Production
The first contract of June 13, 1941 produced an initial 50,000 Lanchesters that were nearly all for the Royal Navy use. The British Army by now had supplies of the US-produced Thompson SMG. The final contract was issued on October 9, 1943. Production averaged 3,410 units per month over 28 months. According to contract records, Sterling was to have made guns serially numbered from 1 to 9999, then (S) A1 to about A64580.
Certain 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. This modification makes it difficult to ascertain exactly the production runs for each model.
There were four Lanchester assembly plants, though Lanchester assembly contracts were actually awarded to only three firms. 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).
Quantities produced:
- Sterling (two factories; codes S109 and M619): approx. 74,579.
- Greener (code M94): approx. 16,990.
- Boss (code S156): approx. 3,900.
Some early version do not appear to be code marked at all except by the serial number prefix of ‘S’, ‘A’, or ‘SA’.
Read more about this topic: Lanchester Submachine Gun
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