Pieces marked with the "A" prefix lacked perfect interchangeability and often required hand fitting of components.
#Lee enfield mf iii rifle serial number lookup serial number#
Some early version do not appear to be code marked at all except by the serial number prefix of "S", "A", or "SA". Sterling (two factories codes S109 and M619): approx.Sterling assembly of the Lanchester was split between the Sterling Engineering Company Ltd in Dagenham (code S109), and the Sterling Armaments Company in Northampton (code M619). There were four Lanchester assembly plants, though Lanchester assembly contracts were actually awarded to only three firms. This modification makes it difficult to ascertain exactly the production runs for each model. According to contract records, Sterling was to have made guns serially numbered from 1 to 9999, then (S) A1 to about A64580.Ĭertain numbers of Mk.1 were modified latter in the war and designated Mk.1*, the key differences being the removal of the fire-selector switch and addition of simplified rear sights. Production averaged 3,410 units per month over 28 months. The final contract was issued on 9 October 1943. The British Army by now had supplies of the US-produced Thompson SMG. The first contract of 13 June 1941 produced an initial 50,000 Lanchesters that were nearly all for the Royal Navy use. Production Ī Lanchester gun fitted with an early version of a Tactical light in a Royal Navy experiment from 1943. The Mk.1* was a simplified version of the original Mk.1, which omitted the fire mode selector (full automatic only) and used simplified sights. Produced in two versions, Mk.1 and Mk.1*. The rifling differed from the German original in details to accommodate various lots of 9mm ammunition then being acquired for service use. The Lanchester had a heavy wooden butt and stock, a machined-steel action and breech block, a magazine housing made from solid brass (later steel) and a mounting on the muzzle for use of a long-bladed 1907 bayonet. It was a very solid, well-made submachine gun of high-quality materials, in many ways the complete opposite of its direct contemporary, the Sten. The Lanchester was envisioned as a weapon used for guarding prisoners and accompanying naval landing and assault parties.
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The British copy of the MP28 was given the general designation of Lanchester after George Herbert Lanchester, who was charged with producing the weapon at the Sterling Armaments Company, the same company that later produced the Sterling submachine gun. Ultimately, it was within the Royal Navy that most of the Lanchesters that were produced went into service. The British Admiralty decided to join with the RAF in adopting the new weapon, and played a key role in its design. With no time available for the usual research and development of a new weapon, it was decided to create a direct copy of the German MP 28. It was given the general designation of Lanchester after George Herbert Lanchester, who was charged with producing the weapon at the Sterling Armaments Company.įollowing the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, the Royal Air Force decided it required a submachine gun for airfield defence.
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It was primarily used by the British Royal Navy during the Second World War, and to a lesser extent by the Royal Air Force Regiment (for airfield protection). It is a copy of the German MP28/II and was manufactured in two versions, Mk.1 and Mk.1* the latter was a simplified version of the original Mk.1, with no fire selector and simplified sights. The Lanchester is a submachine gun (SMG) manufactured by the Sterling Armaments Company between 19.