can still be found; however, many of the kits were bought by fans of the “Star Wars” films. The weapons carried by the Storm Troopers in the films were Sterlings modified for a futuristic look.

(Dan’s note: most of the original “Star Wars” used Sterlings were deactivated to UK standard and sold on the market in the UK.)

While the British Sten gun of World War II is more familiar to collectors, the Lanchester was the first British submachine gun preceding the Sten Mk II in service. In fact, the heavy and quite expensiveLanchester was the catalyst that launched Great Britain’s desire for an inexpensive and lightweight replacement weapon for the primary purpose of defending England’s aerodromes from a possible German airborne invasion.

Even before their entry into the war, the British Government was procuring Thompson submachine guns from the United States. The Thompson, originally designed in the 1920s, was dated, heavy and very expensive. What the British needed was their own submachine gun. During the 1920s, Birmingham Small Arms, Ltd. (BSA), under the direction of the British Government, did manufacture a few “European” carbine-style 9mm versions of the Thompson. But after testing, decided that there was no significant advantage over the standard U.S. model. During the summer of 1940, the British decided that they would copy and manufacture the German MP28 II submachine gun; a 9mm weapon that was simple to use and accurate at ranges out to 200 meters. Most importantly was that the manufacturing drawings and several examples of the German weapon were already in British hands. Ironically, the German MP28 II, like the American Thompson, was a twenty-year old design.

The Lanchester’s single-feed doublestack box magazine was also copied from the German design. There were two variations of the magazine. One had a 32-round capacity and the other a 50-round capacity. The 32-round configuration was the same magazine later used for the Sten guns. The double-stack single-feed magazine would prove to be the weak link of both weapons.

The British based Sterling Engineering Company, Ltd. was the company chosen to manufacture the Lanchester. On 13 June 1941, the first contract was signed. The Lanchester was made in two separate plants: the Sterling Engineering plant in Dagenham, and Sterling Armaments, North Hampton. The first deliveries were expected by September of that year. There were few changes from the original German design; the most obvious was the brass magazine housing and the shroud-mounted lug designed for the British P-1907 bayonet. The Lanchester was 1.5 inches longer and weighed 1.4 pounds more than the German weapon it was copied from. The name of the British submachine gun came from George H. Lanchester, an engineer employed at the Sterling factory who had been placed in charge of submachine gun production.

Lanchester Machine Carbine Mk1

As production plans were being laid, it was quickly realized that the Lanchester Machine Carbine was not going to be as cheap or easy to manufacture as was originally planned. During production there were several changes employed to both reduce cost and increase production. The original Mk1 Lanchester had a select-fire capability: firing either semiautomatic or full automatic. The selector switch was located at the front of the trigger guard. This characteristic was eventually deemed unnecessary as it complicated the design and had caused some reliability problems.

Lanchester Machine Carbine Mk1*

The original design was reconfigured and designated as the Lanchester Mk1*. This variation fired full-automatic only. Discarding the semiautomatic feature also allowed the breech bolt and firing pin to be redesigned requiring fewer machine operations. In place of machine screws, the rear sight and trigger housing were now welded directly onto the receiver. The rear sight was changed from the original adjustable tangent type to a much simpler two-leaf flip design calibrated for 100 and 200 yard ranges. During early production, a brass buttplate was fitted, but brass being a critical wartime material, was replaced by steel version. A directive was issued requiring all existing select-fire Lanchester Mk1 weapons to be converted to the Mk1* full-automatic versions, making an original select-fire Lanchester nearly extinct.

Additional Contractors

To keep pace with the wartime demand several new companies were brought on line to produce the Lanchester: W.W. Greener and The Boss Company. The two companies only produced the later fullautomatic Mk1* model.

The manufacturer of any particular Lanchester can be easily identified by the markings on its magazine housing. Sterling made Mk1 select-fire models were marked with the letter S, and a serial number prefix A. Sterling made Mk1* models were marked SA M619. W.W. Greener made guns were marked M94 with a serial number prefix G. Boss guns were marked with the name Boss or their code S 156, and a serial number prefix of H. In addition to the prime contractors, a number of other companies were subcontracted to make small parts.

The Lanchester Today

When Lanchester production was terminated during October 1943, nearly 75,000 Lanchester machine carbines had been manufactured. After the war ended a number of the weapons were sold off or given to affiliated commonwealth governments. However, many of the Lanchesters remained in the service of the British military as late as 1979. After being in service for nearly 38 years, most of the remaining Lanchesters were declared obsolete and subsequently scrapped. Only a few examples were spared for reference and museums.

A number of original Lanchesters did make their way into the U.S. NFA registry and these guns are included in the Curio and Relics list. Most examples in collector’s possession today are the Mk1* full-automatic only variation. Firing a Lanchester is quite an experience; the 9.6 pound unloaded weight of the piece together with its 9mm cartridge makes it an extremely accurate weapon in its full-autoonly mode. There is little felt recoil and virtually no muzzle climb making it a joy to fire, and easy to hold on target. The Lanchester would make for a worthy competitor in the popular subgun competitions.

The negative aspect is that the Lanchester does have a few problem areas. The firing pins and extractors are quite prone to failure, and there are few replacement parts available due to the scarcity of the guns. Currently there are no aftermarket parts available. The other downside of a Lanchester is original examples are not especially common, and like most original receiver Curio & Relic eligible subguns, they can be quite expensive.

Sten Conversions

Back in the good old days, prior to May 19, 1986, the British Sten MkII was one of the easiest submachine guns to construct. Parts kits were widely available and the receiver tubes could be easily manufactured. As a result there were a lot of Sten guns and receiver tubes produced and registered. Those familiar with the Sten know (arguably) that they are certainly not the most eye-catching of submachine guns; in fact to those unfamiliar with weapons, it doesn’t even look much like a real gun.

Fortunately, the dimensions of the Sten gun’s receiver tube allow it to be utilized in a few other more desirable configurations. Enterprising and talented Class 2 manufacturers have sought, and received, approval from the Technology Branch of ATF to turn Sten tubes into guns other than the utilitarian Sten. One that comes to mind is the popular Sten to Sterling Mk IV conversion. The Sterling is a very desirable submachine gun, but transferable examples are quite rare and those that are available are exceptionally expensive. The Sten tube to Sterling submachine gun changed the situation allowing for an affordable replica for the cost of a registered Sten tube, a Sterling parts set and labor.

Now, there is another ATF approved Sten tube conversion pioneered by Don Quinnell of Don’s Gun Shop in Ft. Myers, Florida. Sten owners now have anotheroption: Sten to Lanchester.

The Sten to Lanchester Conversion

Before any Sten tubes could be reconfigured, the conversion details needed to be worked out, documented, andsent to the ATF Technology Branch for approval. Only after receiving official authorization could the conversion work proceed.

There were a few problems encountered. First of all, the cocking handle slot on a Sten tube is at a slightly different orientation than that of a Lanchester. This problem was easily overcome by using the original Sten bolt. The Sten bolt and recoil spring, inexpensive and relatively common, also addresses two design flaws of the Lanchester mentioned earlier; the firing pin and the extractor. The Sten uses a fixed integral firing pin and the robust extractor claw is nearly indestructible. To give the conversion a more authentic appearance, Don’s shop manufactures a bolt cocking handle patterned after that of the original Lanchester.

One other problem was that the Sten receiver tube has an outside diameter that is slightly smaller than that of the original Lanchester. This resulted in a loose fit between the receiver tube and Lanchester magazine housing. This was solved by using a thin .015-inch spacer installed between the housing and the receiver. The perforated barrel jacket of the Lanchester is attached to the Sten tube by welding. For attachment of the original endcap, a receiver extension with swept-style threading was fabricated and welded to the rear of the Sten receiver. As the finishing touch, the original wood stocks are painstakingly refinished, and the brass pieces polished and coated with a baked on clear coat.

Don’s Lanchester conversion field-strips like an original except for one small detail. Original Lanchester bolt handles are not removable. The cocking handle slot on a Lanchester extends to the end of the receiver, allowing the removal of the bolt assembly after unlatching the receiver and titling it to access the endcap. To remove a Sten bolt, the cocking handle must be removed before the bolt can be removed through the back of the receiver.

The Sten and Lanchester have very similar cyclic rates of approximately 600 rounds per minute. However, once converted, the Sten-Lanchester will no longer have a select-fire capability.

Don reports that his shop is currently working on a bolt conversion that would allow the use of the very reliable Sterling magazines in his Lanchester conversions. Completion of the magazine conversion would address the last weak link in the Lanchester: the magazine.

Don’s Gun Shop also performs the Sten to Sterling conversions as well as all types of fabrication, conversions and builds on semiautomatic and Class III H&Ks AKs FN-FAL, FNCs, as well as the more common gunsmith and refinishing jobs.

Sources

Don’s Gun Shop
3112-3 Palm Ave.
Ft. Myers, FL 33901
Phone: (239) 334-6779
Email: DGSMFG@AOL.COM

Other Lanchester Sources

Lanchester Reproduction Stocks
Keystone Arms
PO Box 599
Mill Rift, PA 18340
Phone: (570) 491-4867

Lanchester Display Guns and Parts
International Military Antiques, Inc.
PO Box 256
Millington, NJ 07946
(908) 903-1200

Considering that you have to look to the last century to find a classic submachine gun design that combines both function and beauty, we’ll head back more than a few military generations, to meet the British Lanchester submachine gun.

The Lanchester is a product of British gun makers from that pre-WWII era of solid, finished, fine woods and robust, deep-blued steels, who built this firearm worthy of the traditional British Empire military stamp. This solid weapon was the last in a long lineage of well-bred ordnance royalty that came to a clattering end with the evolutionary apocalypse of Sten and Sterling stamped parts weaponry.

The Lanchester is not an original British design; it was taken directly from the design of Hugo Schmeisser’s WWI German MP18, later redesigned as the MP28. Yet, the Lanchester was carried into battle wherever British battle flags have flown from 1941 through the Falklands.

As the late Major Frank Hobart noted, “Although this was a very well-designed and well-built weapon, extremely reliable, it was virtually obsolete before it even entered service and saw only limited action. However, it stayed on the active service list in many ships’ armories through the 1970s.”

The Lanchester was a direct result of immediate need. After Dunkirk, Great Britain was in dire need of every manner of small arms. German invasion of the U.K. was imminent by almost every measure. The only submachine guns available were Thompsons from America, and all of those went to the British Army, forcing the RAF and the Royal Navy to scramble for small arms on their own.

Sterling Armament, Ltd. was given a contract in the summer of 1940 to produce a prototype within four months and the project was turned over to George H. Lanchester, a veteran engineer, who had owned his own company, but had been seconded to Sterling for the war’s duration. Lanchester made only minor modifications to the German MP28 to produce the weapon that carried his name. Prototype testing, then, field trials began in November of 1940 for the Royal Navy, as the RAF had bailed out of the project when it became apparent that Hitler had scuttled immediate invasion plans.

The first production contracts for the Lanchester were let in June 1941, with the final contract let in October of 1943. Each weapon was projected at a cost of £14. Not only was the per-gun price high, the Lanchester was a complicated gun to produce, which is not conducive to immediate need-them-yesterday wartime requirements. For example, production over a 28 month period averaged 3,410 Lanchesters per month versus 47,000 Sten Mk II guns.

The initial 50,000 Lanchester production and assembly run was accomplished at four different factories, and the majority of weapons went to the Royal Navy. The original production Mk 1 Lanchesters had a select fire feature and a tangent rear sight. The select fire mode was soon judged to be unnecessary, so the auto-only version became known as the Mk 1*, which was the final basic design. Estimates of those original Mk1 Lanchester numbers are less than 200 guns.

Even while he was pushing the original design through production, George Lanchester and his team at Sterling saw the Sten gun’s competitive development and were working to lighten their own weapon. The result was the little known Light Lanchester series of three models which never went beyond prototype development, other than to evolve a design generation later into what some experts said was the Patchett gun, which carried the name of its production engineer, George Patchett.

Not only was the Lanchester submachine gun a complicated and expensive firearm to produce, it was heavy, weighing more than the service rifles of the period. As Laidler and Howroyd wrote of the Lanchester, “It was built like a battleship.”

The Lanchester operates on the blowback principle, firing from the open bolt. That bolt, a massive piece of steel, has a separate firing pin nearly the size of an ice pick. The cocking handle is permanently attached to the bolt. The safety is a mechanical one, in which the cocking handle is pulled to the rear of the receiver and then moved upwards into a notch at the rear of the slot.

The Lanchester uses a shortened beechwood stock, much like that of the SMLE service rifle. The gun’s magazine housing is made of solid brass and there is a lug for the long British No. 1 bayonet. There is also a brass butt plate with a trapdoor for storing cleaning material inside the stock. Later models used an alloy butt plate.

The sights are a simple flip-over rear marked for 100 and 200 meters. As with most weapons of its type, the recommended service range is 100 meters or less. The issue magazine is 50-rounds, but the 32-round Sten magazine, which fits in the Lanchester, was always a better choice for combat due to balance and function.

When it comes to maintenance, the Lanchester is one of the easiest military weapons for that chore. After the weapon is carefully cleared and the magazine removed, turn the large locking catch lever at the rear of the receiver and draw the cocking handle to the rear of the receiver. This brings out the operating spring and bolt. The weapon is now ready for cleaning, then simple reassembly.

The Lanchester went on active service in the late fall of 1941. The first officially documented action for the Lanchester was in December of 1941, when the British army’s No. 3 Commando borrowed four navy Lanchesters for their famed amphibious raid on the island of Maaloy and Vaasgo Harbor in occupied Norway. Armed with Thompsons and Lanchesters, the British army commandoes reduced the German counterattacks to what the after action report called “a shambles.”

Period news reports and archive film clearly show the Lanchester in the hands of Royal Navy sailors during the defense and fall of Hong Kong and Singapore in February of 1942.

Initial after action reports noted of the Lanchesters, “…superb job during all phases of deployment…men reported excellent handling effectiveness…Complete confidence in these combat weapons.”

In February of 1942, No. 12 Commando conducted a daring raid on the top secret German radar installation near the coastal village of Bruneval, France, to recon and appropriate the German technology. The attack and withdrawal was carried out partially with the cover of Lanchester submachine guns, again drawing high praise from the British warriors.

In March, Lanchesters were chosen again, this time by the men of No. 2 Commando for their raid on the German dry dock ship repair facility at St Nazaire, also in occupied France. In August, a mixed group of Royal Marine commandoes and No. 4 Commando were armed with Lanchesters when they had special mission duty in support of a larger Canadian infantry unit in a larger scale amphibious assault, which failed, near Dieppe.

One of its classic missions was that carried out by the men of No. 2 Special Boat Service and a landing party of Royal Marines in October of 1942, when a delegation of senior Allied officers, led by American Maj. Gen. Mark Clark, met with the French general commanding the defense of Algeria, in hopes of allowing the Anglo-American invasion to proceed without resistance. The Brits were armed with Lanchesters.

Later, commandoes carried Lanchesters in the invasion of North Africa, Sicily, and the Italian mainland. The Royal Navy carried Lanchester-armed warriors into battle against the Japanese in the Pacific as well as against German E Boat raiders in the English Channel and the Aegean Sea. The Lanchester found combat in India, Burma and all over Southeast Asia.

In all these operations, the Lanchester was praised universally in comparison with the Thompson and Sten guns, e.g., “the weight, accuracy and dependability of the Lanchester make it the most desirable…”

Despite being officially obsolete, the Lanchester soldiered on during the post WWII period in various U. K. empirical disturbances. Both the British and the Dutch navy and marines used Lanchesters against nationalist guerrillas in the East Indies through the late ’40s. Despite the issue of new Sterling submachine guns, Lanchesters were used in Kenya during the Mau Mau “troubles” there in the early ’50s.

In the Korean conflict, Royal Marines assigned shore security detail during and immediately after the Inchon landings carried Lanchesters. Both British and Canadian naval crews used Lanchesters for security duty when inspecting small craft along the coastal waters of Korea.

Lanchesters also went ashore in Malaya and in Egypt during the Suez incursion. In the 1960s, accurate fire from the old Lanchesters repelled guerrilla assaults from small boats against British navy vessels. Some of the British warships still had Lanchesters in their armories during the Falklands War, though the last had been supposedly and finally retired in 1971.

The Lanchester is one fine firearm with a great, if limited, service record, which raises a valid question: If it was so good, why did it see only limited combat action? The Lanchester faced two major problems: technology and history. That, combined with the rapid development of the Sten gun, took it out of a major combat role almost before the initial production models left the Sterling factory.

Major Hobart said, “If the Sten gun designs had been in house a bit earlier, the rebuild of the MP28 into the Lanchester would have been abandoned and it would have been the machine carbine that never was, a mere footnote in ordnance history.”

Even as the Lanchester was entering production, the Sten gun prototypes were already being combat field-tested in limited special mission actions. Also, as the fear of imminent German paratroop attack and an invasion of England had subsided by 1941, the Army and RAF had canceled their massive orders for Lanchesters, seeing that the newer, far lighter and cheaper Stens were ready for production.

According to which source you read, between 75,600 and 80,000 Lanchesters were produced. The weapon was declared obsolete by the UK military in 1979. Today, apart from the few still on historical display-only in British ship armories, the remainder are in various military museums. A large number were simply destroyed by the UK. What few civilian-owned originals remained belong to private collectors. And, of course, there is a small supply of Dewats and replica models. There was a brief attempt to produce rebuilt Lanchesters for the American Class III market in the late 1980s, thanks to the late Bill Whitford, and his Cottage Industries, but the 1986 machine gun ban ended that endeavor.

Full cycle, then, the submachine gun that almost never was, has become the submachine gun that never would be again.

I would like to thank the following for their personal correspondence and interviews: Frank W.A. Hobart, D.G. Raschen, Albert Jenkins, Donald G. Thomas, Richard Nelson, Bill Whitford, Thomas B. Nelson and Herbert J. Woodend.