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.)

By Warren Ferguson

Overlooking the bay that glistened with vivid blue Mediterranean water, the Canadian soldier knew that the beauty of the Cypriot island was tempered by the rage of Turkish and Greek soldiers, both of whom were known as fierce and determined warriors. Looking down to examine the small collection of confiscated firearms, the soldier noticed a 9mm submachine gun very similar to his issued Sterling. Oddly, it also had many features of the WWII British Sten. What exactly was this hybrid?

Cyprus, a visually idyllic island, has had a long history of trouble between the Greeks and Turks who both stake bold claims on the territory. The fighting hit a flashpoint in 1974 when Greek army officers of the Greek Cypriot National Guard staged a coup d’état against the president of Cyprus. They wished to unite Cyprus with Greece and Turkey’s response was to launch an amphibious invasion of Cyprus with 40,000 troops.

Canadian soldiers had been stationed in Cyprus from the early 1960s. Thus, they were well positioned to respond to the eruption of violence. Members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, Canada’s UNFICYP (United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus) and others were at hand when the Turks pressed forth their stated objectives of protection of the Turkish minority to greater territorial acquisition by the taking of the Nicosia airport. Canadians physically kept the two sides apart, sometimes taking casualties.

The Greek and Turkish soldiers were one matter, but aggressive civilians were another. Added to the volatile mix was a divided population that owed its allegiance to one side or the other. Both were determined to maintain their stake on their particular corner of the island and their cultural pride. When the Canadians were not separating professional armies, they dealt with these armed civilian irregulars.

The Canadians were armed with FN-FALs and Sterling type 9mm submachine guns. The profile of the Sterling was well-known in these parts. United Nations peacekeepers had been carrying them since they arrived to buffer the two opposing sides. Also not unknown to the locals was the old WWII era Sten submachine gun as there were those who recalled their use by British troops and more than a few found their way into cellars.

What you had in the Sten was a simple blowback system in its rawest form. A tube contained a heavy fixed firing pin bolt that was locked by a sear to the rear until firing. Then, a strong spring propelled the bolt forward to strip a cartridge from the magazine, chamber it, and fire it in one motion.

The Sten was rather simple to field strip as well. It was designed that way, particularly the MKII, as a means of breaking it down as small as possible for concealment. The removable barrel came out from the front and the butt stock slid down and off the receiver tube when the user depressed a spring button. The Sterling was developed later and was a dramatic improvement. It was lighter, more compact, and imminently more reliable.

At a time of war, when tensions are high, how can irregulars obtain automatic weapons when the United Nations is doing its best to keep the warring sides apart and prevent a build up of arms? As evidenced by this odd 9mm creation, you simply take the best aspects of two well-known submachine guns, look for ways to make it as easy to manufacture as possible, and get the firearm in the hands of combatants. For a lack of a better name, this writer is going to call the submachine gun in this article a ‘Stenling.’

What is known is that sometime during his tour of duty, a Canadian soldier, likely from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, came across the strangest looking Sterling he had ever seen. It has long been practice for the Canadian Forces to take samples of foreign weapons for regimental museums and training purposes, and then cut up and melt down the rest.

The prevailing wind out of National Defense HQ dictates that if there is no firearm present, hostility will cease. Naturally, history has proven this incorrect, but institutionally, the Canadian Forces is on board with United Nation mandated weapons decommissioning activities.

Subsequently, out of Cyprus came the Stenling via army sources and found its way into the Okanagan Military Museum in Kelowna, British Columbia. Not to be outdone by the Army, the Canadian Firearms Centre (think BATF bureaucracy) issued directives for the further DEWATing procedures for museum firearms. Thus, a full stripping and analysis of what could be a very rare Cypriot submachine gun was made impossible.

Looking closely at the Stenling it was easy to see that the Sterling played an important role in the submachine gun’s size, weight, overall layout and feel. The general outline of the trigger group was copied but the parts simplified. However, the two-piece pistol grip is made out of cast metal. The safety/selector was missing and so it is difficult to determine if it was a Sten or Sterling pattern, but an educated guess would be the latter.

The trigger guard is fixed and the distance from the trigger to pistol grip is noticeably increased, and does not add to the ergonomics of the firearm. Quite the opposite in fact and this detracts from an otherwise sensible package.

The cocking handle was near identical to a Sterling as is the perforated barrel shroud. Despite this, the muzzle area is welded and departs from the Sterling design because the barrel of the British firearm is fitted to the muzzle via two retaining screws. It does feature a hand protector forward of the ejection port.

From the Sten come the rudimentary sights and aspects of the magazine well assembly. The magazine is similar to the Sterling in construction, but straight and not curved. The magazine release button is like that of a Sten.

Gone is the familiar Sterling rear tube cap, as the design called for a Sten-like sliding spring retainer/butt stock. However, the simply constructed buttstock was made to look somewhat like that of the Sterling, but does not fold. It is made of bar steel and not stampings.

The Cypriot firearm is painted black and at twenty paces, the SMG appears to be a Sterling using a Sten magazine. So, how many were made? The bolt is numbered 281 but in times of trouble, serial numbers seldom start at zero often in order to exaggerate figures. So who exactly made it? This is a mystery.

In all, you have the most curious Sten/Sterling hybrid ever made. It is not uncommon for blowback submachine guns to be made in troubled spots. Nevertheless the Stenling shows both simplification and care and thought in its manufacture. This SMG could have been made cruder but was not. Yet all frills were cast aside. Perhaps the readership can shine some light on this curiosity. The chances are that this submachine gun – made quickly during a time of war – is one of very few constructed, if not one of a kind.

The author would like to thank OMM curator Keith Boehmer for providing the sample firearm.

The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. Self-conceit often regards it as a sign of weakness to admit that belief to which we have once committed ourselves is wrong. We get so identified with an idea that it is literally a “pet” notion and we rise to its defense and stop our eyes and ears to anything different. – John Dewey

The anti Second Amendment fanatics are out there right now, trying to legislate some local bans on the ownership of so-called Assault Weapons. It is amazing how focused on non-issues they can be. Statistically, we are safer now that the stupid AW Ban expired over a year ago, but it remains to be seen if there is any connection at all between statistics and reality. So called “Assault Weapons” were a minor problem to begin with.

There have been a lot of Freudian accusations about why firearms owners have firearms – the most common being that we are “compensating” for something missing or inadequate. My opinion of most of the firearms collectors that I know is based on watching what interests them, and the collecting of firearms seems more related to a techno-geek type of thing. Most of the people I know are highly interested in history, technology, the science of ballistics, the amazing diversity of accessories or models, or just plain fun at the range. There might be a few who have some “compensation” thing going on, but the majority seem pretty stable, just focused on their interest or hobby. I can’t say the same for the anti-Second Amendment crowd. A very interesting observation that I have experienced over and over again, is the reaction of many anti-firearms ownership people who happen to be in a place where there are military type firearms. When talking with them, politely, I hand them a machine gun, or a rifle, and they look electrified and frightened and say, “I couldn’t have one of these – I might kill somebody.” Seriously, dear readers, I have heard this too many times to ignore.

This makes me think that the firm belief in the Second Amendment comes down to some fundamental beliefs about personal responsibility. With few exceptions, the firearms community has a strong thread of Teddy Roosevelt’s ‘Rugged Individualism” in it. Most of us are taught by our fathers, uncles, drill sergeants, hunting instructors, or other significant adults, that we are responsible for what we do with a weapon, and it is never pointed somewhere you don’t want a bullet to go. We are taught restraint. We are taught responsibility. Those who desire to disarm the others seem to lack that trait. In reading Dewey’s commentary, the above struck me as a concise paragraph on why the anti firearms ownership crowd doesn’t “get it” when they are obviously wrong. Dewey can also remind us to reassess our own beliefs and stands on issues, so that we can not make the same mistakes we are confronted with.

Off the pulpit, on to the questions….

Q-I was at a gun show, and saw a magazine on a table that said it was for fifty caliber. It seemed sort of short for a fifty but was quite large. I bought it for twenty bucks and brought it home, and sure enough it was too short. Any idea what it is?

A- There are so many unusual magazines out there it would be tough to say what it is simply from your description. I suspect, however, that it is the standard .50 caliber spotter magazine for the US M8C spotter rifle that mounts to the M40 series 106mm recoilless rifle. These do show up at gun shows fairly frequently, and there is a longer version as well. Twenty bucks is a good price for one as generally they are between forty and seventy-five dollars. Since you have ruled out it being one of the actual .50 BMG magazines due to the length of a cartridge that would fit, the Spotter magazine is the prime suspect. Other possibilities would be the magazines for the double sized military training rifles for the BAR, M14, M16, and M1 Carbine. These show up on the tables very rarely, are difficult to identify due to their oversize and are not a real weapon status. Please sell these oversized trainer magazines to me, as these are part of my personal fetish for oversize trainers. I suppose some might think I am “compensating.”

The M40 series of 106mm Recoilless Rifles are still in use in many countries around the world, and the US still has them in the inventory, although not generally active today. The M8C spotting rifle is mounted onto the main tube of the M40, sighted in, and the tracer/marking .50 caliber projectiles it fires duplicates the trajectory of the 106mm round. The M8C is semiautomatic, reloading itself from the magazine I suspect you have found. This is handy for the operator, because the 106mm is a breech loaded weapon, and having the next spotting round ready automatically cuts out one more operation in getting a second round ready to fire. The spotter rounds allow for an increased hit probability with the gun. Once the weapon is ready, the spotter round is fired. It won’t move the firing platform off of its aim and once the operator sees he has the target nailed touches off the main gun. Great for stationary targets, not quite so functional on laterally moving ones.

There are not too many M8C spotter rifles in private hands, but there are a few. The owners I am aware of have plenty of magazines for their guns, so this isn’t really a hot commodity; it is more of a collectable curiosity. The fifty caliber shooting community prizes spotter ammunition because many people pull the projectiles and reload them into .50 BMG cartridges, to achieve that very visible trace and target marking hit. However, these projectiles are very sensitive, especially to feeding, and much care should be taken with that process.

Q-I recently purchased a pre-86 dealer sample AR-10 machine gun. The seller called it a “Sudanese” model, and he had no other information on these. In the process of collecting the right parts to complete the weapon display board, I bought an” AR-10″ bayonet on E-Bay. When it came in, it didn’t fit on my AR-10. The seller insists it is an AR-10 bayonet and won’t refund my money. Who’s right on this?

A- As to whom is “right” that is a tough call. There was more than one type of AR-10 bayonet during the original production of these guns, and if he sold you an “AR-10 bayonet” and it is one – just not the right one for your gun. You are kind of stuck with it. I don’t think you will have too much trouble selling it as there are a lot of bayonet collectors out there. The basic models of original AR-10s are the very rare “Hollywood” guns, some of which could use a modified Carcano bayonet. The “Sudanese” models, which are Dutch, have a very special Mauser style bayonet. The “Portuguese” models, also Dutch, also use a Mauser styled bayonet which is cruder than the intricate and interesting Sudanese style bayonet. Since the production of the Sudanese style AR-10 rifles was limited to less than 4,000 pieces, it seems obvious that these are very rare bayonets. The Sudan contract was for 2,500 rifles, and there was another run of approximately 600 of this model with minor variations sold to Guatemala. If your gun says “Armex” on it, then odds are it is actually the Guatemalan contract gun.

This is actually a subject near and dear to me. I have always thought the Sudanese AR-10 bayonet was pretty tricked out, so let’s take a bit of time and look it over. This should help you in your search for the ultimate Sudanese AR-10 accessory. -Dan

Q-I enjoyed the picture of the VZ58 found by an SAR reader in Iraq, but you mentioned that it is not unusual for there to be “special” models made for guards in the Mid-East. I have not found reference to these models in other print references. Can you elaborate?

A- Yes, this is not an uncommon practice. In the small arms community it is not unusual to take the standard rifles or machine guns and make special presentation models or “dress” models out of them. These usually do not have a special designation. Frank James’ book on the HK MP5 series “Project 64”, includes pictures of the dressed up MP5s, and the official HK book has pictures as well. Since we were talking about Iraq, we should mention that SAR Contributing Editor Bob Bishop is a Colonel in the US Army Special Forces and he noted gold plated AK47 and RPG7s in the factories they captured. We are looking forward to getting more info later on these. As another example of this type of special run of submachine gun, I submit the following three photographs. This is a Sterling MK4 (L2A3) submachine gun that has been gold and chrome plated for the Saudi Royal Guards. On the white pistol grip is part of the symbol of the House of Saud, the Palm Tree and crossed swords. The complete symbol would have a wreath around it and a crown at the top, but for markings on a weapon this is accepted. There is no special model designation that would be recorded at the factory on these; they are simply MK4 submachine guns. I hope this helps convince you that the factories around the world do, indeed, produce the special runs of weapons for Dress Duty. (Photos by Dan Shea, Courtesy MOD Pattern Room)

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