Is this a Patchett sling?

[stencollector]

I personally cannot. But here is a post from someone over on gunnutz who seems to have some info:

That said, I have an ex-OPP 8L Series C1A1 that goes back a few years. It is so mint that it doesn't even have any scratches on the butt-plate.

A bit of trivia - the company that bought the ex-OPP C1A1s was SIDEM UK. They are the same surplus firearms dealer that sourced, modified, and sold to other Commonwealth countries the Portuguese and Sudanese-surplus original AR-10 rifles from 1959-1960.

Not to mention the 3 x converted-auto C1 SMGs (Sterlings) that are in private hands in Canada. I know, because I have a copy of the original invoice coming from the Congo (based on an earllier Canadian military assistance sale) that has my gun's serial number listed with 3 other Canadian xSxxxx numbers on the import list. There are a grand total of 3 x CA Canadian manufactured C1 SMGs in private hands in Canada.

Just a bit of info on a select group of Canadian prohibs for anyone who is interested.

There is also this from the store owner who imported the SMG C1s:

We did get a hold of some C-1 SMG's that had been left behind by peace keeping forces in Africa. There was a considerable flap when I marketed them because they were assumed to have been stolen here in Canada but the matter got sorted out in the end.

So it looks like I was wrong on the quantity though...it may be just 3 CAs. I did a search for SMG C1s on one of those online Canadian registries, and I think I came up with between 10 and 20 in total .Only thing is the registry is a bit of a mess, and some were registered as Sterlings, while some were registered as C1s. Since the online database only listed partial information it was hard to decipher it fully.

The production quantity of the C1 SMG, based on the serial numbers, is thought to be approx 30,000. I did run the stock number back in the late 90s and at that time there remained 24,000 in the depots. The shortage of approx 6,000 is a little high to expain away by reasoning that some were lost or damaged.

I may have a source for more information. But it will be a while before I run into him again, so hopefully I'll remember to ask.