d

r

e

o

-

l

sear and safety group can be detached andremoved downward out of the gun easily. A simpleflip-over rear sight is calibrated for 100 and 200yards. There are seven differentheights of front sights available foraccurate sighting in at the facto-ry. The right hand need not beremoved from the pistol gripfor any operation of thegun; the operating handle

manip-ulation

andmagazine

changes canbe done using the left hand. The

Sterling can be fired with one handwith the stock either open or closed.

Barrier ridges are incorporated on theright side of the ventilated barrel guard to

prevent movement of the support hand in front ofthe muzzle or over the ejection port. In addition tothe normal 34-round magazines, shorter 10- and15-round “guard” mags were available primarily toallow tank crews more mobility in cramped quar-ters. There is only one sling swivel on this arm; it’son the receiver cap at the rear. The sling for theSterling has a clip on the front which is designed tobe attached through any two of the cooling holesin the barrel guard. A bayonet similar to that usedon the Enfield jungle carbine may be fitted on theleft side. The final model of the subgun was knownas the Mark 4 by the Sterling factory, and as theL2A3 by the armed services. A sound-suppressedversion, adopted in 1967, is known as the L34A1(Sterling Mark 5). It replaced the older suppressedStens. The L34A1 is still in limited service for spe-cial operations. This gun’s barrel has 72 small holesused to vent powder gases into the suppressor. This

venting slows the 9mm bullet to subsonic speed toavoid a giveaway supersonic “crack” as the bulletpasses. It’s an exceptionally quiet design.

A Sterling Mark 6 police carbine was made. Thiswas a closed-bolt semiauto version for policeforces and civilians. The U.S. export version of thisgun had a longer 16-inch barrel to comply withU.S. regulations. The Sterling Mark 7 “Para-pistol”was a variant issued to special forces andintelligence groups. This had a 4” barrel,

a vertical foregrip, and had an optional solid stock.It was commonly issued with the short 10- and 15-round magazines for better concealment.

In time, the Sterling was also produced by theRoyal Ordnance Arsenal in Fazakerley, near Liver-pool. A similar but not identical model was manu-factured under license by the Canadian ArsenalsLimited as the 9mm C1 Submachine gun. Its slight-ly differing design primarily avoided royalty pay-ments to Sterling. Other licensed versions are stillmanufactured at the Indian Ordnance Factories inKanphur, India. The standard model is known asthe SAF Carbine 1A; the silenced version is calledthe SAF Carbine 2A1. The Sterling has been in usewith over 90 countries around the world. In directcomparison to the well-regarded Uzi and H&KMP-5 subguns, the Sterling has proved to be themost reliable available. It’s been tested in dirt,sand, mud, ice, snow and water, and it keeps onfiring under the worst conditions imaginable. It wasvery popular with British troops for being compact,having good firepower and accuracy and beingextremely reliable.

Approximately 400,000 Sterling subguns havebeen produced over the years. Following the offi-cial discontinuance of the L2A3 by the Britishgovernment, the Sterling factory fell on hard timesand was sold to British Aerospace in 1989. At itspeak, the factory had employed approximately1600 men and women.

Today, a closed-bolt semiautomatic variant ofthe Sterling with a 16” barrel is produced by WiseLite Arms in Boyd, Texas, and distributed by Cen-tury International Arms. It has a spring-loaded fir-ing pin. A combination of surplus Mark 4 andAmerican-made parts is used to comply with U.S.regulations. This is almost identical to the originalMark 6 U.S. export version. A Sterling may nowbe owned without full-auto paperwork, and it’s afun gun to shoot.

The Sterling was a solid, well-made, reliableand accurate submachine gun that served manynations as well as the United Kingdom quiteadmirably. It’s a combat-proven submachine gun.

4141The SStteerrlliinngg SSuubbmmaacchhiinnee GGuunn

DP

rnally somewhat resembling its tubular receiver and side-gazine, the Sterling provided h-needed improvements.”

August 11 Blue Press Section 2 6/14/11 10:00 AM Page 41